The Harvest Young: Bound by Fate Read online

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  The Harvest Young: Bound by Fate 2016 © M.A. Church

  Cover Art: Reese Dante http://www.reesedante.com

  Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.

  All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser or reviewer only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the author, except where permitted by law.

  The Harvest: Taken

  5 STARS! I was happily surprised that I adored this story. It isn’t my usual, but maybe I am finding a new usual. ~The Novel Approach

  4.5 STARS! For those who like mpreg stories and alien loving (like I do) Taken is one of the best reads to consider. Not once was my focus taken off from the unfolding story and surprisingly, this is quite a light and fast read. ~MultitaskingMommas

  4.5 STARS! This isn’t your typical romance, or a sci-fi. There is drama, suspense, action, romance and smut all wrapped into a great book that will keep you wanting for more and more. ~Crystal's Many Reviewers

  The Harvest: Journey’s End

  5 STARS! This has been the sequel that I have been waiting for because I just loved The Harvest: Taken. I’m not a fan of sci-fi books in the slightest – and the fact that I love this series should say something! ~Crystal's Many Reviewers

  5 STARS! Oh man. This book is so good. All of the characters show so many emotions throughout. Ms. Church does a wonderful job bringing me into the world and the characters. ~Molly Lolly

  4 STARS! I felt for both Dale and Keyno, I really did. So many times during this book I laughed out loud. Usually whenever Keyno yelled/screamed/sighed/muttered “Dammit, Dale!” ~ The Novel Approach.

  A Tah’Narian Christmas

  5 STARS! This short story was exactly what a Christmas short should be: sweet, full of traditions, old and new, and the gathering of family. ~Becky Condit

  Dedication

  Thank you to all of those who kept on me about the young stories, lol! Without y’all, I’m not sure the upcoming young books would’ve been written.

  Table of Contents

  Cover

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Epilogue

  Author Bio

  Author Backlist

  The Harvest: Taken

  The Harvest: Journey’s End

  Chapter One

  Szin stared out the passenger window of his twin’s flyer. Raiden’s fingers tapped on the console to some wild techno music he had playing. It wasn’t really something Szin cared for, so he fished his headphones out of the armrest. Holding the little disk to one ear, he tapped the On button, and it immediately adhered. He did the same with the other disk, and the feral music Raiden was listening to was silenced.

  Dad had introduced him to what he called classic rock from his days on Earth, and Szin had taken a liking to it. Already programmed, music started playing immediately. His thoughts fluttered just like the butterflies in his stomach. Turning eighteen wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, contrary to popular belief.

  Their birthday had already passed, and they were on their way to the capital city of Tah’Nar. A large celebration had already been held for them by their Tah’Narian dabba, Keyno, and their dad, Dale, who had taught both young early on to call him that from his first language.

  A more private party was planned for later. As a gift to themselves, they’d booked a hotel for an overnight stay and planned to hit the nightclubs and party hard. Did their parents know what they had planned? Most likely. Dad didn’t have a problem with their plan, but their dabba had reservations. Dabba finally gave in to Dad—he usually did. It was a private joke between Szin and Raiden.

  Szin, in particular, had plans for tonight. He was a male on a mission. One way or the other, he planned to break the bond between him and Takeo before Takeo made the worst mistake of his life: claiming Szin as a mate. Szin knew he was running out of time. Over the past month, Takeo had been very aggressive in his courtship now that he’d celebrated his eighteenth birthday.

  As soon as they entered Tah’Nar airspace, they were immediately hailed. Raiden identified himself and Szin, and once verified, they were allowed on planet. As the flyer descended, Szin watched the darkness of space fade into first clouds, then lights from the surface.

  Raiden maneuvered his way into the air traffic going into the capital city. The bright lights of the city beckoned, but Szin closed his eyes, listening to the music. His thoughts wandered back to the first time his parents brought him and Raiden to the capital city. He might have only been ten at the time, but that trip certainly left a lasting impression. It was also one of the first times he truly understood how different he was. Even now he could hear Dad’s voice as clear as a bell.

  “Why do we have to do this?” Szin demanded once again as Dad ushered him toward the flyer.

  “You and your brother turned ten today,” Dad said for the fifth time in as many minutes. “It’s when young are tattooed with the royal symbols, sweetie. That’s why we’re going to Tah’Nar. They’ll match what your dabba and I have on our necks. It's an honor to be tattooed. Our traditions only allow the best warriors and royalty this privilege. After that, we’ll visit with Hamza. He’s excited about seeing you both.”

  Szin dragged his feet as he and Dad approached the flyer where his dabba and Raiden waited. “Dad? Raiden says it hurts, really bad.”

  “I’ve heard that it does, yes.” Dad ran his hand over Szin’s hair. “Your dabba insisted I be given pain relief so I couldn’t feel anything. Oh, I forgot. Here. I brought this just in case you get thirsty on the way.”

  Szin took the bottle containing his favorite drink.

