Fighting Fate

Ch. 1

The cold air stung my face as it whipped at me through the open window. It was the middle of of February and Maine was completely frozen over. It was only 5 o'clock but the sun had set leaving the world in darkness. I shivered at the cold but was grateful for it. I was exhausted and the cold air helped keep me awake. I had been going nonstop for the last few months and it was exhausting. When I was at the compound I never had a moments rest between classes and protecting Andrea, which had become more complicated. With the announcement of her agreeing to the match with the Sigma of the Bloodthorne pack our borders have become less stable. Wolves from each pack kept crossing over the borders as a away to improve relations between the packs before the mating. When I wasn't at the compound I was in the Manor, where the Last Crusade coven made its home. Much like a child in the middle of a divorce I was being shuttled back and forth each week. Three months ago when Azarias, the Master of the Last Crusade coven, formal asked for the right to take me as his consort my life had been thrown off kilter. My Alpha, Raiza, and her niece had decided it was in the packs best interest if I accepted his proposal and since than I had been caught between the two groups. I wasn't officially mated to Azarias yet only because Raiza had talked him into waiting until I was of age, which was 21. But he insisted on a vow that bond me to him until we were formally mated.

I fell back against the stiff leather seat of the Mercedes, the car was only a few weeks old and still had the new car smell. Azarias had bought it for me when I had showed up at the Manor in a taxi. Normally I would borrow a car from the pack but Andrea's fiancé had been in town and all the cars where in use, so Azarias decided I needed my own car.
"Mistress, we are nearly at the Manor." Tess told me. She was sitting in the passenger seat and glanced back at me. Like the car Tess was a new "gift" from Azarais, he called her my lady in waiting. Really she was here to spy on me and make sure nothing happened that would effect the packs deal with Azarais. I learned in the last couple of months that having someone follow you around all the time was really, really, really annoying. I wasn't sure how Andrea and Raiza dealed with it. "For the thousandth time: stop calling me Mistress!" I told Tess, annoyed. She gave me a withering look before answering. "It has only been 682 times not a thousand and for the 682nd time it is not by choice I address you as such." She turned around and settled back into the passenger seat. As much as I disliked Tess shadowing me she hated it even more, luckily I got a break from her when the sun was up. She got a bit of a break from me because I went to bed before morning. I had to be awake during the day when I was with the pack and I had to be awake for at least part of the night when I was around vampires.

