Prince’s Breeder (The Alien Breeding Program #2)

Chapter 1 – Jessica Benally

ONE

JESSICA BENALLY

Our family has been in Alaska from way too long. Dad’s family came from the mainland United States, far south of here, and moved up here because the jobs pay better and he always liked the winter, hunting, and fishing.

He didn’t much care about we liked.

Plus he liked being a drunk and beating down on my mom and appreciated the fact that here, neighbors minded their own and didn’t bother him too much for being the sort of guy who hit his wife.

I got out of his house as soon as I could. When I was sixteen I tried to run away first and shacked up next door with old Mr. Lewis, who was forty. Daddy came and beat me so bad and then dragged me back home.

I didn’t leave again ’til I was twenty and that time when daddy fought, I fought back. I raised my gun to him and told him I meant to leave, and even if I only moved across town to a tiny double wide that I shared with Tina and Nancy, I got some kind of independence.

Tina and Nancy had husbands when they first came up to this cold hellhole. Paddy, Nancy’s husband, was a drunk who they found face down outside the bar two Christmases ago. He left her with ten thousand dollars of debt and a bar tab of $500 which Craig, the town bartender, forced her to pay.

She could barely afford the funeral and afterwards she turned to pills and turning tricks.

I didn’t judge, plus she always paid her rent on time, so I minded her even less ‘cause of that.

Tina did drugs too, but she mostly sold them to the guys with back pain from working on the rig and the hunters who needed an extra kick to keep them up while they caught elk and wolves.

They weren’t ideal roommates, but you didn’t have much choice out here. It takes a special kind of person to want to live in this kind of cold.

I did odd jobs mostly, helping folks where I could and working a shift at the bar a few times a week.

I hustled money all week and came home to count the stash of cash under my bed.

$100 was enough for my rent that week and then I had $50 left for food and booze.

Perfect. I shoved $20 into my pocket and slipped into my boots, getting ready to head out and get myself a bit of liquor.

As I reached the front door, it swung open and Nancy stumbled in, drunk off her behind with a guy hanging on her arm. He was about twice her age and groped her ass as she giggled.

“Jeb, stop! Jeb! Not in front of my roommate.”

“Hi Nancy.”

“Hi, Jess. This is Jeb… Isn’t he cute?”

He wasn’t.

“Good afternoon, sir,” I mumbled, hoping this guy would stop leering at me.

“I’ll throw in another $30 if you get ‘er to join in,” he mumbled to Nancy.

She laughed and smacked him on the chest.

“What do you say, Jess?”

“No thanks. I’m headed out to get something from the liquor store.”

“Oh, could you pick up some strawberry swishers?”

Jeb squeezed Nancy’s ass again. She squealed and replied, “Alright. I’ve gotta go. Are you coming camping with us this weekend?”

“Camping?” Jeb perked up, excited about more time with Nancy alone in the woods where no one could hear them.

“You’re not invited Jeb, calm down.”

I replied, “Sure. I’ll come camping. Who else is coming?”

“Tina’s bringing a couple of the guys… We’re going to have a grand old time.”

“Fine by me.”

I wriggled past them and hurried outside.

The air struck my lungs cold and sharp. I buried my face in my scarf and shut the door behind me.

I could hear Nancy squealing as Jeb probably took her right there on the couch.

I hated running into her with her clients, especially the married ones like Jeb.

I tried to keep my head down and mind my business.

They were paying her after all, and we needed all the help we could get keeping the lights on.

Despite my gloves and boots, I was practically frozen by the time I got to the liquor store.

I spent my whole $20 on some moonshine and the swishers.

Afterward, I marched toward home. It had been ten minutes, so I figured Nancy and Jeb were probably finished.

He didn’t strike me as the type to last very long.

I pushed the door open and thankfully proved myself right. Nancy wrapped herself in her bathrobe and sat back on the couch.

“Thanks for the privacy, doll.”

“Here are your swishers.”

“Thanks, doll. Tina’s on her way. Pack your bags.”

“I could use the break this weekend. Do we need food?”

“Tina’s bringing some sausages and fresh bread.”

“Great. I’ll go pack.”

I packed my bags and finished just as Tina pulled up in her brother’s truck. The boys’ trucks followed behind her in our driveway. I recognized Taylor Lewis in the passenger seat of the other truck. I hated Taylor. And Nancy knew that. I glared at her and hissed, “You didn’t mention Taylor coming.”

“Oh come on, doll. You need to get over what happened with Taylor. He’s a good kid…”

“He’s a total asshole. He beat Ann Holland so bad she couldn’t walk for a year.”

“Ann had it coming,” Nancy replied shrugging.

“No woman has it coming,” I huffed.

