Chapter 1

"Ugh," B muttered to herself as she kicked at the contents of a ripped open trash bag. Why did she do this to herself? Why did she let her morals get in the way of a good meal? If she would just get over herself and steal once in awhile, she wouldn't have to go through garbage everyday looking for a meal.

Scowling, she picked up a nearly full plastic container. It was amazing how much people threw out. The wasted food that she wouldn't touch usually due to the smell or the amount of bugs squirming in it...just thinking about the amount she had found in the last day alone, the amount that could have fed her for days, made her heart twist bitterly. Even when she had her parents, had a home, a family, money, and a pretense of safety, B had never wasted even a quarter of what the humans did. Although she guessed she had better count herself lucky, since it was the waste she was now living off of.

Her stomach rumbled, reminding her of just how hungry she was. She opened the plastic container and peered inside it, not quite ready to get her hopes up. After a few cautionary sniffs, she found that the barely touched burger was fine. If she had to guess, she figured whoever had thrown it out probably did so because the meat was nearly raw in the middle. It was a good thing she didn't get sick. Actually, it was a great find. Maybe the red meat would soothe the cat side of her a little.

So focused on inhaling the burger, B didn't take notice of the blonde woman taking soft, graceful steps past the alley. The wind shifted at just the right moment, for the blonde, anyways, as she got a lungful of B's scent. Desire lit inside the blonde like never before, and she peered at the ragged girl hungrily, taking in every detail. It didn't matter that the girl's brown hair was dirty and oily, that the clothes she wore were torn and faded, that dirt coated the girl's body from head to toe. Kate was already ready to pounce.

Just like she had stalked her prey, Kate slunk into the alley, licking her lips with excitement. She almost felt like her heart would start beating as she inhaled the girl's scent again. She smelled like the forest and honey, a strange but delicious smell. One that made the pull even more insistent for the blonde.

She knew. There was no doubt in her mind; this girl was Kate's mate. After over a thousand years alone, she had found her mate. She didn't even care that the girl was human. She would woo her, turn her, and that would be that. The girl would be hers for eternity.

Kate grinned with excitement, just as the wind shifted again. She pouted as she could no longer revel in her mate's scent, but that pout turned into a frown when her mate stiffened, almost as if she had heard or scented Kate. That couldn't be possible, of course. Kate had been silent, and if the girl had scented her, the look of horror wouldn't be crossing the girl's face right now.

Still, the girl seemed to be ready to start shaking from fright, and that immediately put Kate on edge. Who, or what, dared to scare her mate? Her eyes darted around the alley, looking for anything her vampiric sense could have missed, but really, there wasn't anything to see.

B's instincts screamed at her to run. The scent was almost overpowering with its sweetness. Usually the scent of warm chocolate and cinnamon would make her lick her lips with want, but it was the underlying scent that, while B could never put a name to it, told her that the scent wasn't normal.

Turning, B hoped with all of her pounding heart that she was wrong. What were the odds that she could be so unlucky a second time? Yet there, in the alley...there it was. A vampire. In any other situation, B would have admired her beauty. The vampire was beyond gorgeous, with straight platinum blonde hair and an alluring smirk on her face. She was dressed like she was ready to go clubbing in some slinky shirt, tight black pants, and fancy heels, but it was obvious by the look in her strange, quickly darkening golden eyes that she had other plans. The vampire was thirsty.

B was terrified. She knew the chance of her defeating a vampire was nearly nothing. She was going to become another meal, just like her family.

The vampire sauntered over like she had all the time in the world, and B fought not to back up, not to trigger the vampire's instincts to chase. Not that it would actually help, B thought bitterly. She's already decided I'm going to be her lunch.

"Hello, sexy," the vampire purred, her voice silken and way too sexy for B's soon to be killer. "What's a girl like you doing hanging out in alleys? There are much better places to be, like in my arms…"

No. No! I don't want to die! Panic took over as the vampire reached for her, and she shifted. The vampire let out a sound of surprise as she realized what she was grabbing for was now a twenty pound cat. B used those extra seconds that the vampire's surprise bought her and bolted as fast as she could away from her. The surprise didn't last long, and soon the vampire was racing after her.

"Hey, Kitten, wait!" she called after B, and B could hear her getting closer.

Heart thumping with terror, B poured on even more speed, speed she hadn't know she had until she was being chased by the vampire. Pushing past her limits, B tried every trick in the book to lose her pursuer. She made sudden turns, backtracked and went a different way, waded through giant puddles, and ran across busy roads. Still, the vampire chased her.

Then B got lucky. She saw her best, but most disgusting bet in a giant sewer pipe. It would barely be big enough for her to fit, but it would be too small for the vampire. It would also be smelly and nasty, but there would be no way for the vampire to get to her, save from ripping the pipe right out of the ground.

Without another thought, B dove for the pipe, so desperately that she slipped. A cold hand grabbed her tail. She let out a yowl of pain, and strangely enough, the vampire's hand let go. Without looking back, B continued to run deeper, even as her fur got soaked and heavy, even as her nose clogged with all of the vomit-worthy smells, B ran, leaving the vampire to her long and creative cursing.

Fearfully, she wondered if the vampire would ever find her again. She didn't think she would be so lucky a second time.