(THIRST FOR YOUR BLOOD 1)

CHAPTER 3: Coming

He saw my hesitation and his brow creased in concern. "My dear, you've been acting strangely recently. Do you have a bothersome issue?

I gave a headshake. No, Dad, I'm alright.

I muttered under my breath, clearly not liking the moniker. All the same, I returned to my drawing. I was given the name Riverlyn by my parents, who named me after the river where they had discovered me. I was called Verlyn here, in the clan. However, my father Dan had given me the loving nickname "Bur," which was a play on the burns all over my body that looked like flickering flames.

"Okay, promise me you won't think about yourself all the time." As he did every day, he attempted to uplift me with his words.

Resignation flooded my tone as I shook my head. "You do realize that I can't be like you, Dad? They'll only make fun of me for it."

"Remain hopeful," he murmured softly, his tone comforting. "Becoming a vampire can be a delayed and individual process for each of us."

To some extent, my father knew about the torture I endured, although it was primarily limited to calling me names. And yet, knowing that I would never join the pack in its activities, he continued to encourage me to do so.

With a lighthearted twinkle in his eyes, he said, "Okay, Bur, if you change your mind, just remember I'll be the most handsome vampire out there," and left the room.

With a quiet roll of my eyes, I blew a lock of hair out of my face, quietly annoyed. Dan, my father was vapid even when he was a vampire.

He took great pride in that. Despite the fact that he was already mated, he took great pride in his beauty, with his wavy brown hair reaching his chin and being meticulously tucked behind his ears. His captivating charisma and attractive appearance were still enough to draw in a lot of ladies.

When my parents were only eighteen, they went on an exciting hunt that would eventually lead to their first date. My mother was from a different clan, so her perfume wafted across the border and unintentionally drew his attention. Like magnets, they were pulled to one another, and as the moons went by, their bond grew stronger. They soon got married and were looking forward to the birth of my older brother Leonardo, their first child. Leonardo had the same gorgeous chestnut hair and enticing deep chocolate eyes as his father. Leonardo was five years old when I joined the family at the tender age of four, and our little age difference made us very close.

My parents were happy in their duties even if they were considered vampires in our clan. My mother is an incredible chef who rose to the position of head chef in our family and blessed us with delicious dishes. My father committed himself to policing the area and making sure our clan members were secure in the interim. In our clan, vampires occupied a respectable status, although their lot was not as good as that of the intermediate and higher level vampires. Even though he was a vampire, Leonardo surprised everyone by becoming a warrior at the incredible age of 19. After that, he was transferred to another clan in the pretense of providing "assistance," but I had a sneaking suspicion that he had set out to find his true love. Despite the fact that it was not a genetic trait, Leonardo had aspirations of becoming a gamma.

Finding appropriate partners grew harder over time, mostly because there were less and fewer female vampires. Because of the clan's hierarchical structure, higher-ranking vampires were more likely to have male progeny, which facilitated their ability to find compatible partners. Our Moon Goddess ensured that our clans were operating more powerfully.

It took longer for vampires like me to find their partners because we frequently had to seek far and wide without stopping. Women in particular had more difficulties because leaving the clan was viewed as a possible bereavement. The fact that only one in five vampires were able to mate made us valuable to the clans despite our declining numbers. Still, I found it offensive to be categorized as a "lower" species; it was an unfair and annoying fact of life.

Thousands of years of history have shaped the complexity of our population. As I indicated earlier, a lot of vampires looked for companionship elsewhere or occasionally didn't find any at all when they couldn't find mates within their species or gender. These illicit partnerships could be between vampires and humans, between witches and vampires, or even between members of different clans. There have also been instances of vampire pack members developing relationships with other vampires.

One could argue that clan life is inherently misogynistic. Gender norms dictated that women should spend their days taking care of the home, cooking, and waiting for their ideal partner to arrive. I felt sick to my stomach at the mere prospect of such a life. I found it hard to believe that finding a spouse could make me feel fulfilled, especially considering how hateful and bigoted the others in my putative clan were. I got the impression that women were just objects, something male vampires utilized to increase their strength and stature. Males who had partners were invariably accorded greater respect and rank than those who did not. This was exactly the reason that I had stayed behind and my brother Leonardo had set off on his quest to find his mate. He had been gone from home for just over two years, and the last I heard, he was helping a clan to the south defend themselves from renegade vampires.

