Part 1
Chapter 1
It
had been many years since he had been in such close proximity of his birth
enemy. Zane looked as arrogant and as full of shit as ever. Barking orders at
his royal guard like they were his servants instead of trusted subjects. In
some cases, those receiving the harsh treatment were probably his best buddies.
Then again, the bastard probably didn’t have any friends. Shaking his head,
Brant turned and surveyed the crowd. He felt sorry for the female that would
soon be chosen to become queen to the likes of that ruthless king.
It
wasn’t his concern though. His own queen was out there. Brant shuddered,
praying that the events of one hundred years ago would not repeat themselves. A
bloody war between their fathers had been the result of the last choosing. It
couldn’t happen again, the vampire species would not survive another war at
this point.
As
his mind returned to thoughts of his own female, he knew that he would not be
able to remain sensible where she was concerned. His focus was on protecting
his coven, and he would dispatch the other male without hesitation if he so
much as looked at what was his. No matter the odds, and the knowledge of Zane’s
ruthlessness, Brant would allow nothing to harm her. She was too valuable, too
precious of a gift to him.
Turning,
he surveyed the crowd again. Feeling the electric pulse of her closeness.
According to the lores, he would be able to sense her and to tell of their
compatibility almost instantly even in a crowd full of females. From the noise
projecting from outside, he could tell there were many females present. He
hoped his chosen would be willing from the start. The last thing he wanted was
to force her, to have to go caveman on her and throw her over his shoulder. The
thought did not appeal to him, but the choosing was not something that could be
ignored. She would feel it as well, whether she wanted to or not.
“Ready?”
his head guard Xavier asked as he moved in next to him. His brother’s eyes
never faltered as they stared straight into his. Brant knew the reason for the
intenseness. Xavier harbored similar feelings of distaste and distrust for
their neighboring king. In order to maintain their strenuous hold on the truce
between them, it had always been necessary to keep interactions between the two
covens to a minimum. This event was no exception.
“Yeah,
as ready as I’ll ever be,” Brant replied while taking a moment to scan the
room.
“Your
eyes are glowing my lord, maybe you should stop looking in that direction.”
Brant
looked into Xavier’s clear grey eyes. Always the cool one in the situation. “My eyes have nothing to do with that bastard at the moment, and everything to
do with my female. I can sense her, and the urge to mate is strong. I just hope
that she’ll be agreeable to a speedy union.”
“I
told you to take a female, ease your need. Humans are…easily broken. We don’t
want any accidents.” Xavier spoke softly, ensuring that no one else would be
privy to their conversation.
“I
have a plan.”
“Please,
tell me you at least drank recently,” Xavier’s eyes narrowed. When Brant didn’t
reply, his brother’s eyes narrowed even more. He made a sound of disbelief and
continued, “Brother, should you harm our future—”
“Enough,”
Brant growled.
Xavier
lowered his eyes.
“I
said I have a plan. My future queen will come to no harm.”
Xavier
nodded. “Yes, my lord. It is time.”
Brant
took a deep breath. He had been raised for this moment. His decision and the
events of the next few minutes would determine the future of his coven.
No
pressure.
****
Tanya
had seen tabloid pictures of the vampire kings and they really weren’t all that
attractive, unless you were into the ultra-big, ultra-built and ridiculously
bad non-human types.
She
so wasn’t.
The
whole choosing ceremony was so outdated to the point of being down right sexist.
Yet, every hundred years, all of
Similar Books
