Rise of the Iliri

First a slave, then a conscript, she's always been at the mercy of monsters. When she's offered a chance to unsheathe her claws, will death spill out?Sal Luxx is desperate to prove her kind are more than beasts. Born a second-class citizen in a world ruled by humans, the hardheaded pure-bred iliri has had subservience beaten into her veins. But her waning hope for freedom surges when she is given a pass to the trials for an elite military unit… and unleashes her inner predator.After Sal's interaction with her new brothers-in-arms triggers strange mental powers, the knowledge her abusers have kept from her drives a growing rage. Yet even as she struggles to smother her rising berserker instincts, she's undermined by the irresistible urge to claim a mate.Will Sal's untamable nature spawn a rebellion or a massacre? ~~~NOTE: There are some situations in this book that may be triggering for some readers. Please check the front of the book for the 'Sensitivity Notice' and Author's Note for further details.~~~*Bloodlust is book 1 in the complete Rise of the Iliri series.

Every man wants her. Many want to kill her. Good luck to them…For the first time in her life, Sal has a place to belong, and it feels so right.The iliri live in packs.The Black Blades is hers.But humans see them only as a military unit, and one with a little too much influence. To keep the "scrubbers" from gaining an advantage, humans will do anything - and none of it good. The only people they can trust are themselves.But this time, they need help. Eight elite soldiers aren't enough to stop the bribe headed to Anglia. If that country gets two thousand kilos of steel, it'll change the tide of war, and the Conglomerate of Free Citizens will be caught in the middle.The Black Blades have to trust someone, but their only options are humans. Hopefully, their "friends" aren't as dangerous as the enemy.~~~NOTE: There are some situations in this book that may be triggering for some readers. Please check the front of the book for the 'Sensitivity Notice' and Author's Note for further details.~~~*Instinctual is book 2 in the complete Rise of the Iliri series.

Her only choice is to change her world.The leaders of her own country despise her kind. They assume that Salryc Luxx and every iliri crossbred are nothing more than expendable. But, if they can do the job, then the Conglomerate of Free Citizens is happy to use them. They win either way.So they sent Sal to Anglia without her pack. She can no longer hear their thoughts and can't smell her brothers. It's just her and Cyno killing their way across unending expanses of snow-covered mountains. Her mission is to assassinate the current king and replace him with someone sympathetic to the Conglomerate, but Sal wants more.And she gets it. In a land where iliri are a myth, she's treated like a hero. Here, the people don't know they should hate her. All they know is that she may be the only thing standing between Anglia and the Terran Empire. To them, she may very well be their salvation.If she's going to do this, she'll make sure at least one government on the continent supports her people. She just has to figure out how - without getting herself killed. Lurking deep in the icy wilderness may be the answer she needs. And it speaks her language.~~~NOTE: There are some situations in this book that may be triggering for some readers. Please check the front of the book for the 'Sensitivity Notice' and Author's Note for further details.~~~*Defiance is book 3 in the complete Rise of the Iliri series.

Their people have learned what hope tastes like. Humanity has finally recognized them as more than just beasts to be discarded, and they're winning. With millions of grauori pouring down from the mountains, nothing can stand in their way. Once little more than a unit of soldiers, the Black Blades have become the saviors of their entire species.It's all because of Salryc Luxx. The last Kaisae of the Iliri, chosen only because the Emperor slaughtered the rest of her kind, she has nothing left to lose - or so she thought - but the Emperor is done playing games. He knows who she is, and he's not ready to give up. He's determined to make her pay.In her darkest hour, Sal's past will come back to haunt her, the Blades will pull together, and borders become unimportant. Survival will require the one thing the Kaisae of all Iliri has perfected: refusing to give up.~~~NOTE: There are some situations in this book that may be triggering for some readers. Please check the front of the book for the 'Sensitivity Notice' and Author's Note for further details.~~~*Tenacity is book 5 in the complete Rise of the Iliri series.

She worked for them, bled for them, and nearly died for them humans in the Conglomerate of Free Citizens. For her entire life, they refused to let her forget that she was the inferior species, but things have changed. With the alliance of the two strongest nations on the continent - which she leads - her former country needs her help. They just don't know how to ask. They demand that she brings her army to assist them.But Salryc Luxx isn't the same downtrodden slave she used to be. She has risked - and lost - so much to free her people from oppression, and now the Conglomerate expects her to obey like a well-trained dog? It's time they learn that humans aren't the dominant species anymore.Political games and human prejudice can't stop her from getting the revenge she deserves - or from showing her people that the iliri are no longer pets. ~~~NOTE: There are some situations in this book that may be triggering for some readers. Please check the front of the book for the 'Sensitivity Notice' and Author's Note for further details.~~~*Resilience is book 6 in the complete Rise of the Iliri series.

