Awakened by the Giant: Brides of the Kindred Read online

  Awakened by the Giant

  A Kindred Tales novel

  Evangeline Anderson

  .

  * * * * *

  PUBLISHED BY:

  Evangeline Anderson

  Kindred Tales

  Copyright © 2019 by Evangeline Anderson

  License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook 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 person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com or Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

  *Cover content is for illustrative purposes only. Any person depicted on the cover is a model*

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  *Author's Note* About a year ago, I introduced a new race of Kindred called the Jor'gen or Giant Kindred who are all around 9 ft tall. You guys seemed to like it so much, I decided to write another book about them. I hope you enjoy it and for those of who you wrote me asking if any of the Jor'gen Kindred might ever meet the Kindred of the Mother Ship, I believe this novel answers your question. ; ) And if you'd like to check out the pictures by the amazing artist Eleathyra that inspired the Jor'gen Kindred in the first place, check my Pinterest page HERE.

  Hugs and Happy Reading

  Evangeline

  Also by Evangeline Anderson

  Brides of the Kindred series (Sci-fi /Action-Adventure /Romance)

  Claimed (Also available in Audio)

  Hunted (Also available in Audio)

  Sought (Also Available in Audio)

  Found (Also Available in Audio )

  Revealed (Also Available in Audio)

  Pursued (Also Available in Audio)

  Exiled (Also Available in Audio)

  Shadowed (Also Available in Audio)

  Chained (Also Available in Audio)

  Divided (Coming soon to Audio)

  Devoured

  Enhanced

  Cursed

  Enslaved

  Targeted

  Forgotten

  Switched

  Uncharted

  Unbound

  Surrendered

  Vanished

  Imprisoned

  Kindred Tales series (side stories in the Brides of the Kindred which are outside the main story arc. These can be read as STAND ALONE novels.)

  Mastering the Mistress

  Bonding with the Beast (Also available in Audio)

  Seeing with the Heart

  Freeing the Prisoner

  Healing the Broken (a Kindred Christmas novel)

  Taming the Giant

  Bridging the Distance

  Loving a Stranger

  Finding the Jewel

  Bonded by Accident

  Releasing the Dragon

  Sharing a Mate

  Instructing the Novice

  Awakened by the Giant

  Hitting the Target (Coming March 2019)

  Born to Darkness series (Paranormal/Action-Adventure/Romance)

  Crimson Debt (Also available in Audio)

  Scarlet Heat (Also available in Audio)

  Ruby Shadows (Also available in Audio)

  Cardinal Sins (Coming Soon)

  Dessert (short novella following Scarlet Heat) (Also in Audio)

  Alien Mate Index series (Sci-fi /Action-Adventure /Romance)

  Abducted (Also available in Print and Audio)

  Protected (Also available in Print and Audio)

  Descended (Also available in Print and Audio)

  Severed (Also available in Print and Audio )

  The Cougarville Series

  (Paranormal/Action-Adventure/Romance/)

  (Older woman/Younger Man)

  Buck Naked (Also available in Audio)

  Cougar Bait (Also available in Audio)

  Stone Cold Fox (Also available in Audio)

  Big Bad Wolf (coming soon)

  The Institute series (Daddy-Dom/Age Play Romance)

  The Institute: Daddy Issues(Also available in Audio)

  The Institute: Mishka's Spanking

  The CyBRG Files with Mina Carter

  (Sci-fi /Action-Adventure /Romance)

  Unit 77: Broken

  Unit 78: Bred

  The Swann Sisters Chronicles

  (Contemporary Fairy/Funny/ Fantasy/Romance)

  Wishful Thinking (Also available in Audio)

  Be Careful What You Wish For (Also available in Audio)

  Compendiums and Box Sets

  Brides of the Kindred Volume One

  Contains Claimed, Hunted, Sought and Found

  Brides of the Kindred Volume Two

  Contains Revealed, Pursued, and Exiled

  Brides of the Kindred Volume Three

  Contains Shadowed, Chained, and Divided

  Brides of the Kindred Volume Four

  Contains Devoured, Enhanced, and Cursed

  Brides of the Kindred Volume Five

  Contains Enslaved, Targeted, and Forgotten

  Brides of the Kindred Volume Six

  Contains Switched, Uncharted, and Unbound

  Kindred Tales Volume One

  Contains Mastering the Mistress, Bonding with the Beast, Seeing with the Heart

  Kindred Tales Volume Two

  Contains Freeing the Prisoner, Healing the Broken, Taming the Giant

  Kindred Tales Volume Three

  Contains Bridging the Distance, Loving a Stranger, Finding the Jewel

  Alien Mate Index Volume One

  Contains Abducted, Protected, Descended, and Severed

  Born to Darkness Box Set

  Contains Crimson Debt, Scarlet Heat, and Ruby Shadows

  *One Hot Halloween

  Contains Red and the Wolf, Gypsy Moon, and Taming the Beast

  *Have Yourself a Sexy Little Christmas

  Contains Kidnapped for Christmas, Cougar Christmas, and Seasons's Spankings

  *Bound and Determined

  Contains The Punishment of Nicolett and His Ward

  Stand Alone Novels

  (Sci-fi OR Paranormal Action-Adventure/Romance)

