Dero's Bride (Norlanian Brides Book Five) Read online

  Dero’s Bride

  Norlanian Brides Book Five

  By R. E. Butler

  Copyright 2017 R. E. Butler

  Dero’s Bride (Norlanian Brides Book Five)

  By R. E. Butler

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

  Cover by CT Cover Designs

  This ebook is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locations is coincidental.

  Disclaimer: The material in this book is for mature audiences only and contains graphic sexual content and is intended for those older than the age of 18 only.

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  Editing by Hot Tree Editing

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  Thanks to Joyce & Shelley for beta reading

  For BB and BL - I love you both.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Coming Next from RE Butler

  Contact the Author

  Other Books by RE Butler

  Dero’s Bride (Norlanian Brides Book Five)

  By R. E. Butler

  Tarihn, an unmated female on the planet Norlan, has spent most of her life knowing that she’ll likely never be chosen as a mate because she’s sterile. She spends her days watching her people take soul mates from other planets and find happiness, but she knows she won’t ever be so lucky.

  Dero lives on the forbidden side of the Issizlik Mountains. He’s never ventured to the other side of the mountain until now, when he and his people mount a mission to destroy the soul-walk machines used to abduct females from other planets and the vaccinations that have caused the females to become sterile. What he doesn’t expect is to scent his own soul mate in the medical center or for her to pass out in fear when they come face-to-face.

  Dero has three days to convince Tarihn that they’re soul mates, or he’ll have to return her to her home and erase her memory. The thought of living without her for even a moment is too much for him to bear, and he’ll do everything in his power to ensure that she knows he wants to spend the rest of his life making her happy. Will she give him a chance to prove that they’re meant to be together, or will she want to go back to her own people?

  Chapter 1

  Dero ran the whetstone over his favorite blade, the scraping rhythm soothing his nerves. In a few hours, he was joining others to travel through the mountains in order to put a stop to the government’s lies that had wreaked havoc on the Norlanian people for generations. Dero’s own people, the Ligaru, were descended from the Norlanians but had defected years earlier to start their own way of life on the other side of the Issizlik Mountains. They’d claimed a vast wilderness as their own and carved out an existence for themselves, relying not on the Norlanians’ notion of machine-aided soul mates but on finding love.

  Not that he’d had any luck in that department. There were over seventy people in the city he called home deep in the forest, but none of the few unmated females were his soul mate. He had no idea when he’d meet her, but he knew that the moment he laid eyes on her, he would just know.

  “Are you done with mine?” his brother, Carus, asked.

  Dero stopped sharpening his own blade and picked up his brother’s, which was safely tucked into a hide sheath that would be attached to his belt.

  “Thanks,” Carus said as he took it, pulled it from the sheath, and whistled appreciatively. “What are you thinking about so seriously?”

  “How we’ll find our soul mates.”

  Dero picked up the blade and whetstone and began to work again.

  “I’ve wondered that myself. Mama says we’ll meet our mates at the right time, but unless there’s a mass exodus of females over the mountain, I don’t know what will happen.”

  Dero chuckled. “Ashleigh said that, on her world, there are myths of beautiful females with wings called angels. It would be nice if a few beautiful, winged females came our direction.” Ashleigh was from a planet called Earth. Her soul mate, Eden, had gone on a soul-walk for her, using a government-run machine that found soul mates from other planets for the Norlanian males. Their own planet’s females had, unfortunately, become sterile. But not on Dero’s side of the mountains, where females were still able to bear young.

  “I’d like an angel,” Carus said. “Wings would be handy.”

  “My mind will be on the task at hand for our mission tonight. I was just daydreaming.”

  “Good. I’ll see you soon,” he said, leaving Dero alone to finish his task.

  For most of his life, he hadn’t given much thought to the other side of the mountain. His papa, Nelari, had grown up in the hidden city of the ligaru, but his mama, Yelda, had lived in the capital, Kyvern City, on the other side of the mountains. Most males on the other side wouldn’t choose a female on their own, relying instead on the soul-walk machine, which used drugs to send the males into a dream state to show them their soul mates. A male had gone on a soul-walk and seen Yelda as his soul mate, bringing her to a place high on the mountainside called a wooing chamber. Nelari and several other males had patrolled the chambers, breaking into them silently, drugging the males, and offering the females the chance for a new, different life.

  Once the females on the other side had gone sterile, the soul-walk machine stopped looking for soul mates on Norlan and turned to the stars. One of the ligaru’s newest residents, Sloan, was a medical officer from the other side. She was sterile and had been cast aside by a male who had promised to mate her. Warrick, a soldier in the military, had gone against societal norms and taken her as his soul mate. They’d come to live with Dero and his people, along with their family and friends. It would’ve been wonderful if one of the unmated females had been his soul mate but they weren’t. His only hope was that he might one day stumble across his soul mate, and that she’d be willing to live in the hidden city with him.

