Dancing in the Darkness

  Dancing in the Darkness

  The Alpha God

  Book One

  by Lexa Luthor

  Luthor Publishing

  2019

  Contents

  Blurb

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Get Social with the Author

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

  eBooks, or parts of ebooks, are not transferable. They cannot be sold, shared, or given away without permission.

  Dancing in the Darkness

  © 2019 By Lexa Luthor. All Rights Reserved.

  Luthor Publishing

  www.LuthorPublishing.com

  First Edition - April 2019 – 01 02

  Blurb

  Set deep in the Milky Way galaxy, the beautiful planet, Kander, has been inhabited only by the Kalmar, a race of Alphas and Omegas, until Earth’s humans arrived years ago and disrupted their peace. Since its first dawning, Kander has been ruled by one Kalmar simply known as Kal, a supreme Alpha who harnesses a god’s spirit.

  Charlie, an indignant human raised on Kander during the civil war, is beckoned back after she escaped as a teen. Needing money and a job more than her pride, Charlie is hired to retrieve a kidnapped Omega that was taken off-world. Charlie and her mercenary team work with Kal in preparation of their mission. Together, she and Kal form a plan, however, Charlie soon learns intimate details about Kal’s rare nature as a “female” Alpha.

  As Charlie and her team embark on the journey to rescue the Omega, they are faced with startling questions about the true motives behind the kidnapping. It was supposed to be just another job, but when Charlie starts to give a damn about both the missing Omega and the enigmatic Alpha ruler, it leaves her in the crossfire.

  Dancing in the Darkness is a 52,000-word third-person sci-fi F/F romance Omegaverse novel. It is the first book in The Alpha God series. It contains g!p material* as well as intimate scenes not suitable for any reader under the age of eighteen. This book does have a cliffhanger and plot twists that carry through the series. No rape. No cheating. No shifters. No fempreg. But plenty of plot.

  *G!p is an abbreviation for "girl penis." Check the author's blog to learn more about the F/F version of Omegaverse and related terms like g!p and fempreg.

  Acknowledgement

  A huge thank you to everyone that helped and supported me through this book. My editors, my beta readers, author friends, and my friends were crucial in making this first book possible. I am truly humbled.

  Chapter 1

  From the pilot's seat, Charlie continued singing one of her favorite songs and carefully navigated the spaceship, Pacifica, closer to the broken moon, Lerto. The rocky, split sphere orbited an uninhabitable gaseous planet in a nearly forgotten solar system at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. As the Pacifica slowed, the dark moon's artificial gravity hugged the ship's hull.

  Behind the captain's chair, Charlie sensed one of her crewmembers standing over her shoulder, but nothing had to be said about their current location. Shortly, the ship's flight systems were put into standby now that they were settled into the orbit for the next several hours.

  In the co-pilot's seat, Raakor, the second crewmember, was busy tapping the flight control's touch panel a few times before he touched a visible piece of bionic tech imbedded in his neck. The tech in his purple skin flashed a soft red, indicating he was connected with the ship's system.

  After a glance at the screen, Charlie confirmed the artificial handshake between Raakor and the ship before she shut down the flight and navigation modules.

  From behind the captain's chair, Starr folded her arms and said, "I hope we're going down for drinks."

  Charlie smirked and turned down the music from the control panel, then spun the seat around to face Starr. "Yes, considering tomorrow's meeting on Kander."

  "How far are we from Kander?"

  "Almost three hours from Kander. We just hop over one solar system." Charlie carefully studied Starr, who was keeping it together despite tomorrow's pending meeting at a nearby planet. "Thanks for doing this, Starr."

  After a low grunt, Starr glared out the front window at the broken moon. "Stills are stills. We need the money. Gods know the Pacifica could use an overhaul." Raakor's huff brought her attention to him.

  Charlie scanned the interior of the ship and agreed that it needed maintenance now that wiring was exposed, peeling paint, squeaking doors, and glitchy touch panels. And similar to Starr, she was struggling with going back to Kander after so long and tried to keep her emotions in check. If nothing else, a few good beers on Lerto would settle her nerves. "Wanna jettison in ten?"

  "Sure." Starr canted her head and tapped Raakor's chair. "You coming with us?"

  Raakor was silent and seemed to be considering his options.

  Charlie knew he wasn't usually the one to join them for drinks, but this time she wanted him to come with them. "We should talk more about this mission."

  Raakor gave a soft sigh but nodded and stood up from the co-pilot seat. "See you in ten." He slipped past Starr without another word and vanished deeper in the ship.

  Starr folded her arms, revealing her thick biceps highlighted by her short-sleeve shirt. "Raakor already knows about the Kalmar people."

  "Not enough," Charlie argued. "I want to make sure he doesn't accidentally piss off an Alpha, especially thee Alpha." She believed in Raakor's ability to handle many difficult situations logically until it came to personalities. Logic rarely worked against emotions, especially when it came to the Kalmar people—their possible new client.

  Starr nodded before heading out of the cockpit.

