ETHAN’S MATE (Book One: The Vampire Coalition)

Prologue

Being a vampire was a lonely existence. Ethan Hale
had walked the earth for the last five hundred years, surviving by
stealth and by hiding his true nature, knowing that humans were not
yet ready to accept and welcome the existence of vampires. The
world had changed over the centuries. But not enough…

There were others of his kind, but vampires were
solitary creatures, trusting no one, walking alone. While they
might socialize occasionally, and his kind could call upon another
of their brethren for help, they never stayed very long in the
company of others. He had three brothers that he would give his own
life for, however, in the end, they all dwelt alone.

The only hope of relief from his lonely existence was
to find his soul-bonded mate. That life changing event had never
occurred for Ethan and he had wandered for centuries without a
soul.

Ethan and his three brothers fought the good fight,
and popular vampire myths were often a topic of jokes among his
brethren. Vampires were not “made,” they were born. Living,
breathing, flesh and blood with extraordinary powers and, yes, a
need for blood to survive. The only thing that they lacked was a
soul. Their soul-bonded mate held that tightly inside of her own,
keeping it safe and protecting it until the day that it would be
transferred to her vampire in a mating ceremony as ancient as the
vampire species.

Vampires were
not
the monsters of lore,
however, there were times when self-policing was necessary, which
meant that Ethan, his three brothers and several others of his
brethren had to unite to defeat a
fallen
that had given in
to bloodlust. Killing aimlessly was against the code of the
vampire. If one of his kind became too frenzied while feeding, and
killed, the lust for a blood kill would become permanent, making
them beyond redemption. They would become a
fallen
, and
immediate extermination of fallen vampires was the only hope of
survival for his kind. Human detection would mean the destruction
of his entire species. Although the vampires might laugh at the
incorrect lore and the misunderstanding of true vampires, humans
would see them as evil abominations that needed to be hunted and
extinguished.

Vampires did not kill indiscriminately. They took
blood when they needed it and left the human donor with no memory
of the incident.

And their one true mate? That was no myth, that was
real, but finding one’s mate could not be rushed, as Ethan and his
brothers had discovered over the last several hundred years of
waiting. All vampires were born male, their female counterpart a
human with a genetic difference. The human female mate was born
with her soul combined with that of her vampire mate, a genetic
mutation that meant that she had to call her mate to her, before he
lost his life force. Female mates did not live beyond their
thirtieth year unless they became bonded with their vampire.

Ethan was among the oldest of his kind who had yet to
find his mate. Had she already passed, failing to call him to her?
Had he not heard her call? It had been so long for him that he had
stopped waiting. A vampire lost his ability and desire to have sex
after the age of one hundred and it had been over four hundred
years for Ethan. He had stopped believing that she awaited him or
that she was yet to be born. He had accepted it, but it didn’t stop
the yearning and loneliness that were now a part of his
existence.

His brothers, who were also unmated, had similar
thoughts - it was those thoughts had driven them all to work for
The Vampire Coalition. They were all past the age for mating and
had to accept that, for them, a mate was no longer a possibility.
Perhaps he and his brothers would not have mates, but they could
preserve their species for those that could. Mated vampires were
happy, contented, living a life that was complete and filled with
joy. Ethan and his brothers wanted their breed to continue its
existence on this earth. It was what they lived for, their cause, a
ray of light and hope for ones who lived in darkness. If they had
nothing else to live for, they could remain in that ray of light by
preserving the future for others of their kind. If they didn’t have
The Coalition and their goals, they knew it was possible to become
the
hunted
instead of the
hunter
.

Chapter 1

Come to me. I need you.

Ethan Hale sat up in bed, his heart pumping, sweat
dripping from his body so profusely that it saturated his bedding.
He was panting as if he had just battled a dozen
fallen.

I’m dying. My life force is draining away. Come to
me.

The voice was weak and soft in his mind, a faint
whisper with a female softness that sent a shiver down his spine.
He recognized the voice of his mate from pure instinct, a certainty
that had nothing to do with logic.

Another seeks me, but he is not you. Please come to
me… before it is too late.

“Who seeks you? And why? Help me find you.” He spoke
aloud, although it was not necessary. He sought her in his mind,
trying to reach her through the weak psychic connection. Something
was…
wrong
. She sounded distant, depleted. It was still
day…long before the sun would set and the connection was
fragile.

Ethan tried to rise, but it wasn’t possible. Nothing
could pull him from his day sleep except his mate, but he couldn’t
function before twilight. He fought and struggled, frustration and
anger driving him. He couldn’t rise. Damn it! He couldn’t rise! His
body refused to cooperate and his mind was sluggish.

Nothing drove a vampire like the need of his mate. It
was feral. Animalistic. Instinct. The need to protect his woman, to
shelter her from all harm ripped through his useless body. Her pain
and her need became his, and there was nothing worse than not being
able to protect his mate. The instinct was there already and they
had not even bonded.

I don’t know who seeks and stalks me, but it is not
you. I feel the evil. I’m growing weak. You must come to me.

Ethan’s heart nearly exploded from his chest while he
fought the seductive call of his day sleep. “Tell me how? Please.”
His voice was desperate now as he clenched the wet sheets, trying
to feel her essence. It was so elusive, barely there, but he had to
reach it.

Please find me…

Her voice floated away lightly, fading to…
nothingness. The connection was completely severed.

