Writing HAINN gave me a chance to revisit a few favorite themes and people in Badari world and also to deal with a couple of open issues in the series arc. I also got to have fun with the concept of a Badari man and woman falling in love. I wasn’t sure my readers would appreciate a book with no human woman in the mix as the fated mate but it seemed to me Jezari and Hainn were a pretty perfect couple together.

HAINN contains mild spoilers for a number of the earlier books in the series but at this point in time it would be hard to write a new book that didn’t. Sorry!

Personally I’ve always wanted to know more about the mysterious alien who was MARL the Artificial Intelligence’s ‘authority’ before Jill and there’s been a problem with MARL having odd moments and loss of power building over the previous books. I always knew what the solution to the issue would be but until I started thinking about this book I didn’t know who would provide the answers. Jezari will!

We first ‘met’ her in GABE, although she wasn’t an active participant, having already been placed in the Khagrish pod by the time the book started. She was also mentioned in BADARI MEDIC, in which her sister Raeblinn was finally done with her assignment in the valley nursing Jezari and went out on her own combat mission, which didn’t go well through no fault of Raeblinn’s. 90% of the current book HAINN takes place after the events of BADARI MEDIC.

When I was thinking over who would be the ideal fated mate for a healer like Hainn, Jezari immediately came to mind

I did a lot of research for this book, including on the deepest freshwater lake in our world (Lake Baikal in Russia), how deep a whale can dive (9800’) and how long they can stay submerged (over two hours). With the Badari’s alien predator DNA and all the extensive genetic engineering the alien scientists have done, I know the Badari could handle the challenge of the dive in Sanctuary Valley.

When I wrote HOLIDAY FOR THE ALPHA, I also did a lot of research on surfing and riding monster waves in particular, including how such waves form. I really enjoyed Daegan’s surfing exploits in that book and I wanted to go back to the sea mount, not to tell the same story but to expand on it. Hainn had a great reason to invite Jezari to go there and the trip sets up a lot of the remaining plot developments.

By the way, my favorite ever surfing video, with sea lions is here. Not 100′ waves but pretty awesome.

The way this book begins is a little unusual for me, with a flashback but I felt it made sense for Jezari and explains why she’s so resistant to her feelings for Hainn once the current day story begins in Chapter Two.

And of course we get to see a bit more of Yonn, the Generation 11 alphaborn in this book…I can’t seem to leave him out of the action.

I love all my Badari but have a special fondness for the South Seas pack (can you tell?) and their interaction with Aydarr and the northern packs.

I keep getting asked WHEN will Reede return from the Sectors with the help he went to obtain. After HAINN my best guess is there will be two more books, one of which will end the series. Never fear though, I can’t have a world without new Badari stories so I have two spinoff series in mind – Badari Squad and Badari Home. These will serve as my umbrellas for telling more Badari adventures and quests for fated mates. (The Khagrish may pop up in the Sectors in other ways too, just sayin’. They were the cause of the Male Main Character’s problems in STAR CRUISE RETURN VOYAGE although those events occurred prior to the actual book. And they’re strongly implicated in the issues in ARRIVAL (PLANET OF LAST RESORT BOOK ONE).

And there already is one spinoff series going on: Badari Gladiators, with more stories to tell there.

So that’s the status at the moment and here’s an excerpt from HAINN:

Hainn reread the notification stating he’d been randomly selected to go on the next expedition to the surfing spot. It had arrived a few days ago and he was keenly anticipating the opportunity to test himself against the giant waves. Since talking with Timtur yesterday he couldn’t stop thinking about Jezari doing all her swimming in the lake here in the valley and he knew she’d love the challenge of surfing the towering 100’ waves at the offshore sea mount. Decision made, he requested a meeting with Daegan, his Alpha, who told him to come over to Admin now as he had a few minutes free.

Daegan was drinking tea, feet up on his desk when Hainn arrived. “What’s so urgent today?”

“I got my chit for the next trip to the sea mount and I want to ask for a favor,” Hainn said. Access to these jaunts was strictly controlled. Badari got to go on a rotating basis, with several additional people picked by the Alphas each time as a special form of recognition. The trips were kept small and infrequent to avoid attracting attention from the Khagrish. “I’d like to take a person with me.”

