Part 1: Mate's Lore by Charlene Hartnady Page A

the eligible women would assemble to be
chosen. A queen for each of the kings. The worst part was that vampires and
humans never mixed so there was very little known about them. Their traditions,
their ways, their expectations, she shuddered.
    For
at least the twentieth time, she wished that her best friend Becky was there
with her. The whole thing was a real circus. Tanya hadn’t realized how many
women there were in Sweetwater between the ages of twenty one and thirty. Aside
from age, there had been a long list of requirements. Everything from weight and
height to a clean medical exam.
    Tanya
sighed as a group of giggling women squeezed past her trying to find a spot
closer to the podium. Becky was divorced, a complete no-no. It had
automatically disqualified her from being allowed to attend the choosing
ceremony. Attend, hah, not hardly, the right term would be forced. If all
aspects of the criteria were met, it was mandatory to be here. For whatever
reason, the human justice system went along with this whole farce once a
century. Only those wanting a fast track to jail failed to show up. What scared
her the most though was the thought of how many of these women were actually
hoping to be chosen today.
    Vampire
queen.
    Tanya
cringed at the thought. For once she was thankful for being a little curvy.
Most men were into wafer thin model types, so she would be safe. 
    The
whole courtyard vibrated with an excited hum.
    The
two kings were royalty but they were also vampires. They drank blood for
heaven’s sake. Had these women lost their freaking minds?
    It
was early afternoon yet you wouldn’t guess it by how some of them were dressed.
Little back numbers, low cut tops, sequins and jewelry were the order of the day. The amount of skin on display was
obscene. Tanya did a double take as one of the ladies walked by, she was
wearing a sheer dress without underwear. Her lady bits on display for all and
sundry. With all that exposed skin, she hoped that the woman had used sunblock.
The highest possible factor.
    Tanya
looked down at her jeans and t-shirt. Maybe she should’ve tried a little harder
but then again, she wasn’t planning on getting noticed. She had a life to get
back to. It wasn’t much but she had her little book store. Some might consider
it to be boring, but she liked it just fine.
    She’d
owned The Book Corner for two years now. Reading had always been a major
passion, that and coffee. It had been her ultimate dream to own a little coffee
shop on the side. That way potential customers could browse through purchases
while enjoying a cappuccino and maybe a little pastry. So far she was way
behind on those goals. She was supposed to have had half the money she needed
already saved in order to do the required renovations. As it stood though, she
may not even have a store soon, let alone an additional coffee shop. She
couldn’t afford to hire someone to fill in for her today. Just the thought of the
closed sign on the door, of losing potential customers, had her looking at her
watch. Hopefully this would be over soon. The last thing she needed in her life
was a man…let alone a vampire who would not only uproot her from her goals but
from her friends and family as well. She only had one BFF and her aunt, but she
loved them both a ton.
    It
had been a while since she’d dated and her last relationship had ended…badly. Sex
was overrated anyway. She could just imagine how much worse it would be with a
blood sucking vamp. Wishing she was back at the store, she glanced at her watch
a second time.
    It
wasn’t like one of the kings would ever think of choosing a plain Jane like her
anyways. What a waste of her precious time.
    There
was silence followed by gasps as two of the biggest, meanest looking men she’d
ever seen walked onto the platform. Tanya had expected fanfare. A trumpet call.
An announcement at the very least. What she hadn’t expected was to be shocked
stupid. Pictures she’d seen of the men didn’t