Prologue
Long ago, when the races of the vampires and the shape shifters were just beginning, a great feud began between the two them. A shapeshifter had been killed by a vampire, but it was not intentional. The child had just begun to shift, and had not yet learned to control it, thus remaining in human form rather than wolf form. The vampire was also newly born, and was merely hunting and did not realize that they had stumbled upon one of their brethren. He killed it, draining their blood.
It wasn't until later at the meeting of the councils that he discovered what he'd done. He confessed to his actions, angering the shapeshifters. A war broke out, killing many from each side, and sowing hate into the minds of everyone involved. The two races parted ways after many bloody and costly battles, unable to stand the sight of each other. The leaders of each council forbade the two species to interact, and for centuries they stayed apart, the only contact accidental and resulting in death.
Millennia passed, and soon the reason for the feud was forgotten but the hatred still lingered. Humans began advancing, civilizations springing up around the globe. While the vampires fed and survived using the humans as their food source, the shape shifters sought to protect them if only to anger the vampires. Unfortunately, the humans were as afraid of the shifters as they were of the vampires, and began to kill them. The shifters, angered by their insolence, vowed never to help them again.
Unfortunately, the matter was out of their hands. The concept of soulmates was as old as time, but the phenomenon usually didn't befall a shifter. But it appeared, as the Middle Ages came to an end, that mating within packs was no longer an option. Not only were their numbers dwindling as human weaponry became more advanced, but the need to survive drove them to drastic measures. They began to marry humans in a desperate act to save their species, and discovered some rather odd effects as a result, such as being born with the ability to have a soul mate, something they had previously been unaffected by.
Some shifters were born longing for a soul mate, and some found them, but most learned to live with the void. It was soon discovered that not only could shifters be born with the longing for a soul mate, a select few could be born with a specific person they were meant to protect. It was believed to be an alteration of a soul mate, only discovered after a few centuries of having children with humans. Said people meant to be protected eventually came to be referred to as the Intended.
A small handful was born every few centuries, and most spent the majority of their life seeking out their Intended. Most never found the person they were destined to protect, or didn't make it in time, but those that did described the feeling as two puzzle pieces fitting together, and often became good friends with their intended. Since such births were so rare and so infrequent not much was known about the odd bond the shifters shared with humans. The only thing they were certain of was that the Intended were never vampires.
Centuries passed and the cycle continued. The feud was slowly forgotten, hatred dimming to mutual dislike in most cases. The Precon Guard, as the few shifters born with Intended came to be known, continued to be born sporadically throughout the centuries, keeping the vampires in check and ensuring humanity's survival.
It was a system which worked, and for the most part kept all the species at peace and in balance. But what neither race knew was that a baby was about to be born that would destroy the notion of normality, of anything they thought they knew of soul mates, and anything they knew of the Intendeds.