Addie's Alien: Alien Protector

By Tianna Xander

She's an executive assistant hiding from a dangerous past. He's a shapeshifter searching for a home. Can their differences be the very thing that brings them together?

Addie Mason's first mistake was ditching her handler in the Witness Protection Program to go skydiving with her best friend. The second was thinking the dog-like alien who snatched her mid-dive when her parachute failed, was a benevolent savior. When a second alien—what's the chances of meeting two in one day?—transports them aboard his ship. The days of hiding from her drug lord ex-boyfriend seemed simple in comparison.

Jaxis Rey'vaan is captain of one of three Dumarian vessels seeking a new homeworld, charged with preserving their species. Their people had been human before their scientists used animal DNA to change them into shapeshifters. They had also screwed up the planet's ecosystem in the process. After years of searching, the only world they found to be an exact match is inhabited by millions of humans—Earth.

Jax hadn't dared to dream he'd find a woman who was compatible with his new, altered DNA. Perhaps he hadn't found a new world to call their home, but he had found a woman his people could call their queen. Would she leave her home and board his spaceship bound for nowhere, or would she refuse his proposal and stay on Earth?

It's not too difficult for Addie to believe an alien has rescued her from certain death. However, being rescued by an alien shapeshifter claiming to be a mythical dragon is a little harder to accept.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tianna Xander
• Release date: Dec 12, 2018
• ISBN: 9781393055150

Book preview

She’s an executive assistant hiding from a dangerous past. He’s a shapeshifter searching for a home. Can their differences be the very thing that brings them together?

Addie Mason’s first mistake was ditching her handler in the Witness Protection Program to go skydiving with her best friend. The second was thinking the dog-like alien who snatched her mid-dive when her parachute failed, was a benevolent savior. When a second alien—what’s the chances of meeting two in one day?—transports them aboard his ship. The days of hiding from her drug lord ex-boyfriend seemed simple in comparison.

Jaxis Rey’vaan is captain of one of three Dumarian vessels seeking a new homeworld, charged with preserving their species. Their people had been human before their scientists used animal DNA to change them into shapeshifters. They had also screwed up the planet’s ecosystem in the process. After years of searching, the only world they found to be an exact match is inhabited by millions of humans—Earth.

Jax hadn’t dared to dream he’d find a woman who was compatible with his new, altered DNA. Perhaps he hadn’t found a new world to call their home, but he had found a woman his people could call their queen. Would she leave her home and board his spaceship bound for nowhere, or would she refuse his proposal and stay on Earth?

It’s not too difficult for Addie to believe an alien has rescued her from certain death. However, being rescued by an alien shapeshifter claiming to be a mythical dragon is a little harder to accept.

Dedication

To my beta readers and the girls in my critique group: Thanks for everything. You guys rock!

Science Fiction Romance

Addie’s Alien: Alien Protector Series Book 1

Copyright © 2018 Tianna Xander

First E-Book Published December 2018

Cover Design by KD Wethy

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission from the author.

All characters, places, and events in this book are fictitious or have been used fictitiously, and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations are strictly coincidental.

Chapter One

C an you tell me when I lost my mind? Addie’s stomach churned as she watched the rear ramp drop in preparation for their jump. She held her hand over her empty middle, glad her friend hadn’t let her eat anything for breakfast and asked herself, how she had allowed Jen to talk her into this?

The loud rumble of the plane made it tough to carry on a conversation, even with the headsets in their helmets, but she was determined to let her friend know she wasn’t happy. Besides, neither of them had ever been afraid to raise their voices, especially if they wanted to carry on a conversation.

Taking a deep breath, she swallowed thickly and kept herself from peering out through the small window to her right. Flying wasn’t her strong suit. She hated heights. She wasn’t sure how many hundreds, or thousands of feet, they were in the air, and frankly, she didn’t give a damn. Anything more than ten or twenty yards would probably kill her if they suddenly plummeted out of the sky.

Please tell me because I don’t remember.

Maybe she’d lost her mind when she’d agreed to turn state’s evidence against her ex-boyfriend. Crazy or not, she’d had to do something after overhearing him order the death of one of her old high school sweethearts.

What kind of psycho had a guy murdered just because they didn’t like the idea that he had kissed their girlfriend ten years before? Why hadn’t she found out Crash was an insane, criminal drug lord before he’d had Carson killed—or better yet—before she’d even started dating the bastard?

