The Heir

  The Heir

  Chosen Mate Series

  Book One

  Ariana Rodriguez

  Smashwords Edition

  Copyright 2011

  Smashwords Edition License Notes.

  Thank you for purchasing this eBook. This story “The Heir” is copyrighted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights are reserved by the owner and creator of this work, Ariana Rodriguez, and any unauthorized copying, broadcasting, manipulation, infringement of this copyright is punishable by law.

  This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Prologue

  It was a chilly night in late November. The sun had set at just before six, earlier than yesterday, and soon the moon took its place. It was a full moon, shining with all its glory. The street lamps were on and the neighborhood was calm as always.

  As she drove up her driveway, Lauren didn't notice the eerie silence or cold darkness that surrounded her home. She was too excited to pay attention to her surroundings. She'd just gotten great news and couldn't wait to share them with the world. She couldn’t wait to share her great news with Cade.

  She'd just taken a few steps past her living room when she almost slipped and fell. Lauren braced herself on the wall and moved her foot around looking for the slippery spot. When she found it she lifted her foot and reached down with her free hand to touch the liquid at the bottom of her shoe. Her hand came away wet with a sticky substance.

  It must be a spilt soft drink.

  She'd probably forgotten to dispose of her can and somehow the dog had found it and dumped it on her floor. Either that or pee-it better be soda. She sighed and shook her head it was time to get that puppy a sitter or trained.

  She'd just stepped into her kitchen when she almost fell for the second time. Frustrated she cursed the dog, threw her bag to the floor and felt around for the switch. She turned on the light and immediately wished she hadn't.

  The sticky liquid was all over the place.

  It was on the floor, the walls, the ceiling and her counters-everywhere. That wasn't the worse of it, her table and chairs were broken to pieces and lying all over the floor. Her kitchen window was shattered and most of the walls had holes in them. Fist sized holes or bigger.

  Shocked she turned around and went back towards her living room turning on the hallway light and then stopped in her tracks. The hallway light shined enough into her living room and she could see that the same destruction awaited her there as in the kitchen.

  Then she heard it.

  Labored breathing; the kind taken by someone who was dying.

  On legs made of jelly she stepped into her living room and turned on the light. No the destruction here was not the same as in her kitchen-it was worse. There were five bodies lying in her living room. Four of them appeared to be dead-one of them was her dog. They were all bloody and suddenly she realized what was splattered all over her floor, walls, ceiling, on her furniture and on her finger.

  BLOOD

  It was no longer bright, healthy, red but dark blood. Old blood. Drying blood. The blood that should have been pumping through veins was splattered all over her home as if it was part of some sinister abstract painting.

  She felt her own blood rushing through her body. Felt her heart pumping it. Felt it drain from her face when she looked closely at the bodies. Felt it turn cold when her gaze landed on the one that was still breathing.

  A gasp escaped past her numb lips. Lauren took an involuntary step back bumping into the hallway wall behind her. She braced one hand on the wall and the other she brought it up to her mouth to cover her scream of horror.

  Slowly and weakly he turned his head to look at her. His face and body were disfigured; caught between human and something she thought only existed in movies. His eyes, she recognized those eyes. She would recognize them anywhere. They were the last pair of eyes she saw every night before she fell asleep and every morning when she first woke up.

  Those eyes told her it was all real. Lauren shook her head. Before her eyes, his face was changing. His head returned to human form. The muzzle became a nose. The sharp canines became teeth. Her eyes widened even more than she thought possible and if she could’ve, she would have taken another step back.

  It can’t be! It’s not true! They don’t exist! This is not real!

  "It is real. We exist. It's true and it is." He told her between blood filled coughs. Lauren hadn't realized she'd said it out loud until he spoke and she just shook her head in denial. "Don't look at me like that. I don't want to die with you looking at me in fear. I want to die with the memory of your smile." He coughed again and more blood came out of his mouth. Lauren couldn't stop shaking her head. She couldn't move. "Don't cry. God please don't cry."

  She didn't realize that she was crying until he told her. She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes, he was dying and she couldn't do any of the things that she knew would make him smile one last time.

  "I wish…” Once more he coughed up blood, “Listen Lauren you have to go. Run. Run as fast as you can and don't stop until your safely back with your family. Don't stop for anything. They can track by scent and they will be coming after you. You have something they want."

  "There is a small box in my drawer take it with you and run. Run Lauren."

  And she did. She only took with her the clothes on her back, her purse, valuables, the small box, a box full of memories and a very special gift. The only thing she had left of him.

  Nine months later Lauren was sitting across from James at their round kitchen table. It was a late warm summer night but the atmosphere in the room was thick with bone chilling fear.

  "Are you ready?" James asked her.

  "No I'll never be ready,” Lauren replied and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. "But it has to be done."

  A needle filled with thick silver-blue liquid swirling inside sat on the table between them.

