Xenobiologist Evelyn Calloway has always been drawn to the mysteries of the alien world she calls home. But when she's captured by the Vrakk'eshi-an elusive, spider-like species dismissed as legend-she's thrust into a web of survival and discovery. Taken to the sprawling underground city of Zek'rethan, she must navigate their silken labyrinth of rituals and judgment, reluctantly guided by Tzakar, a stoic warrior who views her kind as unwelcome trespassers.
As Evelyn struggles to bridge the divide between fear and understanding, she uncovers the intricate beauty of the Vrakk'eshi's culture: From the shimmering Weave, a web of life and connection, to their unyielding reverence for balance. Yet the closer she gets to unlocking their secrets, the more she realizes she may not be a prisoner by chance, but a thread in a design far greater than herself.
When the line between captor and protector begins to blur, Evelyn and Tzakar are drawn together in ways neither can resist nor fully understand. But with the threat of war looming and ancient rivalries stirring, the fragile threads binding them could snap, plunging both of their worlds into chaos.
Tangled Strands is a hauntingly beautiful tale of forbidden connection, alien wonder, and the delicate balance between instinct and understanding. For those who dare to see monsters as more than their fangs, who see beauty and wonder in the strange and unknown. For those who seek to belong in the midst of uncertainty, who find love where the world says it cannot exist. And for those who believe that even the most fragile of threads can bridge the deepest divides, this one's for you.
IT SHOULD BE NOTED! That this is under heavy editing. (Don't worry, story and so on is very much still the same.)
Xer'Tal the Bloodthirsty had spent years as a warrior and now works as personal guard. With a world at war, his skills are in high demand however being an orc meant he was jaded to the world. People treated him poorly, gave him no trust, and he didn't trust a single person, even those who paid him.
So he wasn't expecting someone like Tansy Wilde.
Tansy Wilde was sent out from her family's lumberyard to head to the Kelpfar mountains to negotiate with the kobolds for a trade agreement when a bandit waylaid her plans. She escaped and fled to the nearest town where she asked after someone she could hire to protect her and she was sent straight to Xer'tal. Tansy knew orcs, she saw them occasionally at the lumberyard but there was something about this orc that has her breath catching in her chest. She paid him coin and asked him if he could escort her to Kelpfar and then back to her family's lumberyard.
The coin was more than good so he agreed.
The two start off but the stoic and cynical Xer'tal has no clue what to do with the bubbly and sweet Tansy as they make their way into the wilds. He finds the lines between job and employer he has always held firm waver under the sunshine of one singular, talkative woman as, for the first time in a long time, he is treated like a person that matters and not just as an orc. And Tansy finds her heart opening up more and more as the orc lets her truly be herself for the first time in years.
Worlds and cultures collide as these two grow closer and only time will tell if love will bloom as they traverse the wilds between them.