Part 1: Mate's Lore by Charlene Hartnady

She spat the word like it tasted bad. “Have you looked in the
mirror lately?” She pulled a face and wriggled her pert nose in disgust. “You were
chosen because of your…build. Perfect for incubating heirs. Just look at those wide
hips and overly large mammary glands.”
    Tanya
felt like sucking in her tummy even more than she already was, and unfortunately
she couldn’t help but to wrap her arms across her chest. Alexandra’s eyes
gleamed and a wide self-satisfied smile slowly took residence on her face.
    “He
will drink from me and there is nothing you can do to stop it.”
    Tanya
willed herself to drop her arms, to square her shoulders and to take a step
towards the vampire. “I will be his mate and bare his heirs, which is better
than being a blinged up sippy cup. All you are to Brant is a quick fast food
meal.”
    Alexandra
made an incredulous sound and quick as a flash had closed the space between them,
hand raised.
    “Touch
her and die.” Brant’s voice had ice filling her veins even though she knew the
animosity wasn’t directed at her. “You no longer work for me and have until the
end of the week to move out.”
    “Brant,
I wouldn’t have struck her. She—”
    “Was
simply stating the facts. You seem to have forgotten your place.”
    “It
won’t happen again.” Her eyes were wide…pleading.
    “You’re
right it won’t.” His warm hand clasped Tanya’s and they made for the exit.
Xavier and York flanked them. It wasn’t easy keeping up with his long strides.
She wobbled a few times on her stilettos. Brant wrapped his arm around her
waist and tucked her into the crook of his arm, practically carrying her.
    The
moment they were in the back of his vehicle he turned his full attention on
her.

 
     
     
    Chapter 5
     
    The
SUV pulled away. Though Brant, who at first had seemed to have had a lot to say
to her, now looked out the opposite window. His body was a tense silhouette
against the back drop. Even with minimal light, she could see that his jaw was
locked. Ten minutes later, nothing had changed. She was beginning to get
seriously irritated at his continued silence. Especially since the whole
Alexandra thing had been his fault. Just as she was about to give mister tall,
dark and irritating a piece of her mind, he turned to face her.
    “What
were you thinking provoking her like that?”
    “She
provoked me first.”
    “She’s
a vampire. Could’ve snapped you like a twig.” His jaw worked. “If I had lost
you.” He turned blazing eyes on her for a few seconds before looking out the
side window again. His back was set, every muscle tense.
    “You
were going to drink from her again. That’s why you and Stephany were arguing.”
    “I
don’t want to hurt you.”
    “You
would’ve hurt me if you’d taken from her again. Don’t you see that?” She bit on
her lip for a few beats. “You won’t injure me.” Her voice came out sounding
timid. How would he ever believe her if she didn’t believe herself? “Did something
happen in your past to make you think that you would?”
    “I
almost killed someone once.”
    “A
human?”
    “I
was young, stupid. I wanted to taste of —as you humans would call it—the
forbidden fruit. Surely the prince would be capable of maintaining control. I
was so arrogant, damn ed stupid.” He laughed without any
humor. “Well…I almost killed her. It took three of my friends to pull me off.”
He ran a hand through his hair.
    “Look…you…me…this…”
She gestured between them. “It’s happening. Whether I like it or not. I didn’t
ask to be here. It would be best if you remembered that.” It was so difficult
to talk about this stuff. “If this is to work.” She shook her head not
believing what she was saying. “You really need to know that I don’t like
sharing. It’s really as simple as that. I refuse to share you.” She found that
she didn’t feel in the least bit guilty about that now that she had started to
accept the