Chosen Mate

by L. J. Red

  CHOSEN MATE

  A Bloodline Warriors Novel

  By L.J. Red

  Chosen Mate

  Copyright © 2019 by L.J. Red

  Copyright © 2019 by L.J. Red

  First Electronic Publication: May 2019

  L.J. Red

  www.ljred.com

  All rights are reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission by the author, except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles and reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the author’s permission.

  NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:

  This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not the be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organization is entirely coincidental. The author does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for third-party websites or their content.

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  Chapter 1

  May stared at the “Elevator Broken” sign, her eyes grainy. Well, that was just great. She dragged herself over to the stairs and began to climb the five flights to Chad’s apartment. She had spent the entire night on her feet in the Sanctuary dealing with last-minute preparations for the envoy to the Conclave. The Sanctuary would still be a hive of activity even when half of the vampires and the vassals, the human staff that worked for them, had gone, but at least it would be a half-empty hive.

  So much had changed since Lucian, the leader of the Shadows, and his newly turned vampire soulmate Dana had rid the city of the vampire corruption at its heart, killing the Monster of Chicago, the serial killer who had haunted the city for so long. Now Lucian’s Bloodline, the Shadows, elite warriors of the vampire race, finally had a territory of their own, and they were here to stay.

  Despite the shockwaves moving through Chicago, for May some things never seemed to change. At least she was working for the good guys now, vampires whose mission was to protect humans, not prey on them. Still, she always seemed to be the last one home, the first one back in the morning. Pulling longer and longer hours each night. She supposed it was a good thing that humans twice her age (and sometimes vampires four times that) sought her out for advice. She’d always had a calm head, always been the one to quietly put out fires, not run around screaming and fainting.

  Still, she paused on the landing, catching her breath. Sometimes she’d like to have a moment to freak out or be overwhelmed. Let someone else take care of the next crisis, for a change. She’d always been so damn practical—what would it be like to fall apart?

  May had always been interested in vampires, even as a teenager when she was more heavily into goth, dyed her hair black, and went around wearing an entire salon’s worth of eyeliner. Now that she was in her twenties and had toned down her love of everything black, she’d still jumped at the chance to work in the Sanctuary, traveling halfway across the country to apply for the position in Chicago. Being so close to real vampires sounded like a dream come true. She thought she’d get some unusual events management experience, and it’d be something cool to put on her resume for her next ‘real job’. Instead, she’d been thrown headlong into the total overhaul of vampire society. New rules, hyper security and hundreds of vampires flocking to the city. Not exactly the quirky experience builder she’d imagined.

  Finally, she reached the fifth-floor landing and shoved the door open to the hallway, walking down past the familiar cracked tile and peeling paper to Chad’s door and sagging against it, letting her dark lined eyes fall shut.

  It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy the work. She did—she’d always been good with people. At the animal shelter where she used to work, she’d quickly taken the reins of the office, though working for vampires wasn’t quite as rewarding as saving injured animals. Vampires were a lot less fluffy, for a start. Still, it was exciting work, always something new going on, but the last few weeks had been more than exciting, they’d been utterly exhausting. All she wanted to do was collapse into bed and sleep the day away.

  She wished she owned the blackout curtains that the vampires used in the Sanctuary. Chad only had flimsy white ones. She’d told him she was happy to buy them herself, hell it wouldn’t be the first thing she’d bought for their apartment, but he’d complained about the ‘energy flow’ and ‘ruining his Zen’ and she’d just given up. It wasn’t the first time she’d given in to one of his tirades. She just didn’t have the energy to fight. He was her boyfriend. Wasn’t he supposed to be supportive?

  She knew she should be happy to be home and excited to see him, but lately, she had been finding dealing with him even more exhausting than being at work. He was always pawing at her, trying to get her into bed, and lately, she just wasn’t in the mood. Well, she fought down a blush, that wasn’t entirely true. Being surrounded by sexually magnetic vampires certainly did have an effect on her, but when she got home to Chad, somehow all that sexual heat just drained away. Damn, did that make her a terrible girlfriend?

  May pushed away from the door and pulled out her keys. Her key stuck in the lock and May shoved at the door with her hip, swearing under her breath until the door popped open with a bang and May stumbled inside.

  A wave of stale sweat wafted out towards her. May wrinkled her nose in disgust. Great, Chad had thrown another party. May hung her coat by the door and slowly walked in. The tiny apartment was filled with people passed out and snoring on the couch or on the floor. Trash littered the coffee table, food wrappers and chips crushed into the rug. May tried to hold her breath as she picked her way past the sleeping bodies and forced a sticky window open wide, finally taking a deep breath of fresh air.

  She looked around herself miserably. She didn’t expect Chad to stay at home alone waiting for her. She liked to have a good time too, and she understood the desire to just let loose. Hell, the vampire parties she’d seen could certainly get more than a little crazy, but she wished Chad didn’t have so many parties so regularly. It felt like the apartment was just a place for people to crash, not a home.

  Over the past year since she had met Chad and moved in with him, she had tried to add homey touches, spending most of her paycheck not just on her half of the rent but also on classier furniture, art for the walls, and happy, flowering plants.

