Kate and Garrett have always been two of my favorite fringe characters in the series so it was an easy decision to hire them on to The Family Business. This first chapter was an outtake written for Famdom for Preemies and briefly shows their first meeting. I'll leave it in progress for now in case I get the desire to revisit this fiery couple. You don't have to read TFB to enjoy this story, but check it out if you haven't. Kate and Garrett might be favored employees of my franchise, but the whole kit and kaboodle Saga and characters belong to Stephenie Meyer. My heart belongs to TexasKatherine for proofing my shit on ridiculous deadlines.

The Patriot's Challenge

By SuzsPetals © 2010

Chapter 1

I knew he was there, of course.

One didn't survive for a little over a thousand years without an extraordinary sense of self-preservation. I heard the stranger, caught his scent, felt his presence – long before he came to stand in the forest, watching me from twenty meters away. And just as his senses were beyond what any human could comprehend, I was certain that he knew I knew he was there.

Continuing to ignore him, I stood and primly wiped my hands on my jeans and looked over my clothes. The bear wasn't large, but it put up a good fight. As expected, I was the victor and fortunately wore no evidence of my spoils. I heard the stranger move silently a few meters closer as I easily lifted the dead beast and laid it in a natural, shallow dip in the earth.

After covering the bear with loose autumn leaves I prepared to confront the stranger, learn his intentions before he could follow me back to the house and to the others. He didn't let me get that far.

"What the hell are you doing, woman?" he asked from across the glen, his voice laced with amusement. I turned around to get a look at the latest immortal to venture into my neck of the woods. No pun intended, I thought, suppressing a smile.

The man leaned against the tree a stone's throw from me, his stance casual and non-threatening. I relaxed. I had no qualms about my safety – I was a vampire who had seen centuries on this earth – but I was always cautious about another immortal's agenda when they followed their curiosity into our territory. More often than not, they struck up a conversation, learned what they wanted to know, and moved on.

My family and I had been living near the Denali State Park in Alaska for almost eighty years and nomadic vampires were sometimes drawn to a coven the size of ours. It was uncommon in our world to have so many live together peacefully, and our chosen lifestyle only enhanced the novelty. When they discovered how we fed, the novelty soon wore off and they continued on to more populated 'feeding' areas.

The roguishly handsome man watching me would probably be no different. I could see his deep red irises and smell the human blood coursing through his veins. He had killed, and recently.

"I'm cleaning up after myself," I answered casually, as though he hadn't just witnessed me wrestle, drain, and bury a grizzly bear. "I assume you do the same."

The civilized members of my kind knew enough to cover their tracks, keeping the knowledge of our existence locked safely in fiction and film. Civilized being a subjective term, of course. He had just murdered someone who undoubtedly had a family, friends... a life.

"Naturally," he said with a forced nonchalance. Huh. "Are things so desperate in this region that you're resorting to the wildlife for sustenance? If so, I know where there's a group of campers in a remote…" He trailed off when I shook my head vehemently, not wanting to hear the details of his kill.

"No, not desperate," I assured him. "Just choosing to nourish myself in a different manner." I wanted to add 'in a more humane manner' but there was no need to be condescending with someone who was just following their nature. That, and there was something intriguing about the nomad.

He pushed off from the tree and approached at a human pace. He was average height, rangy and muscular with a carriage that exuded confidence. His dark blonde hair hung almost to his shoulders and despite being a traveler, he was relatively clean and kempt. With the sheepskin jacket over a dark blue flannel shirt and jeans, he would pass for a hiker – as long as no one looked at his eyes.

I think it was his eyes that captured my attention. Most of the immortals we met throughout the centuries were content with their transient lifestyle, focused on having a ready food supply and moving on before discovery. There wasn't a lot of depth when you moved from town to town, discreetly depleting the population. I shuddered involuntarily and the man's brow furrowed when he caught my subtle movement. His eyes betrayed an intelligence and curiosity I rarely saw in our kind, and I experienced an irrational flash of hope that I – we – might have company with something interesting to discuss.

My family – not really a family, of course – consisted of the women who were closer to me than sisters, Irina and Tanya. We had been companions since before Russia was dubbed Kievan Rus'. We saw more history than we cared to remember, but we were there for each other through war, tragedy, celebration and men.

Lots of men.

In the early years of our change we embodied the myth of the succubus: Demon women who made love with human men before killing them. It was an intoxicating, yet confusing time. Before long I found I loathed myself for months after a deadly tryst. My sisters felt the same way, and we eventually decided to see if we could still enjoy the physical pleasures without the fatal good-byes. We could, and did.

