Fated: The First

                                                           Prologue         

In the time before, there was only the three goddesses, and their brother. In their loneliness, the goddesses created creatures to populate the Earth. The wolves belonged to the Goddess Selene, the fae belonged to the Goddess Mab, and the vampire who belonged to the Goddess Nyx. Seeing how their creations worshipped his sisters, their brother created man, and referred to himself only as ‘God’.

            For a time, these creations lived in harmony, but as man created religion and began to clash, creating false deities for worship, God became jealous of the love his sister’s creatures held for them. He disguised himself as one of his creation and began sowing seeds of fear against his sister’s creation, forcing them into the shadows. Rather than sating his jealousy, this drove him to curse the first creation. He sought out the creation of his sister Nyx, a vampire named Rhazian, offering immortality.

Unbeknownst to Rhazian, there was a catch. His immortality came at the cost of an insatiable thirst for blood. He ravaged entire villages of God’s creation attempting to slake his thirst, but only succeeding in stoking the fear of the Goddesses creations. Afraid that he had been tricked by the God, he turned his thirst on the wolves and fae. Seeing what their brother had done, the goddesses bestowed gifts upon their creature, Selene gifting the wolves with venom that would fell any vampire, and Mab gifting the Fae with magic.

The more their brother meddled, the more fearful his creation became, eventually forcing the creations of the sisters into the shadows. The three goddesses gifted them with the ability to blend in with man, but war between them had kept them from revealing their true selves.  Longing to see all creation in harmony again, the Goddesses began creating soulmates, in the hopes that one day peace would exist again, as it had in the beginning.

                                                       Chapter 1

She was beautiful. Since I had been cursed with immortality by God, I hadn’t encountered such beauty. My mouth watered at the sight of her, but the usual bloodlust that followed wasn’t there. I had wandered alone and kept hidden for centuries, but she was like a siren calling me back into the world of man. I knew what this was, and mentally cursed the Goddess. She had gifted me another mate, though in truth it was just another curse.

I had been given mates before, but it always ended the same way. They died. Whether their death was at my hands or from some human ailment made no difference. Nyx had a twisted sense of humor, always offering me a mortal mate. This one was no different so far as I could tell. After the mess the hybrid had created warring with the fae, there was no way I was going to accept another mate, let alone one who was mortal. I hadn’t been involved with the hybrid, but many of my kind had, which meant that I was being hunted. That wasn’t any kind of life for anyone, not even an immortal like myself.

I sighed and pushed myself away from the bar. I had come to this place every night for a week, since the first time I smelled her. I would have to leave soon, before the wolves caught my trail, but her scent was the only thing that kept my undying thirst for blood in check. It eased the ache that lived in me since that cursed day, I met the god of man. I sent another stream of silent curses to the goddess and made my way out of the bar. It was late and I was hungry.

I had discovered early on that I could pass as human, even consuming their food and drink, but it offered no nutrition for me and I always needed to feed on blood to feel some momentary satisfaction. In the modern world, it had become much easier to access with the invention of blood bags. I made my way to the small hospital, intent on sneaking into their stores of blood to curb my appetite. It was a small town, but I had the ability to control the minds of mortals. I was in and out without a hitch, the bag I carried slung over my shoulder loaded down with blood bags. It would be enough to hold me over as I traveled to my next stop, wherever that may be. I had been contemplating where next to hide when I heard voices arguing.

“Fuck you John.” I heard a woman’s voice scream.

I had every intention of slipping down a side alley and continuing on my way when her scent carried to me on the wind. It was her, my latest mate. I found myself being carried towards the source of the scent, rounding the corner in time to see a large man slam his fist into her stomach. I roared with anger, my preternatural speed allowing me to have him pinned to the wall of a building before she had even doubled over from the blow. I watched, unphased, as my hand crushed his throat, causing him to gasp for air as his eyes bulged in their sockets. I wanted to open his throat and drink until he had no blood left in his body.

“Hey. HEY!” I heard her yell, though I was uncertain who she was yelling for. “You can let him go. I’m alright.”

I turned my head to look at her. Though she was still clutching her abdomen, she was upright and seemed steady. I cocked my eyebrow at her in confusion. She wanted me to release the man who had just assaulted her, humans were idiots.

“He’s not worth it.” She said, placing her hand on my arm.

I didn’t understand anything this woman was saying, but I released the man anyway. He gasped as my grip relaxed, sucking in as much air as he could before stumbling to run away. I continued to watch her face as she swore at his fleeing back, manically throwing lewd gestures with her hands until he was out of sight.

“Hey, thanks for that.” She said, turning her attention to me. “I’m Taylor. Let me buy you a coffee or something to thank you. No telling how far that piece of shit would have gone if you hadn’t intervened.

“Sure.” I responded, baffled at my own acceptance of her invitation. I should have been packing my few belongings and heading to the next town to hide from the wolves, not following this woman to a coffee shop at four in the morning.

“He’s pissed I broke things off, caught him cheating and I guess he thought he was gonna beat me into taking him back. He’s lucky he tried that shit outside of my job instead of when I was at home. I’d have shot his ass.” She babbled as we made our way to the coffee place a few blocks down from the bar.

I remained silent as she chattered on, letting her wave me toward a booth in the coffee house as she ordered our drinks. My mind was furiously trying to find a way to get away from her before I did something stupid, like giving into the mate bond. Damn it, Nyx! I cursed silently. I just knew the goddess was sitting up in her heavenly perch, enjoying the extra drama she had set in my path. The more time I spent in this woman’s vicinity, the harder it was going to be to get away from her.

“So, what’s a creature like you doing in a small town like this?” She whispered as she slid into the booth across from me.