They could be such assholes sometimes. I didn’t bother telling anyone about my past, but the hairs on the back of my neck stood up to hear anyone justify beating a woman. Nancy shrugged and reached into her pocket for a cigarette. She lit up as we entered Tina’s truck.

“Howdy girls,” Tina greeted us, “Ready for a crazy weekend?”

“I brought moonshine,” I said.

“Good. We’ll need it. I’ve got crazy plans for this weekend. I’m going to fuck Ivan Rudnyk and if I’m lucky, Taylor Lewis too.”

“Ew! Why do you want to sleep with those guys?”

“Well, I’m horny and Harry’s pissing me off,” Tina replied calmly.

“So you’re going to cheat on him?”

“That’s right, I’m going to screw his best friends and maybe let one of them knock me up.”

Nancy laughed and tapped her cigarette out the window.

Sandwiched between these women, all I could think about was escaping Alaska.

This small town got people trapped thinking small.

I didn’t want to wake up one day ten years from now and realize that I’d turned into Nancy or Tina.

They could be fun to hang out with but man, their moral compasses were screwy.

“If you screw Ivan and get knocked up, your baby is gonna be as ugly as a moose,” Tina blurted out, cackling at her own sense of humor.

“Fuck you, Nancy.”

“What! I’m just being honest.”

“Whatever, you’re the slut who screwed most of the guys in town.”

“I never got pregnant from ‘em.”

“You got three kids you idiot. You just don’t take care of them.”

Nancy laughed, “So what? My momma looks after ‘em and that’s as good as anything.”

“We should try to get Jess to have some fun this weekend,” Tina suggested.

“No thanks!” I chimed in.

“What? You too good to screw one of the boys from town?”

“Ivan’s my cousin.”

“Your second cousin,” Nancy replied.

“I said I’m good.”

“Listen, all you need is a little liquor and let one of those snakes slide between your legs. Then you’ll stop being so stuck up.”

“She thinks ‘cause she ran away from a house she ain’t trailer trash like us,” Tina said.

“That’s not true! I’d never call anyone trailer trash.”

“Yeah right,” Nancy grumbled, tossing the butt of her cigarette out the window.

“Are we there yet?”

“Almost…”

After five more minutes, Tina pulled over to the campground. We climbed out of our truck and the boys climbed out of theirs. I slung my backpack over my shoulder and we got to work setting up the tents.

“Do we only have three two-person tents?” I asked, my heart pounding. I hadn’t thought to bring my own tent along with me.

“Yup. Guess we gotta pair up tonight,” Ivan drawled.

He pulled out a baggie of white powder from his shirt pocket and took a bump. He was already high from the looks of it.

“I look forward to pairing up,” Taylor continued, “It’s been a long month since I got laid.”

“You paid for my services!” Nancy called out to him.

“Whores don’t count, little mama.”

“Language, Taylor. We’re in the company of ladies,” Ivan chided, laughing afterwards and thumping Taylor on the back.

Henrik was quiet as he gathered wood and kindling to build a fire in the middle of the tents.

“I think Henrik’s the only one of us who ain’t screwed Nancy,” Taylor continued.

“I have,” Henrik replied.

“Jesus, you really are a whore, aren’t you?”

“Shut up and give me a bump,” Nancy called.

“What about you, Jess,” Ivan replied, “Want a bump?”

“No thanks.”

“She doesn’t do hard drugs,” Tina replied, rolling her eyes.

“What, you think you’re better than us or something?” Ivan asked.

Taylor laughed, “Of course she does. She ain’t fucked any of the boys from town. As far as I know, Jessica’s a virgin.”

Heat rushed to my cheeks, but I thought it was better not to respond.

I hadn’t been with anyone from town, but I didn’t plan on it either.

The boys in town were crude and if they weren’t junkies, they were drunks or wife-beaters.

Our small town didn’t exactly attract the cream of the crop.

Mama always used to say we didn’t get enough sunlight up here and it made the boys crazy.

It already started getting dark way too early, even if it was only October.

“If she’s a virgin, not even her cousin screwed her. I can’t believe that.”

“I never screwed her,” Ivan said, throwing his palms up to demonstrate his innocence.

“She’s not easy like Nancy or Tina,” he continued.

The boys hooted and howled. I wrapped my jacket around myself tighter.

“Can you assholes stop being so disgusting and help get these tents up?”

“Why? You gonna choose who to spend the night with?”

“No…”

“Well you gotta choose eventually,” Ivan threatened, “I didn’t come all the way to the woods with you girls not to get my dick sucked.”

“Can you guys chill?” Tina responded, finally jumping to my defense, “It’s getting cold and we need the fire.”

Henrik had finished building the tower and stacking the wood. He poured lighter fluid on the pile of wood.

“I almost got it.”