  “Come on,” Raiden yelled. “By the gods, you are slow!”

  “Shut up,” Szin mumbled as he climbed into the flyer and walked back to where Raiden sat.

  “You shut up,” Raiden hissed back.

  Once everyone settled in, Raiden reached into Szin’s pocket and grabbed the small machine that played music.

  “Hey! Stop! I had it first.”

  “I wanted to listen to the imuzic. I just downloaded some new music,” Raiden complained.

  “I remembered to bring it, so I get it first.” Szin plugged the imuzic in to the flyer’s power source in the back of the flyer. “You have the comp.”

  “But I want the imuzic,” Raiden whined.

  “Tough,” Szin replied.

  Raiden reached over and tried to pull it away from Szin, who wouldn’t let go. A short, snarly argument broke out quickly.

  “Stop it, you hair ball!” Szin yelled.

  “You knew I wanted to listen to it on the way there.” Raiden growled as he wrestled with Szin. “Give it to me!”

  S
zin slapped Raiden’s hand, which resulted in a loud, distressed yip. “Oh, stuff it. That didn’t hurt.” Szin rolled his eyes.

  “That’s enough,” Keyno said loudly from the front seat. “Szin had it first, so he gets it for now. I’ll tell you when it’s time to switch. And Szin? No name-calling or hitting, I mean it. Raiden? Leave him alone.”

  “Awww, Dabba, that’s—”

  “Or Szin can keep it the whole way if you argue with me. Your choice, Raiden,” Keyno said.

  Raiden muttered softly next to Szin.

  “If you have something to say—”

  “I didn’t say anything, Dabba.” Raiden huffed as Szin snickered. “Daa-aad! Szin’s laughing at me. Do something! I didn’t do anything to him.”

  “By God, don’t make me come back there,” Dad threatened, turning around to face them. Silence reigned in the back seat. Dad maintained eye contact for a moment more, determined to make his point. Satisfied, he turned back around. “I sound like my parents, Keyno. Those two have turned me into my parents. Mom said I’d get repaid for all the fighting Susan and I did as kids. She’s right,” Dad said softly.

  “It’ll be okay, love. They’re just excited and nervous about the tattoos. Did you fix Szin something to, ah… drink?”

  “Yeah, I did. I feel bad about the pain blocker I slipped in it, but since he’s so close to being human—”

  “It would be bad for him, my mate.” Dabba reached for Dad’s hand. “He just doesn’t have the tolerance Raiden has, and I don’t want him to hurt any more than necessary. He’ll feel enough to be able to say he endured it.”

  Dad glanced back at his young, who were now sharing the drink. “Damn,” he whispered. “Raiden’s drinking Szin’s drink too. Great.”

  Dabba chuckled. “Oh well, not much we can do about it now. If you make a big deal, they’ll know we did something. I’ll handle it, my mate.”

  “Fine, fuzzball.”

  “Raiden, you have your own drink up here. Don’t drink all of Szin’s.”

  “Oh, okay. Can I have mine, then?” Raiden asked.

  Dabba handed over the other drink and winked at Dad.

  What neither Dad nor Dabba knew was that Szin had overheard them. He didn’t know exactly what was in his drink, just that it was something to help him deal with a tattoo. Even though it annoyed him that special consideration had been given to him, he was thankful. He really didn’t want to hurt. So, of course, he shared it with Raiden. He didn’t want his brother to hurt either.

  The tattoos went fine. Raiden stayed near him the whole time, holding him close. A few tears escaped, but he got through it.

  Raiden never made a sound. Later they went to eat at a place that resembled Earth’s Chuck E. Cheese for their birthday. It was geared more for climbing and hunting, with trees and caves to explore—perfect for growing young.

  Szin snapped out of his musing when Raiden poked him in the shoulder. He waved his hand in front of Szin’s face, then pointed at the headphones.

  With a sigh Szin deactivated the headset and, once the suction released, removed them from his ears. “Yes?”

  “Since we’re spending the night, I thought we’d go ahead and check in to the hotel first. Is that okay with you?”

  “That sounds fine to me. I’m getting hungry. What about you?”

  “I’m always hungry.” Raiden made a few sharp maneuvers and dropped down into a lower rung of traffic. “We’ll be there shortly. We can check in and either eat at the hotel or go to a restaurant. Which one do you want to do?”

  “Let’s see what they offer at the hotel first. It’s supposed to be a really nice place.”

  “I’m good either way. A long as I get some meat, I don’t really care.”

  Szin glanced over at his twin. Just by looking at them, you would never know they were even related. Raiden looked fully Tah’Narian. In fact, he looked so much like Dabba, it was amazing.

  Like Dabba, Raiden had oval-shaped eyes with yellow slit-like pupils, pointed ears, and a tail. His hair fell to the middle of his back and was as white as the snow found on Earth. Just like Dabba’s, Raiden’s skin color was that deep tan all Tah’Narians had. Raiden was also blessed with a tall, muscular build. That more than anything irked Szin. While he was by no means short, Szin certainly didn’t have Raiden’s height. He didn’t have any of Raiden’s characteristics.