With Parliament's blessing, Sal is heading back to where it all started: Fort Landing. This time, however, she's the one in charge, and the Conglomerate of Free Citizens' military won't like that. Not that she cares. Her only goal is to win this war.Or so she thinks.But seeing the faces of people who were once like her, all but enslaved to the system, the Kaisae of all Iliri can't ignore it. Then again, now that she has the power she always dreamed of, it should be easy to make things right for her species. It's not. Humans aren't quite ready to give up their power.Some are even willing to destroy everything to keep it. Sal just has to figure out who is trying to sabotage her mission, which would be a lot easier if her insanity could hold off a little longer.~~~NOTE: There are some situations in this book that may be triggering for some readers. Please check the front of the book for the 'Sensitivity Notice' and Author's Note for further details.~~~*Dissent is book 7 in the complete Rise of the Iliri series.

Being a woman while leading the army has drawbacks. It's even worse for a Kaisae. To avoid hormonal confusion and keep the Black Blades from instinctively tearing their male allies apart, Anglia is at a standstill - and Sal hates it.The last thing the enemy needs is another advantage, and with Merriton on the horizon, this battle is very personal. Someone has been helping the enemy. The trick will be figuring out who, stopping them, and securing the CFC's largest economic powerhouse without destroying the entire country. The problem? Ayati's no longer playing fair. The rules have changed, but will Sal figure it out in time?~~~NOTE: There are some situations in this book that may be triggering for some readers. Please check the front of the book for the 'Sensitivity Notice' and Author's Note for further details.~~~*Upheaval is book 8 in the complete Rise of the Iliri series.

All Kaisaes must die, Sal has heard this for a little too long. The difference is that she's not like all Kaisaes. Somehow, those two things must cancel each other out, right? But her researcher has discovered a lot more than old books. It seems there's a coup slowly brewing while the army is on the other side of the country.Which means that things aren't only falling apart in her mind. They're also crumbling at home, and while Sal may not be responsible for the politics of the humans in her country, she still owes them. They're as much her people as the survivors of the Emperor's extermination.Humans, iliri, grauori - the three species of this world can't keep lines between them. Their cultures are colliding, and winning the war won't be enough to smooth all the tensions. If all three species want to survive in the new world they're making, then changes need to start now.Big changes. The kind that are going to hurt, because there is an answer. It's been staring her in the face this whole time. But she can't do it alone.~~~NOTE: There are some situations in this book that may be triggering for some readers. Please check the front of the book for the 'Sensitivity Notice' and Author's Note for further details.~~~*Havoc is book 9 in the complete Rise of the Iliri series.

The Kaisae of all Iliri is gone. Her mates are holding the army together. Her dreams are changing everything-and Sal? She's not done yet.The Emperor has taken too much from her. Life, loves, and much of her happiness. All she has left is desperation-and blind trust.But she's not alone. She never has been.If the iliri want to finally know peace, she's going to need some help. For once, the success of their species is out of her hands.Ryali has promised to handle the situation in Dorton. This leaves the King free to focus on the assault of Terric. Elite units are lining up to help. The end of the war is near, but can Anglia truly make this happen? The fight is the least of their concerns. Killing a man is easy. Changing minds? That's going to be impossible.And yet it's the whole reason the iliri have risen up: to finally be seen as equals. If this is going to work, it's going to take more than ayati-more than the fate the iliri believe controls the world.It's time for the pattern to change.~~~NOTE: There are some situations in this book that may be triggering for some readers. Please check the front of the book for the 'Sensitivity Notice' and Author's Note for further details.~~~*Risen is book 10 in the complete Rise of the Iliri series.

By reader request, Hope is a full-length epilogue novel to show what comes after the Rise of the Iliri series ends.The war is over. The dead have been laid to rest. Peace is on the horizon, and Anglia is a country that needs to be put back together. After a failed coup, a new king who's spent more time away from the country than on his throne, and two new kingdoms sharing the same space, it's starting to feel like combat was easier to handle.But Dominik Jens has an idea. What this country needs is a celebration to unite the three species. He has one in mind, but he's not quite sure it's going to fly. The nobles hate the idea, the iliri love it, and the grauori haven't responded. They're too worried about the Orassae's grandchildren, who are due to be born at any time.Peace isn't made from drawing lines in the sand. It's all about erasing them. That's how Hope is built, and it's the only way for Anglia to move forward together.Luckily, they have plenty to spare.~~~NOTE: There are some situations in this book that may be triggering for some readers. Please check the front of the book for the 'Sensitivity Notice' and Author's Note for further details.~~~*Hope is the final book in the complete Rise of the Iliri series.