You haven’t lost your mind. Come on. It’ll be fun. Jenna, her best friend, leaned closer, nudged her and grinned. If I can do it, you can do it.

But you’ve always been the crazy one, the risk taker. I’m the sane, do everything the safe way, boring one. Addie didn’t mind pointing out that fact if it would get her out of jumping out of a perfectly good plane. She glanced through the window again and shook her head. I can’t do it. I changed my mind.

What if she died? She shouldn’t put herself in such danger. She needed to make out a will. Who else would care for kids she’d all but adopted? Leaving them with no one to look out for them wasn’t an option. Others might not care about the homeless kids living on the streets, but Addie couldn’t look the other way.

She clutched the strap attached to the inside of the plane. Josh, their instructor, had told her it was something used by novice jumpers. Addie eyed the red nylon, trying to remember what he’d called it. Static line, maybe? God, why hadn’t she paid more attention to him? She reached for the fastenings on her harness, intending to remove her chute at once. I don’t want to jump.

Oh, come on. Jenna almost whined as she slapped Addie’s hands away from the fasteners. "Josh is a good instructor, and this jump is just what the doctor ordered. You’ve been cooped up for too long in that witness protection program. Now that that jerk, Crash, is dead, and the trial for his cronies is in two weeks, it’s time to live!"

"I am living. That’s why I don’t want to jump. Addie glanced through the window. I like living. I’m good at it. She cocked her head to the side and met Jenna’s gaze. How in the world did I ever let you convince me to jump out of an airplane several thousand feet in the air?" Addie knew how. She merely didn’t want to admit she would have agreed to almost anything when she found out that someone had bombed Crash’s hideout, with him in it. The only things left of him were a few tiny body parts and the thick, gold rings and chains he’d cherished to the point of worship.

You trust me. Jenna grinned.

Yeah, and look where it landed me.

Jenna stuck her tongue out at her.

"Wow, that’s mature."

Look, this is my thirty–third jump and I’m fine. Jenna glanced around, looking toward the front of the plane. I wonder when Josh is going to get back here. She checked her watch with a frown. We should be in the jump zone in a few minutes.

The door opened, and Josh stood there for a second looking dazed before he turned around, shut the door, and shoved something in the handle. We need to jump and jump now! He reached for his chute and started to put it on.

Blood oozed along his hairline and dripped down his neck. What the hell happened to him? Banging from the other side of the door caught Addie’s attention, and she looked up just in time to see a hole appear in the window of the door to the cockpit a split second after she heard the report of an odd–sounding weapon.

After the sound of another shot, a red stain blossomed on Josh’s shirt below and to the right of his heart. He fell to his knees, holding his hands against his chest. Go, jump!

Holy shit! Jenna screamed when someone reached through the hole melted through the center of the thick glass and pointed what appeared to be a weapon their way. The huge fist held a strange looking device that could have been a gun if the end of it hadn’t been glowing. The hand gripping it didn’t even seem human, showing beige, rough-looking skin covered in strange spots. Long tufts of hair covered the knuckles and would have appeared comical if it hadn’t been waving the strange ray gun toward them.

The small opening in the broken window made it difficult for whoever it was, to aim toward them, and see what they were doing. Jumping was their only chance. Jenna grabbed her hand, and they ran toward the back of the plane.

Don’t worry. Just remember your lessons, and you’ll be all right.

Addie followed Jenna, her mind spinning with the realization that she must take her chances jumping, or die where she stood. Either way, she faced certain death. The plane shuddered and jerked in the air. A small explosion rocked the craft as they stumbled toward the ramp.

Jenna, always the decisive one, didn’t give her a chance to change her mind and decide to take her chances with the shooter. Ruthlessly, she pushed Addie from the plane and quickly followed.

Spreading her arms and legs, Addie did her best to remember the things Josh had taught her as she fell toward the Earth. Her mind raced, and her heart pounded. She squeezed her eyes closed, unable to watch as she plummeted through the air. She pulled the ripcord and waited to feel the jerk of the chute as it opened behind her.

The chute didn’t open. Glancing back, Addie saw Jenna’s chute had deployed, just as it should have. She thanked God that her best friend would be okay, even if she ended up tumbling to her death.

Her malfunctioning chute was Crash’s doing. She knew it. That one–balled bastard was still trying to kill her, even from the grave. If that were the case, he’d finally succeeded.