  Charlie followed and entered the row of aft cabin doors. She, Raakor, and Starr had separate quarters while the other two remained empty for the occasional guest.

  Once in her quarters, Charlie hastily changed out of her rundown canvas pants and black shirt. She put on a pair of tight, weathered jeans that had cost her more stills than she cared to tell anybody. Next was a deep red shirt that hugged her curves, but her black leather jacket hid it all. After pocketing a lectra gun inside the jacket, she ducked into the head, which automatically lit up and revealed the mirror over the sink.

  From her reflection, Charlie decided time and space were indeed catching up to her now that she was around thirty-two in Earth years, at least. Her wavy hair had once been golden like sunshine, but due to life in outer space, it was now a light amber shade. Besides a few freckles over her smooth cheekbones, she had rather pale and square features. After pulling a brush through her tangled strands, Charlie applied a soft shade of red lip gloss, then rushed out of the quarters.

  With a techbit in hand, Charlie checked her current balance of stills, and the low number made her sigh heavily. It looked like her dinner would mainly consist of liquids. Starr was right that they needed the stills from this upcoming job, or they would be hard-pressed to survive any further.

  After a grumble or two, the techbit's screen shut off, and Charlie tucked it inside her leather jacket. She peered out the round window and studied the fractured moon, which was mostly dark other than a patch lit up by the moon's residents. Her thoughts drifted, much like the ship, until heavy boot steps made her look at her crew.

  "Ready?" Starr asked.
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  Charlie silently answered by approaching one of the two small four-person shuttles that they would take to the moon's surface. She studied Starr, who had a different air to her than normal.

  Under the bay's dim light, Starr's short, dark hair had a silver hue, and her brown eyes were more blown than normal. Due to her biology, she was naturally tall and had a bulked-up wide frame, which made it easy for her act as Charlie's muscle. Unlike Charlie, she wore gray pants and a heavy, dark shirt that hugged her muscular figure. A thick leather belt hung loosely around her waist and held a lectra handgun.

  "You look like a damn human," Starr remarked, then loaded into the vessel from the co-pilot's door.

  Raakor ducked under the rear passenger door and sat in the bucket seat.

  After getting into the pilot's chair, Charlie grinned and stated, "Because I am."

  Starr rolled her eyes and buckled up as the shuttle came to life. "It doesn't mean you need to look like one... be so fuckin' obvious."

  Charlie glanced at Starr and noticed the soft shine in Starr's brown eyes. "It's Lerto, and they have no laws against humans." Hell. There were only two laws on Lerto—no murder and no rape.

  "Not yet," Starr muttered.

  The dashboard beeped, which indicated it was safe to reverse the shuttle out of the bay of the Pacifica. Charlie carefully steered the shuttle while she considered Starr's deteriorating mood, which could affect the meeting tomorrow. Maybe it was the pending meeting that was rattling Starr, but Charlie had a sixth sense about Starr's biology.

  Once the shuttle was out of the bay, Charlie flicked several switches and started navigating toward the moon. "Don't tell me you're flaring, Starr." From the thick silence, she scowled at her and snapped, "This is really, I mean, really bad timing."

  "It's early for some reason," Starr snarled back.

  With white knuckles, Charlie gripped the helm controls and said, "We are going to the planet Kander tomorrow and if they—"

  "I know," Starr yelled, and the fire in her eyes silenced Charlie, for now.

  Charlie held her tongue and tried focusing on the flight to Lerto, but she kept thinking about Starr's hybrid body due to her bi-species background. As half human and half Kalmar, Starr faced prejudice on her former home planet of Kander. However, there was less bigotry in outer space until an occasional cutthroat wanted to collect on old bounties for Starr's hybrid nature.

  After a low huff, she spotted the landing pads at Lerto's ship port. She and Starr had gone to Lerto over forty times in their two years together.

  But Raakor, who remained silent in the back, had only been to the moon a handful of times. He usually preferred to keep to himself and always had a few projects to work on or spent time taking care of maintenance on the ship. For the past celestial year, he had become an essential asset to Charlie's team.

  The flight to the landing port was easy, and Charlie lowered the shuttle with expert skill. She and the crew walked to the local watering hole in the city. The dirty streets were lit by torches, and every humanoid and not so humanoid species passed by them. Charlie received most of the stares and heard the whispers behind her back, which was normal. Starr walked closer to her, a clear indication of Starr's flare-up.

  At the bar, Charlie immediately downed two shots and ordered a warm beer when they sat down at a table. Starr drank her first beer quickly but sipped on the second one while Raakor nursed a Whirly ale, one of his favorites from what Charlie could tell.

  For a moment, Charlie stared at Raakor and thought about his time since joining her crew. Outwardly, Raakor was large and bulky with a rich purple hue to his skin, typical of his species. There wasn't a single hair on him, but tattoos decorated his body. He was always shirtless but kept his dark jacket zipped up, hiding many of his old scars. His grey pants had oil splotches, and his thick heeled boots made him even taller. Raakor rarely fought, and Charlie had nicknamed him the Gentle Giant.

