The Rise of the Iliri: Books 1-3

THE TOUGH, TREACHEROUS ROAD TO BELONGING—AN ALPHA FEMALE IN A WARRIOR FAMILY...

One part reverse harem sci fi fantasy, one part irresistible paranormal romance, the Rise of the Iliri series is an epic tale of one extraordinary woman’s quest for justice, hope, and love. In an exotic and dangerous post-apocalyptic world, a nation of terrorists under the thumb of an evil Emperor sets out to systematically destroy every race but their own. And they’re just about to succeed.

Author Auryn Hadley deftly blends heart-stopping epic adventure with the age-old struggle between good and evil, hatred and love—all through the lens of an intriguing female lead, the likes of which the fantasy genre hasn’t yet seen.

BLOODLUST, Book 1
Private Salryc Luxx is iliri, a species bred by humans long ago for protection...and entertainment. Enslaved until being conscripted into the army for biting a military officer, Sal's only goal is to fight her way into the Black Blades, an elite army unit. The Blades instantly recognize her as the perfection of exactly what she was designed to be: an unequaled killing machine, yet irresistible to every man.

Each of the Black Blades will die to protect her. Some of them will submit to the bloodlust that overtakes her in battle and can be quenched only by roughly passionate mating. Eventually, all of them will submit to her command. After months of training, she becomes the most lethal member of the unit. It will take much longer for them to teach her who she is: their destiny.

INSTINCTUAL, Book 2
Now that Sal has won her place in the Black Blades, she's struggling to find answers about how to fit in with her new family. That's a challenging assignment; it's an all-male family of seven of the fiercest warriors in existence, all of them iliri with superpowers kept secret from humans.

Sal's Black Blade commander and lover, Blaec, does his best to guide her, with the full understanding that she will eclipse him and that he must prepare her to do so. His best advice: "Listen to your instincts more and everything will work out. Our entire culture can be summed up pretty easily. We do what is natural."

For the matriarchal iliri, what is natural is that Sal is the undisputed leader of her pack. She makes everyone better; she especially makes everyone fight better.

DEFIANCE, Book 3
A kind deed on the part of Sal and her partner Cyno, helping what they take to be a wounded animal, leads to the discovery of their true nature, to strengthening and re-energizing their pack, and to a surprising alliancethat offers hope for the future. The wounded animal, they learn, is a grauor wolf, a species of ferocious warriors with language and traits nearly identical to iliri. When two of them ask to join her pack, Sal recruits them as Black Blades and the iliri are no longer the only dog in the fight for iliri freedom.

As the defiance of an entire species rises up in her, she really has no choice—she’ll just have to change the world.