  May poked at a listless, dry leaf. Not so happy anymore, almost all of them were dead or dying, and she was angry to see cigarette butts littering the soil. May straightened up and noticed an empty patch where one of her favorite abstract art prints had hung. Wonderful, something else stolen by Chad’s so-called friends.

  May was done with the night. She just wanted to collapse into bed and sleep. She walked to the other side of the room and pushed open the bedroom door. The curtains were drawn and the room inside was shadowy and dark. May flicked on the lamp beside the bed and leaned down to wake Chad with a kiss only to rear back in shock. Her boyfriend wasn’t lying on the bed alone; a blonde with rumpled hair was draped over him. The blonde twitched and opened a bleary eye at the light.

  May stared down in horror at the line of the blonde’s naked back as she snuggled closer to Chad. May transferred her shocked gaze to Chad who had begun to wake up.

  “What the hell?” May said, finding her voice.

  Chad blearily rubbed his eyes and focused on her. “Oh,” he said, “shit. May, you�
�re back.” He glanced at the blonde and back at May again.

  May fought the wave of exhaustion pressing down on her. “Yes,” she said, “I’m back. I live here in case you’ve forgotten.”

  “Well, it’s just you’re never around, so…”

  “I’m never around?” May responded, her eyes flashing. “I work nights! That doesn’t give you permission to jump in bed with some random chick you found at one of your parties.”

  “Hey,” the blonde said, “I’m not some random chick.” She wrapped her hand around Chad’s arm. “We’re together.” She glared up at May. Even with her mascara smeared and her blonde hair in a puffy cloud around her head, there was still a plastic Barbie prettiness to her that May, with her boring brown hair and brown eyes, could never match.

  “Oh no,” May said, trying and failing to control her anger, “no, you aren’t.” She grabbed the covers. “I am. So, get out of my bed.”

  “Excuse me?” the blonde squeaked, grabbing the sheet back. “Since when is this your bed? Who even are you?”

  May glared down at her. “I’m his girlfriend. I live here, and I want you to get out right now!” May said, grabbing the sheet again and tugging sharply.

  “Whoa, whoa,” Chad said scrambling out of bed and baring his skinny ass before he put on a pair of boxers. “Ladies, let’s just all calm down, okay? May come on, leave her alone.”

  May, fuming, let herself be led out into the hallway. “Leave her alone? Excuse me, I’m your actual girlfriend. She’s the one who turned up in your bed. I think you owe me an explanation.”

  “Look, May,” Chad said leaning in towards her, “you’re never around.” He ran his hand up her arm and May’s skin crawled. “It was just the one time, all right? She needed a place to sleep, and I guess…” He shrugged, “I guess we got carried away.” He slipped his hands around her waist and tugged her towards him. “It didn’t mean anything,” he said, leaning down for a kiss.

  May shoved him away from her. She didn’t believe him. She didn’t believe him at all. “I’m sick of your lies,” May said. “I work all night. I come home and the place is a mess, people are passed out all around the apartment, and now you’ve got some woman in bed with you.”

  Chad leaned back. “I can’t help it if people enjoy my company.”

  May stared at him in shock. “Are you seriously acting like this isn’t your fault?” she asked. “What, she tripped and fell on your dick?”

  His face flushed red, then he leaned forward with an ugly smile. “Oh, May,” he said, reaching out and twirling a strand of her brown hair around his finger in a mockery of affection. “Can you seriously blame me? I mean look at you. Little frumpy May. All in black.” He sneered. “Don’t you get it? You’re okay at keeping house and all, but Tansy knows how to have a good time. You just need to loosen up some. It’s not like we were exclusive.”

  May pulled back her head, tugging sharply free from his grip, “What you mean we’re not exclusive?” she said, hating to hear the hitch in her voice. “We’re in a relationship. That’s supposed to mean something.” Her eyes stung.

  “Sure, it means something,” Chad said, “I like having sex with you. We have fun, don’t we?” He raised his eyebrows and leaned forward, his tongue flicking out to wet his lips.

  May leaned back out of his reach. He liked sex? They had fun? Was that all she’d been to him? A sex toy with a house cleaning setting? Didn’t he care about her at all?

  “Is that all I am to you?” she said, her voice wobbling. “Nothing more than a roommate that you occasionally fuck?”

  Chad made finger guns. “Exactly. That’s what I’m talking about, friends with benefits. But let’s be honest, May, you’ve been kind of cold lately. I have needs…” He reached for her, and May brought her hand back and slapped him across the face.

  “We’re not friends,” she said into the silence.

  Chad’s expression grew ugly under the red imprint of her hand.

  “You little—”

  “I’m done,” May said, cutting him off. “I’ve had enough. I won’t be treated like this anymore.”

  “Fine,” Chad said, “then you can get out.”

  May stared at him in shock. “What do you mean?”

  “Hey, it’s my name on the lease,” Chad said. “This is my apartment.”

  “I pay half the rent every month,” May said, “more, sometimes, when you can’t find work.”

