Ethan’s Mate (The Vampire Coalition #1)(2)
Author: J.S. Scott

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.

Sucking in an uneven breath, he tried to gain control of the raging feelings boiling inside of him.

Get a grip, vampire. Think. You can’t save her if you can’t function.

Shit…how was he supposed to function when his world had been turned upside down by one tiny, weak voice in his head?

He grabbed his cell phone and called his three brothers with a brief explanation.

They popped in, literally, moments later.

Nathan arrived first with his usual flare. There was nothing subtle about the oldest Hale brother. He was there in a flash of light so bright that it hurt Ethan’s light-sensitive eyes.

Ethan glared at him, knowing his eldest brother was perfectly capable of showing up with a little less flare. Nathan was powerful and could control the flash, but when he was emotionally charged… he didn’t bother.

Rory arrived without the flash, but was suddenly present with nothing more than a light popping noise that would never be heard by human ears. It was only evident to vampires because of their highly-developed hearing ability.

Liam…arrived like Liam. He faded in softly and without making a sound.