Chosen by the Vamprie, Book One

Chapter One

Two Weeks before

"Are you ready for this?" Jacob grabbed my hand. "You can back out, it's not too late. You can take longer to think about this. Make a better plan."

Make a better plan?

I stilled, sucked in an icy breath, and slid my hand from his. "Revenge has always been the plan, Jacob. You've known this for the last eleven years."

It's been your plan. Not mine.

The words raged in his eyes. He was hurt. Betrayed. Already pining in my absence. I licked my lips and tried again, this time making my voice a little less cutting. "I've waited a long time for a chance like this, and there won't be another..."

He turned from me, his fists clenched by his side, corded muscles in his arms trembling. He took a step away, as though to leave me behind, his voice a growl. "You know what they do to girls like you, don't you? You know they bite them...they seduce them...they...fuck them."

My breath caught with the word.

He'd never spoken like that to me before, never used those kinds of words.

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm not a little girl anymore."

He turned toward me. Hate raged in his eyes, still, he lowered his gaze in a slow slide along my body. "I have noticed, that's why I don't want you to go. They'll ruin you...they'll change you. They'll take your innocence and turn it into something sick and depraved. I've heard the stories, and I've seen the girls when those Vampires are done with them. I've seen how they crave them, like a drug they can't get enough of. They'll do the same to you."

"No, they won't. I'm going for one reason, and one reason only...to drive a stake through their hearts."

The words sank deep, stilling the shake in my hands. The sky was brighter in the distance. Midnight blue blended to amber with the fires already blazing in the middle of town. They'd burned earlier tonight, hungry licks of fire warding off the beasts in the dark.

A lone howl cut through the night, sending goosebumps racing across my skin. The townspeople were scared tonight, and they had good reason to worry.

Wolves flanked the streets, and stole our children. Two were taken last night...one the night before. So we pledged our loyalty to the Vampires. Three infernal beasts who invaded our towns with their guards. We pledged with our honor to the Sinful...still, it wasn't enough.

I'd waited eleven years for this plan. I smoothed down my dress and watched Jacob take a step until he towered over me.

There was a second when I thought he'd say something, where he'd beg and plead. Instead, he leaned close and brushed his lips across my cheek and slid his hands to my waist. "Please, Asena. You trust too easily, and they'll hurt you. Don't go," he murmured, and yanked me closer.

His lips were on mine in an instant, bruising my mouth as he bowed my spine. I couldn't think, couldn't react. My thoughts were a flurry as he drew me harder against his body.

Then he broke away. I sucked in hard breaths, trying to understand what just happened. "Jacob."

Sparks of hope flared in his eyes.

"I have to," I answered.

I tried to swallow the lump in my throat and stepped away from him. My pulse was pounding inside my head. Panicked thoughts moved in, threatening to derail the entire thing. The flare of hope in his eyes hardened to stone. "You're leaving me...for what? Hate and bloodshed, or maybe you just want to leave? Is that it, Asena? Are you that blinded by your own need to get away from this town...or is it me you're running from?"