  He stood up, walked around the table and knelt in front of Lauren and the baby in her arms. Looking up at her he silently asked for her approval, it was given with a swift nod. After taking a deep breath, he reached for the serum and injected it into the three month old baby girl.

  The high pitch wails of the baby and the fast and steady beating of their hearts was all they could hear. They did not hear the intruder opening their front door nor did they sense her standing at the entrance to their kitchen.

  "Did you do it?"

  Startled, he got up and turned to look at Layla Smith. She was leaning with one shoulder against the wall, her arms crossed across her chest. Everything about her screamed neat and professional, from her black dress pants and white button up shirt to her dirty blonde hair tied back in a ponytail

  "Yeah, it’s done."

  "Good, then we are ready to go." Layla took a step towards Lauren reaching for the baby.

  Lauren held on to the baby and took a step back.

  "It’s breaking my heart too. But as we speak they could be on their way here, trust me, this is our only safe option.” Layla walked up to her and brown eyes clashed with blue as she reached for the baby again. "It’s hard, I know, but it can't be any other way no matter how much we wish it otherwise."

  "Can we have just a couple more minutes alone please?" Lauren asked, taking another step back. She understood why it had to be done but it made it no easier. "Please?" she asked once more seeing the indecision in Layla’s face. />
  "Fine” Layla reluctantly agreed. “I'll just go get McNeil." Layla turned and walked out leaving them alone once more.

  James walked up to Lauren and reached for the baby. Holding the baby in one arm, he hugged his wife with the other. He felt like a coward and a failure because he couldn't make things better. Before marrying him she’d only asked for one thing and he’d failed.

  "Shh, it’s OK; everything is going to be alright."

  The words rang hollow even to his ears.

  "How can you say that? I’m sending my baby away and literally replacing her with another, how is any of this OK?"

  "She is alive and safe and she is going to stay that way. We're doing this for her and as long as she's OK, we are too."

  "Your right, I know your right?" shaking her head she buried her face in his chest. No longer able to hold her tears at bay, she wept.

  Smith walked back into kitchen followed by agent McNeil. He was holding a baby in one arm and an empty car seat with the other.

  "I'm sorry but we're running out of time, we have to go"

  James and Lauren nodded and pulled apart. Smith stepped up to James, took the baby and crouched down to put her in the car seat that McNeil brought in.

  “I promise you here and now that I will love your child as if she were my own. And when I feel she is old enough to understand I will tell her about you guys; that she has parents that love her but couldn't be with her." She stepped back and took a calming breath.

  "Thank you so much Layla. “ James told her. “We trust you to do right by her; you're her god mother after all." They shook hands and after kissing their real daughter goodbye, they watched them walk out.

  Lauren took their new baby from James hoping that maybe she could lessen the pain that losing her real daughter was causing her.

  Together they took one last look around their house. The walls were white, the appliances stainless steel. A few weeks ago this room was full of warmth and happiness, the refrigerator was covered with baby pictures along with the rest of the house.

  Now it was all stripped bare, empty and cold.

  Chapter 1

  17 years later

  "It's time you met your real parents.”

  Jessica kept hearing Layla’s voice in her head saying the same thing over and over again as she made her way to central California. She should’ve reached her destination by now but she’d been dragging her feet.

  The truth was that she was scared.

  So scare that she made a point to stop at every town she passed even if there was nothing there worth seeing. She just didn’t want to meet her real family.

  “What if they don’t like me?” she wondered to herself. “What if they don’t want me?”

  Later when she thought back on the events she would realize that what followed only took a couple of minutes no longer than five minutes but the ensuing adrenaline rush had her experiencing the encounter in super slow motion.

  Lost in her thoughts, Jessica almost missed her turn. She ended up taking a sharp left a little too fast. Too late she realized her mistake; a car was driving down the center of the street head on towards her.

  There are three problems common among Riders, she remembered Layla telling her, speed limits, cars, and beefing it- also known as falling on your face.

  Jessica was about to have an encounter of the third kind with the second because she'd been ignoring the first.

  She took a breath and forced herself to view the situation with a clinical eye.

  The car was driving down the center because they were on a residential area and cars were parked on either side of the street. Way too many cars which meant some kind of gathering and no doubt they would all come running out when they heard the impact.

  Although crashing into a car would not kill her, this would not be the first time she'd crashed into a car, she couldn’t say the same for her bike-her baby. It would also bring her unwanted attention when she walked away from a near fatal accident with wounds healing faster than humanly possible.

  One look around and she took in the scene with cool logical precision, a skill taught and later honed, since early childhood.

  She couldn't squeeze in between the cars, no popping wheelies over them either. Not enough room to turn around or to brake.

  Jessica’s options where running low when she saw it up ahead; an unblocked driveway and something other than asphalt, grass. Unfortunately she wouldn't make it in time at the speed she was going. She had to go faster and it was a gamble, one wrong move and she was toast.