After a moment of panic, she tried to calm herself down enough to think. She didn’t have much time. Still, Josh had covered what to do if her chute didn’t open. Frantic, she pulled the cord to deploy the backup, and nothing happened. Wasn’t it just her luck? Either Crash’s goons had managed to sabotage her parachute, or it was defective.

Either way, she was just as dead.

Addie screamed and screamed as she continued her rapid descent toward her imminent demise. Why couldn’t she pass out? Hadn’t someone said if her chute didn’t open, she would die of fright a long time before she ever hit the ground? Hell, she couldn’t even do falling to her death right.

No matter the fear that filled her, or the regrets, Addie couldn’t help but think about Jenna and how guilty her friend would feel about all of this. If only she had refused to do this stupid, stupid thing—and her kids. Who would care for them? It had taken a long time to gain the trust of the kids she’d found living in an empty warehouse. Now, who would make sure they had enough food and stayed warm in the winter?

She squeezed her eyes shut, unable to watch as the ground grew closer along with her death. Taking a deep breath, she drew on some inner strength she hadn’t known she had and realized it helped. Somehow, she no longer felt the air rushing past her. She no longer felt as though she plunged to her demise at terminal velocity.

Warmth and the feeling of weightlessness stole over her. When she forced her eyes open, a bright light made her squint. She glanced around. Was that Jenna, and how in the world were they floating? Gravity finally took over, she fell a few feet and landed on something hard.

Reaching out, Addie touched a cold and smooth surface. A wall? She narrowed her eyes, attempting to see past the glare. Colorful lights blinked near a seam in the wall. Was it a doorway?

She glanced at Jenna. The other woman was unconscious, lying on her deployed parachute, her cheeks still wet with recent tears. Being unconscious was a lucky break for her. She was oblivious to all the weird things happening. Addie closed her eyes. How had they come to be in this place? Was the entire parachuting fiasco, nothing more than a horrible nightmare? Sitting up, she looked around. Was the room a figment of her imagination, and she would soon wake up, still warm in her bed?

If that was the case, she was calling Jenna first thing when she woke up. No way would she set foot in any jump plane after such a crazy dream.

The seam in the wall grew wider as she watched with morbid fascination. Standing on the other side stood a large, bear of a man with—she blinked and checked again.

You have four arms! Usually, she took note of other people’s differences, but she never voiced her surprise, or revulsion, at them. That was just plain rude.

This time, however, she couldn’t help but point out the fact that the man had four upper appendages. His hands were huge. They were also hairy and beige, just like the one that had pointed a weapon through the window on the plane. Had he been the shooter in the jump plane? Her gaze traveled upward as she continued to wrap her mind around his extra body parts and she gaped at the person who stood before her with a head more like a dog or a bear, than any man she’d ever seen.

The smell of wet dog permeated the air in the large cell as the creature stepped through the doorway. Two big, brown eyes tracked her every movement as she sat in the corner. A nose, more like a snout, protruded from its face. Two large, round things, she would swear were ears, sat atop the large, grotesque head. The thing cocked its head to the side as though it didn’t understand what she’d said.

"This is a nightmare, after all, she said with a shaky sigh. When I wake up, the first thing I’m going to do is tell Jenna to go get stuffed. There’s no way I’m setting foot inside her car, let alone a jump plane with her today. Possibly never."

Quiet, human! How did the creature manage to talk with a mouth like the snout of a dog?

Stomping closer, the lightly–furred dog-thing backhanded her with two of its big, ham-like hands. You will speak only when spoken to. The deep voice came out almost a growl, but somehow she’d understood what it had said.

Black spots danced before her eyes. With her hand held to her cheek, she staggered back, her head spinning. Ow! That hurt! Addie flinched when the creature drew back as if to strike her again. She­­­­ covered her mouth with her hand, hoping it would understand the action meant she’d keep it shut.

Her face throbbed where he—because with such a deep voice the creature had to be a male—hit her and her eye slowly swelled shut as she watched him stride to Jenna’s body and nudge her with the odd, square toe of his boot.

She wanted to scream—to tell it to leave her best friend alone, but real or not, that slap had hurt like the devil. She already couldn’t see out of one eye; if he cuffed her on the other side of her face, she wouldn’t be able to see anything at all.

With his broad back turned toward her, it allowed her to study him—or it? He must have been every bit of three feet wide. His skin was an odd mottled shade of beige and covered in a dusting of light fur. It seemed to stretch tight over muscles that had muscles, and it appeared as though he had small spots all over, as well. Addie wasn’t about to make any inquiries—not while the threat of being backhanded