Ethan felt himself being dragged back into his day
sleep. He resisted, tearing at the sheets, pounding the bed. But
the day sleep was relentless, pulling him into a dark abyss.

“Nooooo!!” His cry was an anguished howl as the
darkness consumed him.

*****

Brianna Cole woke with a frightened cry. Her eyes
popped open and she had an immediate awareness of her
surroundings
. I’m home. In my own bed.
Her heart pounding
and her breath shallow, she sat up and looked around her
bedroom.

“Nothing here,” she whispered to herself as she
shivered and rubbed her arms to warm herself despite the warmth of
her bedroom.

She was always cold these days. Since she had been
suddenly struck down with a rare and mysterious form of leukemia
six months ago, she was constantly chilled to the bone.

Brianna was just grateful to be in her own home.
Although her family and friends had objected, she had obstinately
stuck to her guns and remained in her own house where she felt at
peace. She hadn’t been able to return to her job as a social
worker, and more often than not, she was in the hospital getting a
transfusion or some other experimental treatment. When she wasn’t
being poked and examined like a lab specimen, she
needed
to
be home. It was the only thing that kept her level and sane in a
world that had been turned upside down by her illness.

Brianna knew she was dying. She didn’t need a team of
experts to tell her that she was slowly fading away. She could feel
the weakness, the slow draining of her spirit.

But I connected with him today! I called him.

She shook her head as the notion popped into her head
involuntarily. Connected? What in the hell did that mean? Yet
somehow she knew it was significant, that
calling him
meant
something.

Brianna sighed as she pulled herself out of bed and
rose to her feet. Stretching lightly, she cursed her weak and
aching body as she made her way into the kitchen, her hungry feline
tangling around her feet. She picked up Mr. Wiggins, named after a
wonderful old gentleman she had worked with who couldn’t keep the
cat, and stroked him, enjoying the soft feel of his fur against her
cheek.

“I’m just not ready to die yet, Wiggs,” she told him
softly as she continued to rub her cheek against his fur. “I don’t
feel like I’m supposed to die.”

It was denial. She hadn’t yet made it to the
acceptance stage of her impending death and maybe she never would.
It seemed like she had been stuck in the denial stage since her
mysterious illness had struck. If she didn’t hurry up, she would
probably never make it through the stages of anger, bargaining,
depression and acceptance. It seemed like she had been stuck in
denial since the day her illness had been diagnosed.

She dropped Wiggs to the floor lightly and dug
through her cupboard for the cat food. She filled the bowl and set
it on the floor. Wiggs, who was plump to begin with, devoured the
meal like he hadn’t eaten in weeks.

She raised an eyebrow. “Greedy little devil.” Wiggs
eyed her briefly with a look she could have sworn was kitty disdain
before returning to his gluttony.

Brianna sighed as she plopped onto a stool at the
breakfast bar and watched Wiggs make a pig of himself. She was
still tired, but filled with a restlessness that she knew would
never let her sleep. Truthfully, she didn’t want to sleep anymore.
Tomorrow she would be back in the hospital for another transfusion
and she wanted to enjoy her one day of freedom.

She needed to call her mother and let her know she
was still among the living.
Maybe that was a bad expression to
use with Mom.
Brianna decided she would just check in and leave
out the black humor that didn’t usually go over well with her
concerned parent. She’d just let her mom know that she was doing
fine. If she didn’t, her mother would come running over to check on
her.

Denial! Denial! Denial!

As Brianna headed for the shower, she decided she
really didn’t care if she lived out the rest of her short life in
that particular stage. If she only had a limited time in this
world, she would enjoy it in any stage she damn well pleased.

She stopped in the bedroom to gather a clean pair of
jeans and a shirt, frowning as she caught a glance at her
reflection in the mirror over the dresser.

It had been several months since they had tried their
last effort at chemo, so her blonde hair covered her head in a
short, spiky style, but her face looked haunted and old. Dark
circles framed her green eyes like she hadn’t slept in days,
whereas the truth was that she slept most of the day. And
night.

But nights haunted her. She felt a yearning for…
something. And then there were the night terrors, a time where she
felt something evil lurking in the shadows. It might be the fear of
her impending demise, but she didn’t think so. She was still in
denial after all and it felt more like a dark presence and
impending doom. Every night the unknown entity felt closer, more
suffocating. Every night it kept her awake longer, making her
shiver under several blankets.

Brianna slammed the drawer, angry with herself for
giving in to the fear. She would fight the darkness. If she could
fight leukemia, she could damn well shake off this feeling that
threatened to consume her after darkness had fallen.

As she determinedly made her way to the bathroom for
a nice hot shower, she decided that she would enjoy every moment
she had left and leave the darkness behind.

She marched into the bathroom, dropping her clothes
on the vanity and stripped, knowing she made that promise to
herself every day and it always worked… until the sun went
down.

*****

Ethan literally exploded out of his day sleep, angry
and determined to find his mate. His eyes were wild and feral as he
dressed himself and tried not to choke on the emotions flooding
him.

Mine!

His mate was in danger. Ethan felt the tingle of
awareness in every cell of his body and he was experiencing the
need to protect, the need to kill anything or anyone that
threatened his mate.

He just wished someone had warned him about the
intensity of the mating emotions. His feelings had always been
lukewarm…until now. Now… he was bursting with unbridled emotions,
controlled by them, overwhelmed by them.