Stoke the Flames

Stoke the Flames Natalie Sloan Whitley Cox COPYRIGHT Copyright © 2023 by Whitley Cox All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. Ebook ISBN: 978-1-989081-71-6 Notes from the author and Trigger warnings. Graphic and explicit descriptions of killing and torture, self-harm, past rape is discussed. May be triggering for some readers. * Reader discretion is advised.* Multiple POVs and first person.* This is a MFMM romance. There are no MM romantic scenes or MM romances. This is a reverse harem novel, meaning the main character has more than one love interest. There is no cheating, no cliffhanger (to their romance arc) and definitely a happy ending. Book 1 follows four different characters as will Book 3, with the series arc coming to an end in Book 3. Please note that this book is set in a post-apocalyptic world where not only has eighty percent of the human population died, but the ice caps have melted, the oceans have warmed and the geographical landscape of the world as we know it has changed due to the drastic rise of sea levels. The author did consult with an environmental and climate specialist to see what the world is projected to look like in 400 years, but some creative liberties have been taken to enhance the story. Contents 1. CHAPTER ONE 2. CHAPTER TWO 3. CHAPTER THREE 4. CHAPTER FOUR 5. CHAPTER FIVE 6. CHAPTER SIX 7. CHAPTER SEVEN 8. CHAPTER EIGHT 9. CHAPTER NINE 10. CHAPTER TEN 11. CHAPTER ELEVEN 12. CHAPTER TWELVE 13. CHAPTER THIRTEEN 14. CHAPTER FOURTEEN 15. CHAPTER FIFTEEN 16. CHAPTER SIXTEEN 17. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN 18. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN 19. CHAPTER NINETEEN 20. CHAPTER TWENTY 21. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE 22. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO 23. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE 24. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR 25. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE 26. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX 27. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN 28. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT 29. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE 30. CHAPTER THIRTY 31. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE 32. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO 33. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE 34. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR EPILOGUE PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE STARTING THE BOOK It will help, trust me. This book is set in a post-apocalyptic world. Roughly a hundred and fifty years from now, the world has gotten a lot hotter. The ice-caps have melted, and anything that was thirty-feet above sea-level and under is now below water. The coastlines have changed. New islands have formed and old ones have sunk. The oceans are empty of life, the prairies and deserts are too hot for anything to survive and fossil fuels have long been used up. Food is growing scarce, and countries who were once allies, are now at war over precious resources. The world has become so over-populated that scientists become desperate to stabilize the population. By putting the Stratera Virus into the drinking water of a few select over-populated cities, their hope is to eliminate the weak, the old and the invalid, those who are a drain on society's resources but do not contribute to it. They believe in survival of the fittest, and only those strongest will live through the virus. However, they do not anticipate the ramifications it will have on the economy or civilization as a whole. The efficacy of the virus is unexpected. Extremely contagious, it wipes out every pregnant woman, in addition to the weak, the old and the invalid. Over eighty-five percent of the entire population will be killed, with the majority of that being women. With zero symptoms and an incubation period of five to seven days, those with the virus are contagious without even knowing. The virus spread like wildfire across the globe. If the intense fever and shock-inducing chills, followed by eventual madness from the overwhelming pain do not kill you, you end up with a modified genetic code, which if you can still conceive a child will pass down that code and the now benign virus strain to that child. Over the next two and a half centuries, scientists will try to reverse the traumatic effect Stratera has to the globe, but it will be to little success. The Stratera Virus, now apart of the DNA of all those who survived, will evolve into several different strains. Four of those strains affect only women. and provide them with certain enhancements. -The Kappa Strain – incredible strength. Many who are born Kappa are born with an atrophied prefrontal cortex and amygdala resulting in psychopathy they are also sterile. Their uterus does not develop a lining each month so they are unable to carry a child. -The Sigma Strain – brilliance, cunning, calculating. Just like the Kappa Strain, many are born with an atrophied prefrontal cortex and amygdala resulting in psychopathy they are also sterile. Their uterus does not develop a lining each month so they are unable to carry a child. -The Theta Strain – enhanced agility, sensory and reflexes they are also sterile. Their uterus does not develop a lining each month so they are unable to carry a child. -The Lambda Strain – fertile. -The Verian Strain – affects only men. Able to accept synthesized blood from a Kappa, Sigma or Theta and temporarily experience their enhancements. -Amlin – affects both men and women. No strain present. Female Amlin are sterile their uterus does not develop a lining each month so they are unable to carry a child. Now known as the United Sectors, ruled by a tyrannical, dynastical regime, those born Kappa become assassins, those born Sigma, Theta or Amlin are forced into servitude, and those born Lambda must repopulate the world. They are used as broodmares from the first time they bleed until they either die or are no longer able to carry a child to term. Verian men rule the world. They believe that since the virus wiped out mostly women, women are the weaker sex. Women are the reason for this plague. God is punishing humanity for the endless sins of women. The world must be re-set, with men in