  She took a deep breath, hunched over and revved her bike.

  Channeling her inner Evil Knievel she sped towards the oncoming- now braking-tires squealing car. At the last moment she turned into someone's drive-way and took another sharp turn on to their front yard.

  Oh God please don’t really die; Jessica silently begged her bike right before killing the motor and jumping off of it. She landed awkwardly on her ankle and felt it snap. She bit her lip to keep herself from screaming from the pain.

  With eyes stinging from the pain, she watched her bike, now on its side, slide across the yard until it was stopped by some bushes. Jessica, ignoring her injury, jumped up, took of her helmet and back pack, tossed them on the ground and ran to pick up her baby before any long lasting damage occurred. She'd just set it back on its stand when a pair of hands landed on her shoulder and snapped her around.

  "Are you insane!!?" The driver of the car yelled at her, shaking her like a ragged doll.

  Jessica felt like one.

  She looked up at the hazel eyed stranger in shock. Silently berating herself for letting someone sneak up on her, she was definitely not on point. She'd let her guard down, even if it was for a second, and that roused her anger.

  "What were you thinking?!" He demanded, punctuating his question by shaking her once more.

  Jessica raised her arms in front of her and pushed his arms off of her. Once he was no longer touching her she put her hands on his chest and pushed. She was glad to see shock register on his face right before he started going down.

  Satisfied to have caught him off guard she took a step back, avoiding his flailing arms. He landed on his butt and Jessica with arms crossed over her chest; feet spread apart, smirked.

  "I was trying to stay alive" She answered, looking down at him, and taking another step back when he started to get up.

  "And what the hell was that for?" he asked gesturing to the ground with one hand and dusting off his rear end with the other.

  "I figured it was a nice way of evening the score." Still facing him, Jessica stepped back until she could put her bike in between them.

  He hadn't noticed the awkward way one of her ankles was twisted, and it would stay that way if she could help it. Looking like she had no care in the world, she leaned on her bike with her hands on the seat and she raised her injured foot to relieve some of the pressure.

  Just because she started to heal as soon as she was injured didn't mean that there was no pain involved. Her adrenaline rush was ebbing and the pain was increasing. It'd taken everything in her to run to her bike, pick it up and then confront the guy. Her energy was running low she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep up pretenses.

  "My fault? You’re the one that came barreling down the street, this isn't a race track."

  "I know what a race track looks like," she informed him coolly, "and are you kidding me? You’re the one driving down the middle of the road! What, you think you own it or something?" Standing back up, she wiped the sweat forming on her forehead with the sleeve of her sweater. Swaying lightly she reached for her bike again and closed her eyes.

  "Whoa, are you okay?” He asked reaching for. “Maybe we should get you some help."

  She swatted his arms away, "First you attack me and now you're worried about me?" Not giving him a chance to answer she continued "fortunately for you, I'm fine"

  "fortunately for me!?” he asked incredulously “you're craz
ier than I thought if you think I'm the one to blame"

  "Yes you are and thank you for the compliment" Jessica interjected proudly. To be fair, she later admitted to herself that she was more than partially responsible for the accident. But at the moment she chose to take the high ground.

  "It wasn't a compliment" the guy said through clenched teeth.

  Jessica shrugged, it was hard to care when she felt like her ankle was going to explode.

  "Well do you want to exchange insurance information or whatever?" The guy asked her, giving her something else to concentrate on instead of her pain.

  "I don’t think you could afford a rate increase" she told him sarcastically "besides nothing happened."

  "Well what about the yard" he asked.

  "No I don’t think you could afford to pay for that either" Jessica answered, deliberately misunderstanding him. No one was getting her information, not him and not the home owners.

  Jessica unzipped her sweater and reached for one of the three hidden pockets inside of it. She took out a piece of paper, pen and some of the extra cash she carried for emergencies and hastily penned an apology on the piece of paper. Taking a deep breath she turned and ran for the front door.

  It took everything in her to keep from grimacing, flinching, hopping on one foot or falling to the ground crying in pain but she reached the door without giving herself away. Taking the hair tie from her wrist she wrapped it around the bills and the note. She crouched down, slipped them in through the mail slot and hoped there were no paper eating pets inside.

  Getting back up she took a deep breath and promised herself twenty-four hours of sleep and all the chocolate cake she could eat if she made it back to the bike without making a complete idiot of herself.

  She managed to make it to her bike, picking up her helmet and back pack on way, and hopped on it because she couldn't trust her legs to keep her upright another minute.

  "Are you sure you're okay?" The guy asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

  She could feel the heat of his touch even through the layers of her clothing and it embarrassed her to admit, even to herself, that she liked it. Trying to hide her reaction from him, she looked down at his hand in distaste and shrugged it off of her.