  From their small corner, the three mercenaries enjoyed the view of the busy bar and hums of conversation in various languages. The most common language among the customers was Jero, a universal language from the oldest race in the galaxy called the Jerothian. There were at least eight or maybe nine different species between the tables and stools. Two bartenders, who were twin Rath species, worked the long bar while a dozen servers rushed around to bring drinks or food.

  At times, the place could be a little dank due to it being built into a cliffside, but Charlie liked the natural gray stone walls all around them. Gazing up, she smiled at the shiny moonstones that peeked through the rock ceiling. The unusual stones were natural to the moon and acted similar to a mirror, reflecting any light, such as the torches that lined the walls. In the center was a round fire pit that helped to heat and dry out things, mostly.

  As Charlie's crew enjoyed their drinks, different people approached them and solicited offers for the night, and Charlie waited to see if Starr would accept any. There were many species, throughout the galaxy, who could often sense Starr's flare-up, and it made her an easy target for prostitutes. They assumed her natural biological need to reproduce overcame her better senses when she was in a flare. One particular fair-haired, emerald-skinned beauty had caught Starr's attention, but the price had been too high. The next person was a furry creature from the Jerhath race that Charlie kept calling a bat.

  Starr waited until the Jerhath was gone before she leaned over the table toward Charlie. "He smelled like rotten eggs."

  Charlie choked on her sweet alcohol and asked, "You were that close to him?"

  Raakor shook his head and finished off the ale.

  "He was practically in my lap," Starr replied and huffed but looked to her boss. "What time is the meeting again?"

  Charlie shifted her mindset to business, wanting to ensure both her crewmen knew what to do tomorrow. She leaned against the table when Raakor answered the question. "Eleven hundred Kander time."

  "Did you download their native language?" Charlie asked him. "They only speak Kalamarese and sometimes a little English."

  Raakor folded his arms and nodded. "Uploaded to my brain and processed." By nature, he was from the Hurr race, which was heavily steeped in technology. Like other Hurr, he had a bionic chip attached to his brain, and it allowed data to be downloaded or uploaded rather than having to read or watch to learn.

  Charlie was pleased that Raakor's chip was updated with the Kalmar's language and shifted mental gears back to the main topic. "We need to go over the Kalmar and how they work."

  "I understand the Kalmar," Raakor declared.

  "Then I want to know what you know," Charlie argued. "Because if any of us"—she cut her bright blue eyes to Starr, then back to Raakor—"screw this up then we're fucked. But if we get this job, we could stand to make out really good."

  "Really well," Starr corrected.

  Charlie smacked Starr's forearm and looked at Raakor again. "No other mercs have been hired by Kalmar, ever."

  "But they selected us," Raakor countered.

  "Maybe we'll find out why later," Starr replied.

  Nodding, Charlie sat back in the chair and said, "Tell me what you know."

  After an aspirated sigh, Raakor slouched against the chair and folded his arms, showing his rich violet skin that reflected the bar's low light. "Kander is a terrestrial planet eighty-seven point six percent land and the rest water. It's been inhabited since—"

  "Wait," Charlie cut off and waved a hand. "I don't need the planet's dating profile. What do you know about the Kalmar themselves?"

  Raakor finished off his drink, then set the empty mug to the side. "They're a biped humanoid species who have a strong sense of smell, superior night vision, and they age slower than other humanoid species. They are divided into two types: one is Alpha and the other is Omega. The Alphas are generally larger and stronger and known for being aggressive, boorish, and volatile. The Omegas are considered more reasonable, submissive, and nurturing but can be protective. Physically they are smaller
than the Alphas." He paused when Charlie nodded at him; he grumbled and continued relaying what he knew. "They typically mate for life after the Alpha ruts, knots, and impregnates an Omega, who's in heat."

  "Good," Charlie praised. "But don't let the Omega's submissive thing go to your head. They're actually feistier than what everyone thinks." She glanced over at Starr, who was drinking her beer. "What do you know about their government?" she asked Raakor.

  "The planet is controlled by a single monarch called the High Commander."

  "The Kalmar also call him Kal," Charlie said.

  Raakor had a curious glow in his eyes, silently questioning Charlie.

  "Every High Commander is called Kal," Charlie revealed. "It's like every Roman Emperor being called Caesar after…." She faltered because she realized Raakor knew very little about Earth history. "Anyway, the Kal is always an Alpha, and they had a new Kal take power about…." She looked to Starr for help.

  "About eight orbits ago," Starr supplied. "During the messy civil war."

  Raakor hummed low and nodded once. "A war started by the Earthlings landing and settling on Kander."

  "Yes, it was a fucking mess." Charlie frowned and muttered, "Probably still is." Briefly, she thought back on her ugly childhood on Kander but refocused on the conversation and said, "The Kal is also considered their god."

  "Indirectly," Starr debated and took over the religious explanation of the planet. "The myth is that their god, Kalatas, selects an Alpha, comes down, and merges with the Alpha so they can rule together. It stays inside the Alpha until death, then Kalatas chooses another."