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  Like most other buildings in Kyvern City, the medical center was dome-shaped, with multiple entrances. One section was for emergencies, which was always staffed, so Dero and the men were avoiding that area. The other sections contained a large room for the workers to eat meals and rooms for the medical officers to see patients. It hadn’t been difficult for their small group to sneak into the building, but that didn’t mean they were safe. Getting in, finishing the mission, and getting back home required quick work, good planning, and a dash of luck.

  His brother Villi was leading their group, and Dero followed silently behind him as he moved through the building using a map that Sloan had drawn. Once they reached the room where the prenatal injections were stored and the main computer system was located, they quietly entered. Sloan believed that the prenatal injections that were given to pregnant females for generations, contributed to the sterility of their females, as well as causing blue hair at birth for the males. On the other side of the mountains, Dero’s people weren’t born with blue hair or sterility and didn’t use the vaccinations, which lead him to believe that Sloan was correct in her thinking.

  Dero sat at a computer and lifted a piece of parch
ment from his pocket that contained instructions from Sloan on how to corrupt the computers. Although he wasn’t familiar with computers, Sloan’s instructions were simply written, so he was able to enter the information that would upload a virus to destroy the information contained on the computer.

  Dero turned in the chair and watched his brothers destroy the prenatal vaccinations. “What do you suppose the Norlanian government will tell their people when they discover that the vaccinations and computers were destroyed?”

  Villi shrugged. “They can’t tell their people how important the vaccinations are in keeping the males’ hair blue without revealing their deception. Sloan said that there might be some older medical officers who had been part of the creation of the vaccinations and would be able to manufacture them again, but she thought it was unlikely.”

  Carus said, “The government will spin the destruction as a terrible event. They’ll be scrambling to recreate a vaccination so that any males born now will still have blue hair.”

  Males on this side of the mountain were born with blue hair. When they went on the soul-walk, they were given a serum that turned their hair brown after they mated with their soul mate. If a male chose not to use the soul-walk machine and picked a soul mate on his own, he would still purchase the serum. In Norlanian society, blue hair was a sign of being unmated, but a mated male with blue hair was considered of poor stock because he couldn’t afford the serum. Sloan’s soul mate, Warrick, hadn’t taken a serum, yet his hair had turned brown after he mated with her, which led Sloan to believe that the government was behind their people’s problems.

  The computer beeped when the virus was finished uploading, and he turned his attention to the task at hand. The screen flashed several times in warning as the virus spread through the files and corrupted them.

  “All done,” Dero said, grabbing the paper and stuffing it into his pocket as he pushed away from the desk.

  He stepped aside as Villi and Carus set small bombs on the computer, which were set to go off with a remote once they were out of the city. Just destroying the computer files and vaccinations wasn’t enough; they also wanted to cripple the doctors’ and scientists’ abilities further by destroying the computers.

  Dex – a male from the other side who had defected with his soul mate, Bella – was in the soul-walk building with a few other males, taking care of the computers, and then setting bombs to destroy the soul-walk machines.

  When his brothers were finished setting up the bombs, they quietly moved from the computer room and headed toward an exit. As they passed a large desk, Dero caught the scent of something amazing. He moved closer, resting his hands on the surface and inhaling deeply. His people had a strong sense of smell, using it to their advantage in hunting.

  The scent was sweet and wild, like a seccu flower after a rainstorm. His whole body reacted – his skin flushed, his gums ached, his cock went rigid, and a growl rumbled in his chest. Ignoring the curious looks from his brothers, he stalked toward the doors, following the lingering scent. As he left the room, he caught the scent once more and heard the soft footfalls of the female he was certain was the source.

  He rushed toward it, not caring that he was in a hostile city and needed to return to the safety of his people. He only cared about the source of the scent, a female he was sure was his.

  Chapter 2

  Tarihn tore a corner from the uikl cookie that her friend Pilar had left for her and tossed the sweet bite into her mouth. Pilar taught at the culinary academy and had catered a party for a pregnant alien female earlier that evening, stopping by the medical center where Tarihn worked with the leftovers. She’d shared the meal with Pilar, the security officers, and other staff members. Not only had she been treated to a delicious meal, but she’d also gotten an opportunity to get to know the talented cook. After helping her clean up, Pilar suggested she and Tarihn meet for a drink some evening after work, giving her a card with her contact information. Tarihn hadn’t been out for a drink with friends in ages, so she was looking forward to getting to know her new friend better.