Chair banging as he sat upright, Daegan frowned. “Humans can’t surf those waves. Even my own mate, who is an excellent surfer wouldn’t attempt them. And I don’t think a human woman will enjoy going all the way out there with a bunch of our soldiers, just to sit and wait for you to come to the shore from a day of surfing.” He got a gleam in his eye, raised one eyebrow and chuckled. “Although I will admit the evenings can be fun.”

“Not a human woman.” Hainn was annoyed at the assumption his Alpha had made. Sure he was known to casually date a number of the women in the valley but he’d never ask to include any of them in a Badari-only activity.

“Who then?”

“Jezari, of Keshara’s pack.”

Deagan blinked hard. “Why in the name of the goddess? All I ever hear about her is what a pain she is, all prickly and rude, although Keshara seems to find her useful as an assistant.” He leaned forward, eyes narrowed and drummed his talons on the desk. “You don’t think the Great Mother means her to be your fated mate, do you? Not sure I want her in my pack.”

Hainn flinched at the unanswerable question. “She’s a friend and nothing more but as a healer, I think she might need the stimulus of surfing the giant waves in a similar manner to the way we require it. She has all this excess energy to burn and nowhere to release it, especially since she doesn’t get assigned to combat missions.”

“Aydarr wouldn’t hear of risking her out there. Or any of the Badari females, not after what happened to Raeblinn when she did go into the field.” Daegan studied him.

Hainn had to fight not to lower his eyes or shift from foot to foot. Lying to his Alpha was a hard thing to achieve. But was he lying? The girl did need something to help her deal with daily life here in the valley and she was getting to be a person he could regard as a friend. But a fated mate? Hainn wasn’t ready to be tied down and neither he nor his inner beast had felt any of the stirrings of affection, must less love. Had they? He was a conflicted mess and the situation frustrated him but he’d made the request and he wasn’t backing off now.

“As a healer, eh?” Daegan asked, amusement plain in his voice. “The Badari women are beautiful although if you repeat that to my mate, I’ll shred you. Have you cleared it with her Alpha?”

“Came to you first, boss.”

“As was proper. All right, I’ll approve the request and run it by both Keshara and Aydarr. This is going to cause ripples, I’m sure but both of them could use a little disruption in their day. Anything else?”

Hainn shook his head. “If the request is approved, may I be the one to tell her?”

“You were the one brave enough to ask, so yeah, you get the honor. I’ll let you know.”

As he left the admin building, Hainn wasn’t sure he was doing the right thing but the idea of showing Jezari the joys of surfing and the beauties of the undersea world around the sea mount was exciting. And the nights, as Daegan had mentioned, offered all kinds of other possibilities.

HAINN: A BADARI WARRIORS SCIFI ROMANCE NOVEL (SECTORS NEW ALLIES SERIES BOOK 19) by Veronica Scott

Jezari had a nearly fatal ordeal at the hands of enemy alien scientists. Rescued, she’s had a tough road to recovery and now a year later she’s at loose ends, impulsive and unhappy so she seeks out a dangerous pastime exploring hidden secrets at the bottom of Sanctuary Valley’s lake. What she finds shakes her to her core.

Hainn, the South Seas pack healer was called in to take over Jezari’s treatment after an unfortunate incident with her first healer. He found her frustrating and annoying but over time his admiration for the determined survivor grew. Now she’s been released he’d like to get to know her outside the hospital but she still sees him as her much disliked healer. Add to that a certain reputation he’s acquired in the valley as one of the few Badari Warriors who can do casual dating and Jezari wants nothing to do with him.

Invited to join Hainn and other Badari Warriors on a rare excursion to the perilous sea mount where the waves top 100’, Jezari opens herself up to new experiences and to Hainn. But their budding romance suffers a setback when an unexpected development impacts Jezari as nothing else ever has.

Returning to a valley in trouble as their power and protection source falters, leaving them open to attack by the enemy Khagrish, can these two work together to solve the problem, reveal the secrets the lake hides and claim each other as mates before it’s too late?

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