Chapter 1

Claire

Damnit!

Running late again.

That's what you get for buying an alarm clock because it's fuzzy. The next one will need to be more practical, even if it's not as cute.

I hurry to throw on my work uniform and dash out the door, only bothering to brush my teeth. A shower will have to wait, I'd need it after a shift at the diner anyway.

I start walking to one of the few public dining places left in our city. It's in a decent part of town and is only a few minutes walk, even though I don't like to be outside for that long. Especially at night.

The city had pretty much gone to hell ever since the supernaturals came out of hiding. With really no human government left after they were all murdered things like health inspections and funding for upkeep had basically disappeared. All of a sudden, humans were thrust to the bottom of the food chain.

Literally.

I have lost a few friends to vampires.

The thought makes me shudder as I walk past abandoned buildings that used to hold things like clothing stores, jewelry shops and a butcher. The human population took a serious hit when our government tried to fight back against the creatures we all thought were fairytales.

Well, more like nightmares.

As a result, it was open season on my kind.

They killed humans indiscriminately. Dragons flying overhead, swooping down to thrust their talons through bodies of fleeing humans, wolves chasing defenseless men and women through the streets, tearing them limb from limb like chew toys, vampires sprinting from body to body, draining blood openly.

It was chaos and it was terrifying. I was only twelve years old and both of my parents were killed. Drained dry by vampires.

The monsters seemed to have some semblance of compassion as they didn't murder the children, just left us as orphans to fend for ourselves. Most of us were moved to group homes, sharing rooms with eight or nine other children, being taught in the basement because they were scared to send us out into the world. Once I hit sixteen, I found a job at the diner. I worked hard and saved every penny, knowing I would be thrust out on my own once I turned eighteen. I was able to rent a small apartment and buy a few shabby furnishings.

It's not much, but it's mine.

I'm careful with how I live my life. I'm never outside after dark, I use heavy perfumes to make my scent unappetizing and I never make eye contact, for fear of disrespecting an egocentric supernatural.

It's the vampires I'm mostly afraid of. They are so fast you can't see them and so strong there is no chance of getting free once they have their fangs sunk into you. We rarely see dragons and the wolves look just like regular men, although much larger and more muscular than most ordinary humans. I've never dated for fear I'd accidentally pick one of them. I shudder to think what would happen if one of them took a human home.

I arrive at the diner only a few minutes late and chuck my stuff in the office before wrapping an apron around my waist. My boss and the diner's cook, Lenny, sticks his head out from the kitchen.

"Late again, girl! You're lucky I like you or you'd be out on your ass!" He yells with mock anger. I throw him an apologetic smile and shrug my shoulders.

"You'd never find another woman to put up with your shit, Lenny!" I yell making him bust into a laugh.

"You're not wrong, sweet cheeks. You're not wrong." He says with warm affection. I grab a cup of coffee and take small sips in between flipping down chairs and filling salt shakers.

The day passes in comfortable simplicity. A few regulars come in, construction workers building new buildings for supernaturals to live in. The human ones were not strong enough to bear their weight.

Or their tempers.

A few buildings had been smashed to bits by werewolves having fights or destroying things due to a temper tantrum. I had learned from the bits and pieces of information I had gathered that werewolves are basically large, muscular children who eat everything, make messes and get mad about the tiniest things.

I hope to never meet one.

I finish my shift and spend some extra time cleaning. Lenny doesn't ask me to do it, but his wife was killed when a werewolf flung another werewolf into her while they were fighting over something in the street. She was crushed between the creature and a brick wall, so he has no one left to help him. In return, he feeds me a hot meal before sending me on my way.

Tonight is meatloaf, one of my favorites, and I devour it along with some fries and water. I sit at the counter and chat with Lenny while I eat.

"When are you going to find a nice fella to settle down with?" He asks again for the millionth time.

"Why? Are you interested in the position?" I jest with a shy smile and he scoffs.

"Oh no, sweet cheeks. That time of my life is long over. But you should find someone. Someone that makes you happy." He says quietly and I shake my head.

"I don't need anyone to make me happy. And I don't need the stress of loving someone, only for them to be stolen from me by a monster. Either killed or worse, claimed as a mate by some female who thinks she can take him against his will just because he smells good." The thought makes me sick. Who knows if that whole mate bull shit is even real. They could just think a human is attractive and use that as an excuse to kidnap them and keep them hostage.

"And don't even get me started on children. I would never want to have one with the way this world is. I wouldn't want to leave my child an orphan like my parents did. Because we all know humans rarely get to live out their actual life expectancy." I point out and Lenny sighs.

"You're right, Claire. But it still hurts this old man's heart to hear you so pessimistic about the world." He muses sadly and I shake my head.

"I'm not pessimistic, Lenny. I'm realistic. Just trying to reduce the suffering I have to go through just to live my life." I say and he nods before handing me some cash.

"Here's your tips for the day. Mr. Sanderson was very generous." He says waggling his eyebrows. I roll my eyes at him and hop off my stool.

"Mr. Sanderson is old enough to be my father and a total pervert, but I'll take his tips anyway." I say with a shrug, making Lenny laugh.

I wave goodbye to him as I throw my bag over my shoulder and pull my long brown hair out of the ponytail it's been in all day. I run my fingers through it, cringing at how oily it is after missing my shower this morning. I know I smell like grease and sweat and can't wait to get home and take a hot shower before laying in bed and reading a book.

It's still early evening, but it's getting closer to winter so the sun has started setting earlier. It's still light out, thankfully Lenny is always generous about letting me leave early enough to get home before dark. That leaves him pretty short staffed in the evenings, but not many people brave going out at night anyway.

I'm only a few blocks from my apartment building when I feel the hairs on my neck and arms stand up as if I'm being watched. I look around me, but see nothing out of the ordinary. I speed up my steps, wanting to get home as soon as possible. Vampires don't come out during the day, but it's cloudy and I'm not sure if they could be out when the sun is obscured.

All I hear are the sounds of my feet padding against the pavement and my ragged breathing as I practically jog to my building. I see the front door come into view, when a large man steps out from around the corner, walking towards me.

I feel the power from a half a block away from him. Whatever he is, he is strong and important. I ignore the sense of forboding and keep my eyes down on the ground. He walks up to me and I go to amble around him when he sticks a large hand out and curls it around my bicep, squeezing painfully. I cry out as the pain sizzles through my arm. He pulls me into his chest possessively and drops his face into my neck, breathing in deeply. My mouth drops in shock and my eyes peer up into his. They are glowing a bright gold and a cruel smirk slips across his face before he utters the one word I begged to never hear.

"Mine."