  Instead, he’d taken after Dad. While he loved his dad, there’d been many nights he’d prayed to the Tah’Narian gods, and any other deity out there, to please grant him the height and muscles his twin had.

  Unfortunately his wish never came true. He was five foot ten, if he stood really straight, with a slender build. He worked hard to keep that build from being too skinny and was rather pleased with his sleek muscles. His hair was a nice, rich brown that waved slightly and touched his collarbone.

  Dad had often told him he’d inherited his hazel eyes from him—or what Dad’s eyes looked like before he’d been double-dosed. Raiden once told him his eyes had flecks of green in them. Szin was by no means bad-looking, but he was certainly no sex god like his twin, Raiden.

  The one thing he had that Raiden didn’t was a surculas.

  No one knew why they ended up looking like they did. Doctors and scientists also couldn’t explain why the two of them even existed. They were a medical mystery. Twins, the first in a very long time on Tah’Nar, had caused quite a stir. That Raiden—the larger, dominant twin—hadn’t separated from and destroyed Szin en surculas was practically a miracle.

  Some Tah’Narians felt he was an abomination, something that should have never been born. His survival disturbed them on a very basic, evolutionary, almost spiritual level. To those few Tah’Narians who still believed race purity was the answer, Szin was nothing more than a teratism, a congenital malformation or anomaly. There’d even been an attempt on his life right after birth.

  “What’s going on in that sly brain of yours?” Raiden asked.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Raiden snorted softly as he followed the directions on the view screen to the hotel. “Right. Tell that to someone who doesn’t know you as intimately as I do.”

  “Stay out of my head.”

  “Tell me what’s going on and I will.”

  If they weren’t already strange enough, they could sense each other’s emotions and share thoughts and dreams. It was something they’d been able to do ever since they were en surculas.

  “Really, it was nothing. Just old memories.”

  “And?”

  “Not going to let it go, are you?” Szin settled back into his seat. “Fine. I was just remembering when we had the tattoos done. Before you ask, I’m not really sure why I happened to be thinking about that.”

  “Dad never did figure out we knew he drugged you, did he?” Raiden snickered.

  “Not that I know.” Szin shrugged. “He was trying to help, and if I remember correctly, you ended up drinking some of it too.”

  “I thank the gods I had. That shit hurt. Be glad Dad doped you up.”

  And that right there was the whole problem. He was tired of being told he should be glad allowances were made for him. All his life he had been treated differently because he had more human characteristics than any of the other hybrids. Everything about him, from the tip of his ears to the soles of his feet, looked human. The only thing alien about him was on the inside.

  “So how much longer until we’re there?”

  Raiden checked the directions one last time. “See that big sparkly building over there? That’s our destination.”

  “Cool. It certainly looks nice.”

  Raiden landed and checked in through his comm. They waited for confirmation to show on the control panel, and finally a beep acknowledged their reservation. A moment later a droid flew out with a small ticket to be placed on the inside of the flyer’s front windshield so they could park at the hotel.

  Raiden followed the instructions on the dash
and located the side of the building their rooms were on. After they parked, they carried their luggage up. Raiden opened the door to their rooms with his electric key, and Szin followed him inside.

  Since they were part of the royal family, they each had a small suite. He walked to the joining door, used his key card to unlock it, then opened the door and went into his room. It was a nice room, all things considered. While very luxurious, it was still basically a bed, a bath, and a small sitting area. Szin shrugged. It would do. He dropped his bags on the foot of the bed and went back into Raiden’s room, where Raiden was busy checking out the hotel menu.

  Szin wandered over and sat on the bed next to Raiden. Seeing as they could get anything they wanted in the hotel, they decided to eat in their rooms. The meal passed quickly, and a few hours later, they were both dressed and ready to hit the town.

  The trip to the nightclub took next to no time. Of course, once they parked and made their way to it, they were immediately ushered in—any Tah’Narian who saw the symbols on their necks knew they were part of the royal family. The music thumped, the lights flashed, and bodies danced to the music everywhere Szin looked.

  He followed Raiden through the crowd that swayed to the music. Hands reached for him, and his first reaction was to shy away, but he caught himself. If he had any hopes of his plans succeeding, he was going to have to put a stop to that, and quickly.

  They cleared the floor, and Raiden snagged them a table. “So, how does it feel knowing you’re officially an adult?” he asked once they were seated.

  “I really don’t see what the big deal is.” Szin refused to meet Raiden’s eyes.

  The big deal was now Takeo could claim him.

  Before Szin even got comfortable in his seat, Raiden had their drinks ordered. They popped up out of the serving slot on the table, and Raiden grabbed his. At least the service was fast. Hopefully that wasn’t all that was fast around here.

  Raiden lifted his glass. “To us.”