  Chad shrugged, “Yeah, well, that’s your problem,” he said, “this is my apartment, my name is on the lease, and the rent comes out of my account.”

  “Because I pay it to you,” May said angrily.

  Chad shrugged, “Yeah, well, don’t pay anymore. You can just get lost,” and he strode forward and grabbed May roughly by the shoulder.

  May cried out, but Chad took no notice, his grip on her arm painful as he dragged her back down the hall and flung her out of the apartment.

  “There, you were always nagging me to clean up, well now I’ve taken out the trash,” he said with a mean smile. He leaned back and grabbed her coat and bag, flinging them at her, before slamming the door in her face.

  Chapter 2

  May stepped back from the door, mute with shock and anger. Was that it? Could he really kick her out? She slumped against the wall, tears appearing in her eyes, her eyeliner running. She wiped her cheeks, leaving streaky black marks on the backs of her hands. What was she going to do? How was she going to survive? Where was she going to stay? She had nobody, no one to turn to. She had come to Chicago for the job at the Sanctuary, met Chad, and that was it. She didn’t know anyone else.

  She had always hung out with Chad’s friends, trying to make herself more like them, to be the party girl that he wanted. May sobbed. It turned out she wasn’t the only party girl, apparently. Was it her fault? Was there something wrong with her? Another fresh wave of misery washed over her. Was Chad right? Frumpy, mousy, boring old May. She gasped in a breath, forcing herself to stop crying. She hated the thought of Chad or one of his friends coming out and seeing her. She pushed herself upright and walked out of the building, with no particular direction in mind.

  The night air was cold, and quickly the tears on her face cooled. May drifted through the city, the cold outside matching the chill within. Aimless, disoriented, she tripped on an icy curb and fell to the ground, the freezing bite on her hands and knees knocking her out of her miserable state. What was she doing? Was she seriously going to wander around Chicago in winter until she froze to death? Come on, May. This isn’t you. Get ahold of yourself.

  She looked around. Without planning it, her feet had taken her the old familiar route towards the Sanctuary. She supposed she could go there. She didn’t have anywhere else. She looked up at the dawn-stained sky. It was early morning now; they should all be asleep. She could hide in one of the break rooms and try to decide what to do next. May brushed off her knees and walked determinedly in the direction of the Sanctuary.

  May flashed her security badge to the guard at the gate and he nodded, recognizing her and waving her in. Since the Shadows had taken over the Sanctuary, the security procedures had all been noticeably upgraded. In a weird way, May felt more secure behind locked gates and surrounded by dangerous vampires than she did out in the city, and definitely safer than she had felt in Chad’s apartment surrounded by his useless friends.

  She had managed to stem the flow of tears on her way to the Sanctuary, and all she wanted to do now was get into the vassal’s break room without anyone’s seeing her.

  The night was well over, the early dawn sun shining through grey clouds above her head as she approached the main building. She expected most of the vampires to be resting and apart from a skeleton crew of vassals, the majority of her colleagues would have gone back to their homes.

  She looked up at the silent Sanctuary building. Just a few hours ago, when she’d happily bid goodbye to her colleagues, she’d had a home and a boyfriend. Now she had neither of those thi
ngs and no idea what she was going to do.

  She typed in the passcode on the new security lock and let herself in. The hallways were still and silent. May crept to the break room without seeing anyone and breathed a sigh of relief as she flipped on the lights.

  May was used to being the last one to leave, so it wasn’t strange for her to see the place empty of other vassals, in fact, it was kind of comforting to be back in the Sanctuary. She walked over to one of the couches in the corner and sunk down onto the cushions, resting her head in her hands. She could sleep here for tonight, as long as she set her alarm to wake up before sunset later on today, she would be up and about before any of her colleagues arrived, and no one would be the wiser.

  That didn’t solve the question of tomorrow, or the day after, or the day after that. She’d need to find a new place, but she’d given Chad almost all her paycheck towards last month’s rent, and she didn’t know how she was going to find enough money for a new place in the next few days.

  “May?” Dana was standing in front of her. She had entered silently, vampire speed and grace stealing the sound from her entrance. May pushed herself quickly to her feet. “Dana,” she said, “can I help you? Is there something you need?”

  “No,” Dana said, coming forwards. She rested her hand on May’s shoulder. “Honey. What’s wrong?”

  “It’s fine,” May said, scrubbing at her eyes, probably only making the mess of the eyeliner worse. “I’m fine, I just…” She tried to think of an excuse, and to her horror, instead the tears rose again and she caught her breath, trying to choke down a sob. But another fresh wave of misery was unleashed at the kindly look in Dana’s eyes, and she was shaking with tears once more.

  “Oh, honey,” Dana said, “It’s okay, let it all out.” She enfolded May in her arms.

  Dana was a tall woman, and May, much shorter, found herself enveloped in Dana’s embrace. It felt exactly like she imagined it might feel to have a sister. May, who had shuttled from foster home to foster home throughout her childhood, didn’t know how to react, stiffening in Dana’s embrace. But Dana didn’t let go, and eventually, May melted into the comfort that Dana was offering.