  Purity (Now available in Audio)

  Stress Relief

  The Last Man on Earth

  Anyone U Want

  Shadow Dreams

  Hunger Moon Rising

  Cougar Christmas

  Planet X (Also available in Audio)

  Deal with the Devil (Also available in Audio)

  The Sacrifice (Also available in Audio)

  Blood Kiss

  Take Two

  The Pleasure Palace

  The Last Man on Earth

  Blind Date with a Vampire

  Eyes Like a Wolf (Foster Brother romance)

  *Defiled

  *Ceremony of Three

  *Str8te Boys (M/M romance)

  * Forever Broken (M/M romance)

  * Red and the Wolf

  *Gypsy Moon

  *The Last Bite (M/M romance)

  *The Assignment (M/M romance)

  *Sex with Strangers

  *A Spanking for Valentine

  * denotes books that are only available at Evangeline's Aliens and Alphas Bookstore

  Naughty Tales (Short Reads to get you Hot and Bothered)

  *Sin Eater

  Confessions of a Lingerie Model

  When Mr. Black Comes Home

  Speeding Ticket

  *Putting on a Showr />
  YA Novels

  The Academy(Now available in Audio)

  Click HERE to join my audiobook newsletter.

  Table of Contents

  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

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Epilogue

  Sneak Peek at Hitting the Target, the new Kindred Tales coming in March

  About the Author

  Also by Evangeline Anderson

  Newsletter Sign-up

  Chapter One

  “Welcome, Calden. Thank you for coming to see FATHER. What guidance do you seek today?”

  Calden of the Jor’gen Kindred shifted on the slightly-too-small stool which sat in the middle of the scanning booth. Everything aboard the Mentat station was slightly too small for him but since he was over three meters tall, it wasn’t surprising. In the five years he had been living and working there, he had gotten used to accommodating himself to the smaller living quarters and furnishings. It was worth a bit of discomfort to do the work he loved.

  The Jor’gen Kindred were a branch of the Kindred who had bonded themselves, against the High Council’s will, to a race of people who were thirty percent larger than most other humanoid races. They had lost touch with their Kindred brothers and then, as the High Council had predicted, they ran out of females to bond with. Because of a genetic anomaly, any joining with a Kindred warrior produced only sons, 95% of the time, which meant that the Kindred were always on the move, looking for new brides.

  When the Jor’gen Kindred ran out of females, they built a Mother Ship and went in search of new females to bond with them. Their leader, Bram, was certain that the Goddess—the Mother of All Life whom all Kindred worship—would lead them in the right direction.

  Calden had disagreed. He was an atheist and a scientist and he cared nothing for religion or wild hopes and dreams—or for females for that matter. He could happily live without a mate and so he had taken a shuttle and gone to live and work at the Mentat science station, a place where logic and reason were valued above all else. He had also taken the seed of a bonding fruit plant—a requirement for any Jor’gen Kindred who decided to leave the Mother Ship.

  “I will never use this, you know,” he had objected when Ren, the science officer and his good friend, had given it to him on his departure. “You know how the Mentats are—you know the rules aboard the station where I’m going to work.”

  “Nevertheless, you must take it,” Ren had insisted. “Bram wants to be certain that any warrior who leaves the Mother Ship has the means to bond with a chosen female if he meets one. And since we are so much larger than most of the people we can bond with, the bonding fruit is a necessity.”

  “I will take it as a token and memento of my race,” Calden had agreed, relenting. “Though I know I will never use it.”

  “Go in peace, Brother. And may the Goddess bless you,” Ren told him. “If you ever wish to join with us again, simply signal. Though we are going far from the Mentat station, I fear.” He frowned. “Still, we may hear you.”

  “I will be certain to keep my shuttle tuned to the Mother Ship for as long as possible,” Calden had promised. He and Ren had embraced one last time and then he had left, going to his new life—a life of science and study and observation.

  It was the life Calden had always wished for and he was happy here at the Mentat station. It was a bit cramped but since the race he now lived with was only half a meter or so shorter than he was, it wasn’t too bad. He had no problems living and working with the most logical beings in the universe, who valued reason over emotion. He fit right in with them and had no difficulty following their rules—even the more stringent ones most males would balk at.