BLOODLUST, Book 1Private 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 2Now 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 3A 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 alliance that 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.---Due to the subject matter of this series, please check the Sensitivity Notice page and the Author's Note at the beginning of the book.*This is box set 1 of 4. It contains books 1 - 3 in an 11 book complete series.

INSEPARABLE, Book 4The intersecting worlds of the iliri, grauori, and humans collide when an alliance is declared, and the humans renege. In the midst of offering an olive branch to other races, they seem secretly hellbent on destroying them all-and they begin by putting Sal on trial and disbanding the Black Blades. Auryn Hadley offers up deft commentary on racism between communities-melded with fantastical action-adventure in a world at war, and passionate erotic romance.True to its title, in Inseparable, on the world of Ogun, it's the connections between all beings-human and otherwise-that will save or destroy them. It's Sal's unbreakable devotion to her tribe that keeps her alive-and the steamy interactions with her mates-old, new, and surprising-that keep the pages turning.TENACITY, Book 5A jarring emotional roller coaster, Tenacity tells the age-old tale of pure love amidst a struggle between good and evil-but with a heaping dose of the light-hearted. This one has plenty of laughs. And plenty of heartbreak.Lieutenant Salryc Luxx and her elite Black Blades push forward to liberate an enslaved nation from the emperor's reign of terror. But the battle's not without consequence. Bombarded by the thanks of those she rescued, and the disdain of those whose families she could not save, Sal can't sleep, she can't eat … but she cannot stop fighting, either.The Emperor is losing. He knows Sal's responsible, and he knows exactly how to destroy her-go after those she loves most.RESILIENCE, Book 6Resilience asks how far mankind will go to protect their pride. Because it seems they'll guard it at the expense of all else. In an epic tale reminiscent of a futuristic Lord of the Rings, it's the iliri who must decide whether to risk their lives for the ungracious human race.Salryc Luxx has been summoned to a meeting with Parliament representatives of the Conglomerate. This time, she's neither slave nor prisoner, but the powerful leader of the iliri. As she struggles to submit to her destiny as their leader, she is inspired by her people's trust in her and their desperate hope that if it is the iliri and their allies who manage to defeat evil, perhaps humans can learn to respect them.---* This is box set 2 of 4, containing books 4 - 6 in an 11 book complete series.

RISEN, Book 10 In the final stretch of the war, the rules are changing faster than Anglia can keep up. The Kaisae of all Iliri is gone. Her mates are holding the army together. Her dreams are changing everything-and Sal? She's not done yet. The Emperor has taken too much from her. Life, loves, and much of her happiness. All she has left is desperation-and blind trust. But she's not alone. She never has been.HOPE, Book 11 By reader request, Hope is a full-length epilogue novel to show what comes after the series ends. The war is over. The dead have been laid to rest. Peace is on the horizon, and Anglia is a country that needs to be put back together. After a failed coup, a new king who's spent more time away from the country than on his throne, and two new kingdoms sharing the same space, it's starting to feel like combat was easier to handle. Peace isn't made from drawing lines in the sand. It's all about erasing them. That's how Hope is built, and it's the only way for Anglia to move forward together. Luckily, they have plenty to spare.---* This is box set 4 of 4, containing books 10 - 11 in an 11 book complete series.

DISSENT, Book 7Danger surrounds Sal on all sides: from the enemy's encroachment on the borders of her former homeland, to the many humans who still perceive the iliri species as an enslaved inferior race. The thing that Sal fears most though, is losing her mind; all members of her lineage have been driven mad as their powers increased--and Sal's mind is morphing by the minute.UPHEAVAL, Book 8The evil Emperor is in our heroine's sights-all Sal needs now is a military and cultural miracle.It's the dead of winter, and the Terrans hold the line as the Conglomeration is holed-up in a makeshift camp, prickly with nervous excitement, preparing for a massive offensive into wealthy Merriton-the gaudy Conglomerate city in which Sal was enslaved as a child. But the next battle will have to wait. Sometimes, things even more personal than war get in the way-like hormones.Unimaginably powerful Salryc Luxx, Kaisae of all Iliri and de facto Queen of the Conglomerate forces, is finally brought to her knees-by ovulation.HAVOC, Book 9As Sal prepares for a crucial push into enemy territory, the biggest battle her country faces isn't about destruction; it's about the rebuilding that comes after. If they want this war to matter, their new citizens will need to remember what it means to be iliri: to make packs, have children, and find the remains of their culture. They'll need to make a home, and do it together-all three species: iliri, graouri, and humans. Although Sal is battling personal issues almost as large as her military battles, like the fact that no Kaisaes live into a happy old age. They either die fighting-or they go insane.---* This is box set 3 of 4, containing books 7 - 9 in an 11 book complete series.