Cruel Union (Brutal Universe #1)

1. Slade

1

SLADE

HEAD ENFORCER OF CLAN CRUEL

“ Y ou sure you’re ready to Bind this girl?” Turk asked me, throwing back another shot of Prithian Sour . His moving neon tats—a sign of Clan Savage —flexed over his dark grey skin as he signaled the bartender for another. “ She’s an Untainted you know—she isn’t going to come easy.”

“ Yeah —she’s not gonna want anything to do with your ‘ Impure ’ ass.” Drake laughed and flexed his wings—a sure sign he was from Clan Ruthless . Their Elders had mated with the Dr’gons of Ni’malth Prime —a strategic trade. The result was that the males of their family could fly—pretty fucking useful in battle.

“ Like Slade gives a fuck,” Rath growled. He rubbed his curling horns, now painted silver, with one gloved hand. The metallic shine was a sign that the Chieftain of his Family — Clan Vicious —trusted him implicitly. “ He’s gonna take her no matter what she wants—she’s his Fated Mate .”

“ I’ll take her all right—but I won’t force her,” I said, knocking back my own drink—a Corthian brandy that had a deceptively sweet start and then burned like a fucking fireball going down. “ I won’t have to,” I added.

“ Oh no?” Drake demanded. “ Then how the fuck do you expect to keep her with you?”

“ Yeah — I thought you wanted this little human like you wanted your next breath.” Rath adjusted his gloves which ended at the wrist—he wore them to keep from feeling too much. Clan Vicious ’ abilities could also be a liability at times.

I clenched my jaw as I tried to keep myself from reacting to my friend’s words. Deep down, I felt the Darkness inside me stirring but I took a deep breath and pushed it back down. My own family— Clan Cruel —had mixed with the Night Walkers of Midnight Prime . The thing inside me was useful for battle…but it could be a problem sometimes.

“ I want her so much I fucking ache—she’s all I fucking think about,” I admitted in a low voice. “ But a forced Binding isn’t what I’m looking for. In fact, I’m not even planning to Bind her to me at all—not completely anyway.”

Turk shoved away the droid bartender—who was just about to pour his drink—and slammed down his glass to give me a look.

“ You’re going to do a partial Binding ? What the fuck, Slade ? Are you looking to be in pain? Are you some kind of masochist?” His fangs showed, making the last word into a hiss. Clan Savage had Serpentine blood in their ancestry.

“ I’m not worried about it, if that’s what you’re asking,” I said coolly, motioning for the bartender. The droid moved forward mechanically, pointing its spout-finger at my drink to refill it with more of the same. “ She’ll come around. Untainted or not, no woman can resist their Fated Mate for long.”

“ He’s got a point,” Drake said, flexing his wings again. “ But still—what a fucking hassle . Why choose an Untainted for your Fated Mate ?”

“ You know as well as I do that you don’t get to choose ,” I pointed out. “ She’s just the one— I’ve known from the first minute I saw her.” As I spoke, I ran a hand over my golden horns—a nervous habit that helped sooth the Darkness inside.

I was the only one of us who had golden horns, which showed my status as Head Enforcer of my Clan . But unlike my friends I hadn’t been raised to the position I was in— I was born to it. As the only son of the Chieftain of Clan Cruel , I never had a choice about what career path I wanted. As soon as I was old enough to understand him, my father had made it pretty fucking clear that I was going into the family business.

Of course, the family business included all kinds of criminal activity like prostitution, gambling, weapons running, cloning, gene splicing, smuggling, and anything else you can think of that’s against the law. But since we’re on one of the outside arms of the galaxy, the Imperium mostly leaves us alone. It helps that we keep order in the far arms of the Galaxy where the Emperor never cares to spend his royal resources. So the Brutes , (that’s all of us in the Four Families ,) have free reign.

Four members of all four of the Families gathered in a bar like this wasn’t usual—the Clans mostly keep their distance. We’ve divided our galaxy into sectors and mostly keep to ourselves except for a yearly meet—which was where I’d met Turk , Drake , and Rath when we were all younger. The four of us had bonded as kids and remained tight all these years.

Which was why I had invited them to come celebrate with me—tomorrow I was taking a bride. Not that she knew it yet and Turk was right—she wasn’t going to be happy when she found out her pure human DNA was going to be mingled with my mixed-up Brute genes.

See , though we’re divided into four Clans or Families , the Brutes all share a common ancestor—one who was capable of making genetic trades with other species. This ability to mate with outsiders to gain their best physical and mental attributes has always worked to our advantage—it also means we can find our Fated Mates anywhere in the galaxy. Hell —in the whole universe.

Most other species don’t mind mixing with us—well, aside from the fact that we’re fucking criminals. But it’s the fact that we run the rackets they object to—not our mixed blood. There are a few, however, that don’t like it. And humans are number one on that list.