  Tarihn worked at the medical center in Kyvern City at the reception desk. Her Aunt Gretys, who had raised her after her mother passed away when she was young, was a medical officer and had instilled a love of helping people in her from a young age. When her father had gone on a soul-walk when Tarihn was seventeen, she’d moved out and found work at the medical center, which she enjoyed. The job in the large waiting room gave her an opportunity to meet new people, and she enjoyed talking to the patients and their families. Lately, most of the patients coming into the clinic were pregnant alien females, and the majority of them were from a planet called Earth. They looked similar to Norlanian females, but their hair was a variety of colors, from the palest gold to a rich black. Tarihn, like all Norlanian females, was born a brunette.

  “You’re working late,” a male voice said behind her.

  Tarihn jumped in surprise and then pressed her hand to her chest to cover her pounding heart as she turned in her seat and faced Santel, one of the security officers.

  “You scared me.”

  He gave her a sheepish smile. “Sorry, I thought you heard me coming.”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head. “What did you say?”

  “I said you’re working late.”

  “There was a female who needed to see one of the medical officers because of her pregnancy, and they asked me to stay until she was finished.”

  “I hope she and the offspring are well.”

  “I think she was worried about something, but she wasn’t panicked when she came in with her soul mate, so hopefully there’s no problem.”

  He leaned against the circular desk, resting his arms on the glass top. “I’m saving up for an abduction trip.”

  Norlanian males paid to use a machine called a soul-walk, which sent them into a dreamlike state where they would see a vision of their soul mate. The machine would record their soul mate’s location, and the male would be added to a group of other males whose soul mates were on the same planet. The males funded the soul-walk, mating jewelry, and the abduction trip, and depending on the distance, some of the abductions could cost as much as one hundred thousand deenars.

  “Oh? What planet?”

  “Ferlon. I’d hoped to find a soul mate on Earth. The females are getting pregnant quickly.”

  Dozens of Earth females were pregnant now. Tarihn had met many of them as they’d come into the medical center for prenatal care. There were females from other planets who were pregnant, but none as prolifically as the Earth females. At one time, the males of Norlan had looked to their own females for soul mates, but for some reason, their females had gone sterile. Some females were lucky enough to be only partially sterile and able to bear males, but most females – Tarihn included – were entirely sterile.

  “I wish you and your soul mate luck,” Tarihn said.

  “Yeah, thanks. There was an abduction trip to Earth that left tonight.”

  “I saw them leave,” she said. Normally it would take years for the males to save up the deenars to fund the trip, but the government considered the Earth soul mates to be the most successful abductees, which led them to partially fund the cost of the trip.

  “If my female were from Earth, I’d be on that ship right now.”

  Tarihn wanted to roll her eyes. She felt bad for whoever Santel’s soul mate was. He was already annoyed that she wasn’t from Earth. Tarihn always considered the soul-walk to be kind of romantic, at least from an outsider perspective. If a male showed up at her door and said he’d dreamed about her and couldn’t live without her – well, she’d think that was pretty great. Of course, no males would dream of her on a soul-walk because she couldn’t bear young. There were males who mated females who were sterile, but there always seemed to be some kind of connection between them. Like the medical officer, Sloan, who mated a military male named Warrick. The two had known each other since childhood, and he’d opted to make her
his bride even though she was sterile.

  Now that was romantic.

  The door to one of the medical offices opened and the Earth female, her mate, and the medical officer, Delen, walked out.

  “Thank you so much,” the female said.

  “Anytime. I told you that I’m available day or night for whatever you need,” Delen said.

  “We appreciate your time,” the male said to the medical officer.

  “Thanks for staying late,” the female said to Tarihn. “I’m sure you had better things to do tonight than sit in the office.”

  “I don’t mind. It’s part of my job,” Tarihn said.

  Santel gave Tarihn a wave and disappeared back on his rounds. She watched the male and female leave, then turned to Delen, who was smoothing her graying hair back into a bun.

  “All is well with the female and her young?” Tarihn asked.

  Delen smiled. “Just first-time-mother nerves.”

  “I’m glad.”

  “Are you on your way out?”

  “Unless you need me to stay.”

  “Stars, no. I’m leaving myself. It’s late and I’m exhausted.”

  Tarihn said goodbye to the medical officer and shut down her computer, taking a few moments to finish her cookie and wipe the crumbs off the desk and into the trash. As she gathered her bag from the bottom drawer of the desk, she saw the small business card that Pilar had given to her and tucked it into her pocket. She would vid-call Pilar the following day and suggest they meet for drinks.

  Remembering she’d put a meal in a container in the cooling unit in the employee break room, she left her things at the desk and walked to the back. The medical center was dark and quiet because it was so late. There was an emergency area still open on the other side of the building that was staffed around-the-clock with medical officers, but the actual center was closed.