  But now he was here in the scanning booth asking to break one of those rules…or at least bend it a little.

  “I am not so much in need of guidance as permission, FATHER,” he said, choosing his words carefully. The AI who oversaw and ran the Mentat station was a reasonable entity but some topics must still be approached with caution.

  There was a moment while the soothing blue light which suffused the scanning booth flickered and then FATHER’s voice spoke in that same, soft, melodious tone.

  “Very well, Calden. Explain.”

  “The recovery droids have made an extraordinary find,” Calden said. “The remains of a spaceship—a colony ship, we believe. Its inhabitants must have been seeking a new planet to live on because there are frozen embryos of many different animals and cuttings and seeds of hundreds of plants.”

  “A most stirring discovery.” The lighting in the scanning booth flickered faintly pink and FATHER’s voice sounded mildly interested, which for the Mentat AI was an extreme expression of emotion. “A whole new sentient alien race, you say—one none of us has encountered before?”

  “Exactly.” Calden worked hard to keep the excitement out of his own voice, though it was difficult to contain himself. To his curious, scientific mind, this was like the biggest name-day present anyone could wish for. He was itching to start studying some of the new plants and animals but there was one in particular he wanted to study—if only FATHER would agree.

  “What do you need permission for?” the AI asked, the lighting going back to soothing blue. “Why do you not begin your study of this new race at once? All knowledge is valuable, as you know.”

  “Yes, of course.” Calden nodded. “But there is one specimen in particular that I wish to study. You see, FATHER, despite the many plant and animal samples we have acquired, only one member of the alien race who sent this space craft out in the first place has been recovered."

  "Only one?" FATHER inquired.

  Calden nodded. "The ship was torn in two—we speculate that it went through a wormhole and came out in the middle of an asteroid field. The front half was lost and only the back half—the storage area—remained. At least, that is the only part our recovery droids found. The body of the sentient being was discovered there.”

  “I see.” FATHER hummed quietly to itself. “So only one sentient specimen remains and naturally you wish to grow a clone of it in the nutrient tanks and study it.”

  “Naturally,” Calden said.

  “Why must you ask permission for this, Calden?” FATHER asked. “Though you have not grown sentient specimens before, the protocol is the same as for non-sentient ones.”

  “I must ask permission because…” Calden took a deep breath. “Because this particular specimen is…female.”

  “Female?” The light in the scanning booth flickered again—this time turning an ominous reddish-orange. “Calden, you know our rules here. You were told when you first came to the Mentat station and were allowed to live and work with us. Females cause discord and illogical reactions among males. For this reason they are banned from our station with no exception.”

  “Of course I know the rules and I am not seeking to circumvent them now,” Calden said quickly. “But this is the only sentient member of the crew left. She could teach us so much about the plant and animal specimens we have collected.” He sat forward on the too-small stool, his hands clasped on his knees. “FATHER, I swear that this female would not be sexually compatible with any of the Mentats aboard the station. She is too different physically for any of them to mate with.”

  The Mentats were humanoid in some respects, having two eyes located on the front of their elongated heads, two nostril slits, a thin, lipless mouth, and a long, narrow torso from which two se
ts of arms sprouted. They were also bipedal and walked upright. But they kept their organs of reproduction tucked in a pouch under their narrow, pointed chins. And even if they had been able to breed with this new sentient species which had been recovered, their DNA was far too different to allow any kind of viable embryo to result.

  “And what of yourself, Calden?” FATHER demanded in its soft, melodious voice. “Would you be able to mate with this female if you grew a clone of her in the tanks?”

  “Certainly not,” Calden said firmly.

  “Because you would not be a match genetically?” the AI probed.

  “Well…” Calden cleared his throat and shifted uneasily on the stool. “As a matter of fact, our DNA is compatible—from what I have seen so far, anyway. But there is still no way that I would be able to mate with this female—even if I wanted to. Which I most certainly do not.”

  “And why is that, Calden?” FATHER asked.

  “Because of our size difference, FATHER. Even fully grown, this female would be no more than half my size. My, er…” He cleared his throat. “My shaft would never be able to fit inside her—again, not that I would want it to—rendering a mating between us completely impossible.”

  “Hmmm…” The lights flickered again, this time to a thoughtful bluish-purple. Clearly FATHER was considering the proposition.

  Calden waited anxiously, trying to appear relaxed. He took deep, even breaths and concentrated on keeping his heart rate slow and steady, knowing that the AI was scanning him all the time for untoward emotion. But how could he help being excited? This was the find of a lifetime—thousands of specimens from a whole new world—and this female could be the key to it all. She could tell him so much that wouldn’t be evident any other way. If only FATHER would agree…