Centuries ago they came here—running from a planet they called “ Earth ”—a world they had killed themselves through neglect and abuse of their natural resources. They settled in the distant arms of our galaxy, finding small unclaimed planetoids or carving out places for themselves in the wilderness of some of the larger habitable worlds.

Some of the humans mixed with us. They didn’t have wings or horns or the ability to read minds or emotions or any other useful physical or psychic attributes—but they did bring a certain cunning intelligence to the genetic trade that our ancestors found intriguing. Indeed , it wasn’t until after we mixed with the humans and learned their ways that the Four Families began dividing up territory and running our schemes. So I guess you could say it was a good trade.

But as I said, there are some humans—quite a few in fact—that want nothing to do with us or any other species for that matter. They call themselves the “ Untainted ” because their DNA is still pure human. To an Untainted , the worst thing in the whole fucking universe is being forced to mate with an “ Impure ” which is what they call us mixed-blood Brutes .

And yet the woman I was about to claim— Aurora of L’Crist —was as Untainted as they come. She was actually the Princess of a tiny kingdom on a planetoid on the very farthest edges of my Clan’s territory. No , she was not going to be happy to see me. But I had been watching her for years—waiting for the right time to swoop in and take her and now…

“ There he goes again—he’s got that look in his eyes,” Turk said, breaking my train of thought.

“ Dreaming of his Fated Mate ,” Drake said and bellowed laughter.

“ How are you going to get her to come with you, anyway?” Rath asked, frowning. “ You can’t just snatch her—it’s against Clan Law .”

“ I’m not going to just ‘snatch’ her,” I said stiffly. “ I’ll make her an offer she’s going to find extremely difficult to refuse. Then once I have her, I’ll make her want to stay.”

“ Good fucking luck with that, Slade . You’re going to be sorry when The Thirst hits you! You should do a full Soul - Binding right away,” Turk advised.

“ I’m not worried,” I said, shrugging. “ And I’m not going to do a full Binding until she’s ready. She’ll come around and let me drink eventually.”

“ Riiiight .” Drake arched an eyebrow sarcastically. “ The sweet, untouched, Untainted virgin is going to spread her legs for your Impure ass and let you drink as soon as you ask her to. You’re dreaming, my friend.”

“ If I am it’s better than the nightmare of looking at all of your ugly faces.” I finished my second brandy and slammed my glass down on the table. “ I need to go.”

“ Hey , I hopped through three fucking Space Gates to get to your side of the galaxy,” Rath protested. “ We’ve only had two drinks and you’re going to go already? What about hitting a brothel or two? I’ve heard there’s a new ‘droid one in this sector that’s fucking amazing.”

“ Yeah it’s amazing until you get your dick stuck in one of the droids—the owner has their pussy slots set too tight,” Turk said, wincing.

“ Ouch —sounds like you speak from experience.” Drake’s slitted red eyes were dancing with amusement. “ What’s wrong, Turk —did you get stuck yourself?”

“ No comment.” Turk shook his head and we all roared with laughter. I made a mental note to send an enforcer to talk to the owner. The droid brothel was in Clan Cruel territory. He needed a warning if his droids were hurting customers.

But I couldn’t really concentrate on what my friends were saying—my head was full of her. Full of my Fated Mate , Aurora . How long had I waited for her—dreamed of her—obsessed about her?

For fucking years.

I could still remember the first time I’d seen her and smelled her sweet scent, which was burned into my brain. It had stirred the Darkness within me and I had known at once that I wanted to hold the curvy little human in my arms and claim her completely.

I longed to part her legs, to taste her pussy and drink my fill of her sweet juices until she tugged my horns and moaned my name. Then I would fill her with my shaft until I knotted her—tying the two of us together in a Soul - Binding that was unbreakable for all eternity.

Aurora was my Fated Mate and I had waited so long to make her mine. Rath was right—by the laws of my Clan , I couldn’t just take her but now an opportunity had arisen—one I wasn’t going to miss. I needed to prepare.

“ Sorry , boys— I have to go,” I told them. “ We’ll have another Clan meeting soon. Drinks for the rest of the night are on me.”

I beckoned to the bartender and punched a code into the plate on its silver head. It was an override—one I could use because this bar was also within Clan Cruel territory. My father wouldn’t be very happy if he found out, but that was too fucking bad. He was getting old anyway. Soon he would have to step down and once I was the Chieftain of our Clan , I was going to make some changes.

But that was something to consider another time. Now all I could see was my Fated Mate — I wanted her with an intensity that grew daily. Lately the desire had gotten so bad I wasn’t sure I could trust myself much longer. She was all I ever dreamed about—all I ever fucking wanted. The knot at the base of my shaft throbbed at the thought of finally having her and Binding her to me.

I wondered if she had any idea at all that I was coming for her.

Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day for both of us.