We've been surviving nicely on animal blood for centuries. Unfortunately, the Alaskan wilderness limited our access to human lovers we could spend satisfying time with and then leave, wondering what happened in the morning. Oddly, this stranger before me elicited memories of those times. He had no pulse, but he had… something. I internally shook my head and pushed those thoughts away. He would have his chuckle at my chosen diet and keep going. I was fine with that, although I also found my mind wandering to Carmen and Eleazar.

The Spanish couple joined my sisters and myself more than a hundred years ago and was also like family, sharing our desire to spare humans despite our need to sate our thirst. I loved them dearly, but sometimes their passion for one another was so… so… so real that I had to go on my own long hiking trips to clear my head and distance myself. Eleazar would probably welcome the company of another man after so many years in a house full of women, I thought, bemused.

The handsome stranger was watching me, his head cocked, as I mused over our different histories, lifestyles and choices. Definitely intelligent and certainly scrutinizing me.

"You don't feed on humans?" he finally asked. "At all?" He didn't sound as shocked or amused as I expected. Fascinated felt like the right word. I cast my eyes down to the covered bear to avoid his intense gaze. I honestly couldn't remember how long it had been since someone had unsettled me. I looked back up and met his eyes.

"No. Not for eons. We were human once, too." I shrugged, pretending not to care what he thought. "It was easy once the decision was made."

He nodded, thoughtfully. "So what should I call you, eater-of-bears? I'm Garrett."

I laughed out loud, in spite of myself. "I'm Katrina, but you can call me Kate. Are you passing through?" I knew he was – they always were – but I suddenly wanted to know his plans.

"Sort of. Probably," he replied. "I was born around the same time as this great country was – 1744 if I recall correctly – and Alaska was the last state on my list with which to acquaint myself. It's as breathtaking as I had heard." His eyes traveled up and down my figure when he said the word 'breathtaking' and I should have been offended by his audacity. But I wasn't. Instead I felt a strange thrill unfurl in my stomach as well as an emotion I couldn't put a name to. It unnerved me and I decided to part ways with the stranger – Garrett – before he could add to my confusion.

"I'm so glad you're enjoying it. I live nearby, year-round, so if you would be so kind as to refrain from hunting until you're out of the area, we would be very appreciative," I said briskly as I started to head north, home. I saw the alarm in his eyes only serving to further confuse me.

"We?" he asked, a trace of panic in his voice. "You have a home… with someone? That's– well, that's unusual. For our kind." He was speaking quickly, as though I would leave before he could finish.

"Yes, I know it's not common, but I live a few miles away with my sisters whom I've been with since the first century, A.D. We are originally from Russia. There is also a couple from Spain who have been with us since about 1890. We all have a good life here – a peaceful one, and without the loss of human life."

I heard myself chattering quickly, as he had, and I was flustered by my reaction. His eyes were warm and quick-witted, but they glowed with the blood of some poor innocent. I couldn't entertain such thoughts – I couldn't imagine – he was a vampire living his true nature, plain and simple. My thoughts were muddled, disjointed. I needed to get home so I could talk to Irina.

"Would you like to come with me, meet everyone?"

It was my voice, my lips moving, but I couldn't believe I had said it. My mouth parted, seemingly with the hope that the words would return from whence they came.

Garrett smiled and his eyes – his red eyes, I reminded myself – twinkled. He must have been greatly enjoying my discomfort and inexplicable friendliness. We immortals were not terribly known for our social skills. But he didn't laugh and he didn't move on.

"I think I would like that very much. Kate."

He said my name as though it was a new language he was trying out. And when he said it, the bear's blood flowing through my veins may have turned to molten lava. I felt a heat run through my body that rivaled the memory from so many centuries before when a lover's blood filled my senses. If I had been human, I'm certain my legs would have buckled.

"Lead the way," he added with a crooked smile, swinging his pack on his shoulder as he prepared to follow me through the woods.

I didn't trust myself to speak, merely nodded and continued to head north to the house. I tried to imagine what I would tell the others when I arrived, for I never would have brought a stranger home like this before. Instead, my thoughts took flight through the trees like so many birds when he placed his hand lightly at the small of my back and walked beside me.

"So, these wild animals? Can they really satiate your thirst?" he asked as he stepped out of his history and into our present.

If you like this couple and would be interested in more about their ensuing relationship, drop me a review. Reviews are even better than Kodiak blood. Thanks so much for reading!