"Why? Why are all vampires so difficult?" I asked. Normally I dropped the matter but I was agitated and wanted to start a fight. "We're difficult? All you do is pout. On top of that we aren't the only ones who use titles. How many times have you addressed your Alpha by name?" She asked. She had turned back around to look at me. Her deep cerulean eyes shone eerily in the dull light of the car. Her strict straight nose had a sharp upturn at the end and her left nostril was pierced by the smallest stud that I wasn't even sure was there the first time I met her. "Damn wolves, your all supremacists. Look girl, I don't like you nor do I respect you. I do respect my coven and my Master and whether you like it or not your his consort, or intended consort. It is because of my respect for him that I babysit you, Mistress." She turned back around, her long plaited black hair flew over her shoulder like a whip that was part of the shadows. Her hair stood out against the light grey leather seats of the car. I rested my forehead on the cool glass of the window and watched the scenery fly by. We were in one of the bigger towns in Maine and in a rich neighborhood. The Manor was in this neighbor hood and took up half a block, a total of three acres. To car pulled into the Manors drive and through the open gates. The grounds where well taken care of and were beautiful in the moonlight. The car stopped at the garage which was off to the side of the property. It was a long walk to the house but shorter than the distance between the buildings on the compound. Tess was out of the car before it had even stopped and opened my door for me, helping me out of the car. I didn't argue the point and wordlessly accepted her outstretched hand.
The grounds where abandoned, most of the vampires were just waking up or eating breakfast. Tess made sure to take me in through the back of the house and kept me away from the west wing of the Manor. That was were the vampire's bedchambers and dinning room were located.
Unfortunately, the Manor was completely up to date and didn't look like a gothic castle at all. It was a bit of a disappointment however I guess the Manor was pretty nice for modern standards. My rooms were on the second floor of the Manor and in the East wing which kept me away from most of the vampires. Tess opened the door to my rooms and I entered, Azarias was standing in the middle of the room waiting for me. His lips were stained with blood meaning he had come here straight from breakfast without bothering to clean up. "Morning." He came forward and Tess stepped in front of me. She bowed to Azarias before she gave him her report. "Nothing of significance happened at the pack this past week. This week however the Sigma's future mate will be in town." Tess reported. The report was pointless but it was vampire etiquette. When I left the Manor I was in Tess's protection and when I returned I was transferred into Azarias's protection. Her report basically put me back into Azarias's care and Tess was free of me at least for a week. Azarias nodded absentmindedly and dismissed her. He would ask for a full report later I knew but right now like always he didn't care. Tess melted into the shadows and left us no doubt off to get breakfast herself. When she stayed with me at the compound my driver was her only source of food. None of the wolves would allow her to feed from them so she was left with only one donor. Most vampires had at least three donors and had 3 pints a day.
"It is good to see you again, Luce Mia." Azarias said. He gently grabbed my hand and lifted it to his lips. Lightly he kissed my knuckles before releasing my hand. Depending on the vampire some of them still kept customs or habits from different generations. Azarias loved the customs of England in the 17th century and could be the perfect English gentleman. Since he was the Master of the coven the other vampires followed his lead and being here was nearly like going back in time, except for the fact the Manor was so up to date.
"Azarias, what is it you want?" I asked him. Normally he didn't show up as soon as I got to the Manor, he took his time with his breakfast. "Want? All I want is to spend time with you. I know you don't trust me but is there anything I can do that would make you happy?" He asked. I looked at him shocked. He had never asked me anything like that before and the first thing that sprung into my mind was asking him to call off the bonding between us. Before I even tried saying it I knew I couldn't, Andrea had ordered me to accept the bond, and there was no getting out of an order. "I don't know if there is anything anyone can give me that will make me happy." I leaned against the wall by my desk and closed my eyes. For three months I have been moving back and forth from one place to another. At first I had felt more of a purpose in it, I had been protecting the pack from a war with the coven but now everything just seemed tedious. Pack life was tense and awkward and here I spent days locked in my room. "Kye!" Azarias called. I didn't responded, I didn't want to respond. "Kye!" He called again. I didn't say anything, I didn't do anything. The world felt like it was moving beneath me and it took me a minute to realize I was falling, but I didn't care. The darkness that was around me grew deeper and I let myself fall into it...almost. I'm not sure why but a part of me clung on to a piece of me that I didn't even knew existed and while the rest of me fell into the darkness a small part of me remained, fighting for an unknown something.
***
"You were the one who told me this might happen! You should know why!" A loud musky masculine voice said. "I believe I may know the reason but I can't be positive and if I am I have sworn not to say a word about it." An allusive voice replied. This voice seemed to hold no emotion yet for some reason I could have sworn I head sadness in her voice. "If I don't know why this happened how can I help her? You and your pack my not think well of me but I truly care for the girl. I had been telling you for weeks that her light has been dying inside of her, she use to light up the night as though it were the middle of the day. But you have done nothing to help her." The angry voice blamed the other. "What would you have us do? She has separated herself from the pack even when she is there. I don't even think she realized it, I haven't felt her presence in the pack bond for a month. If you are handing out blame than look in the mirror. You forced her into to this position what did you think was going to happen." The sad voice yelled back. The angry voice made no reply and the sad voice continued. "You killed her mother, you stole her memories, terrorized our pack, forced her into agreeing to a bond with you, and she's....No wolf could survive that. I am surprised it has taken so long." I heard the sounds of footsteps back and forth, back and forth across the room. What were the voices doing? A word popped up out of nowhere: pacing. The voices were pacing. Along with the word came an image of a tall flawless girl with silvery eyes pacing across a room a look of...worry? on her face. The image disappeared leaving just the voices. Were the voices also worried? Why? 'It doesn't matter...Nothing matters' this time the voice came from the darkness that surrounded me. It was hypnotic and I could feel it trying to loll me into sleep, an uncaring never awakening sleep. The pacing stopped and the lack of the rhythmic movement jolted me back to semi awareness, it pushed the hypnotic voice away. "You may despise me, your whole pack may despise me and from your perspective they should. My perspective is or was not the same. Your pack killed my family in cold blood I do not think I did anything wrong in my retaliation. That still hasn't changed but I have also been forced to look at things from Kye's perspective. Through that perspective I can see that the pack is innocent of the blood their ancestors had on their hands." The voice stopped and I heard movement. I wasn't sure what was going on or why it seemed important but I couldn't stop listening to the voices. "My fate is also cruel, call it karma if you will. I had not loved since my first and only wife 400 years ago, but that has changed since that night I met her. Since she nearly blinded me when I saw her for the first time, I have been in love with her. Tell me, you infernal wolf, what it is I must do if I wish to save her!" I heard movement again and than I felt something, a touch... Warmth. It rested gently against me steady and solid. "If I must release her from her vow I'll will do it. I cannot let my own selfishness bring this upon her. If that is what it takes than she is free of me I will withdraw my request of having her as my consort. I will deny a mate bond with her. Just do something to save her Corrigan!" The once angry voice demanded. The voice now sounded desperate and pleading. What could torment any man so badly? "You can't release her from this agreement. She is Andrea's sworn Servari and has been commanded to accept your proposal. Alphas and Sigmas do not give orders to their Servari recklessly for once the command has been made there is no taking it back. Kye will and needs to form the mate bond with you for her Alpha commanded it of her." The sad voice said in a cruel, harsh way. There was bitterness there in her voice. Both of the voices were deeply pained by something. Was it the same pain or was it different pain? Did it bring them together or push them apart? Can't they see that both of them are suffering, why are they being so callous towards each other?
"She what! Why?" The voice demanded. "I knew she had made a Servari vow but I didn't know that it meant this." There was more movement and the feeling of warmth disappeared. "Kye knew what it meant when she vowed herself to Andrea. She also knew what it meant to make a vow with you. If this is her fate she didn't do anything to avoid it." The desperate, sad voice told the other. I felt myself flinch, this was wrong. Something was wrong but what was it? "You care for her, can you think of nothing that might save her?" The once angry voice asked. "There may be a possibility but I swore to say nothing. She still has time, if you truly wish to save her you must find the answer yourself. I will tell you this the answer is one she keeps hidden from all, including herself." The sad voice said. "Why?" There was no answer to the question for along time and I though the voices must have left but suddenly the sad one answered. "She denies that part of herself because accepting it would change nothing's nod only bring pain. At least that is what she thinks whether she is right or not, is not for me to decide."