While lost in my own thoughts, I unintentionally finished drawing. I put down my pencil and looked at the completed piece. The picture in front of me showed a brightly colored woodland with a big, enigmatic black vampire hiding behind the trees. Its eyes were mesmerizing and eerie, as dark as the night. It was strange, but there was something about the vampire in my drawing that I had never seen before, even though I didn't know it well.

I silently sang to myself as I gently tucked the drawing under the current week's date in the folder I had been given. I was now drawing on a daily basis as a break from the rigorous schedule of clan life. On my day off, which was every week, I would lose myself in the artistic process of drawing a fresh image. The artwork from last week showed a calm woodland with a little river and a waterfall that drained into a peaceful lake.

Taking a quick look at the time, I sighed in realization that dinner was long gone. The majority of vampires followed a rigid diet, concluding their meals by six o'clock. By now 10 o'clock had passed, and I was missing the group dinner. I quickly straightened my unkempt hair and moved silently out of my room.

Reminiscent of a stately home, the clubhouse was a soaring four-story building with 301 en suite rooms. The lower-class vampires occupied the lower floors, where they stayed in one of a hundred compact but functional single or double rooms. The second and third levels belonged to the middle-tier vampires, and some seventy rooms were set aside for future users. The forty elite vampires, including warriors and their families, lived on the upper floor. Larger rooms provided dignity and comfort here. Last but not least, the Royal Blood had the use of a whole level, which included a private kitchen and lounge that could only be accessed by a fingerprint system.

When I got closer to the dining room, I heard conversations. If only I had the enhanced senses reported for vampires, I could tell who was inside. Relying on my human senses, I tried to hear the voices and noticed that they sounded nervous. I slowly reduced my breathing in the hopes of going unnoticed. Maybe their agitation would make me invisible.

A "Kyler" It was clear that Kyler had captured Isabel's attention when her agitated voice burst out.

"Not right now!" With a frustrated snarl, Kyler spoke. "Before that council arrives, I need to think!"

You're so fired up, baby. How about you take a seat and grab a drink? In an attempt to calm him, Isabel crooned, "Tell me what's going on."

The room echoed with the sound of an empty glass striking the table. "The Nightshade Council is making an appearance at Sapphire's party," Kyler said, sounding worried.

I came to a complete stop. Tomorrow was Sapphire's celebration, and I recognized the name, the Nightshade Council, instantly. I couldn't help but be curious and want to get closer.

"How!" Isabel exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell me?" Was it?

"They are in contact with the Elders. "I understand that they're making sporadic visits to make sure clans are operating as intended," he said, sounding irritated. "To organize the staff, I'm going to my office."

"Is the Prince of Nightshades, Zackary, coming too?" With a note of fear in her voice that I had never heard before, Isabel questioned in a hurried tone.

"Yes," Kyler quickly answered. With my confidence rising, I crept closer to see what was beyond Kyler's footsteps as they faded. His expression was intensely focused as he turned to the left. We locked eyes for a moment, and I held my breath, feeling both curious and afraid. He blinked, his hand trembling frantically through his light brown hair as he looked behind him and then vanished.

I let out a loud breath and rubbed my arm to feel better. I turned to walk away from the wall when a pair of razor-sharp claws ripped through my scalp, pulling my head back.

"Dear, were you listening in on our conversation?" With a pout, Isabel clenched her teeth on my hair. That is really impolite.

"N-n-no, I-I wasn't," I stumbled over my words.

"Oh, just be quiet. It's pointless to lie to me, dear. You have such a strong scent that I could smell it from a mile away," she chuckled as she let go of my hair to take a piece of gum out of her pocket. Her "gang" moved out of the dining room and smirked as they surrounded me. While Isabel's friends were both brown-eyed and haired, Lay's heavy makeup and curls went well with her olive skin tone.

Lay gave me a hard slap on the cheek before I could collect my thoughts and tilt my head to the side. I stumbled and lost my footing, spewing out my spit. I had another hit to the face, which knocked me into the wall. I became helpless as their strength overcame me.

There was a break, long enough for me to catch my breath, before the sound of their heels faded away. I plucked up the strength to open my eyes, only to have a bigger, warmer hand shove me over and I had to close them again.

"Fledgling, don't go poking your nose where it doesn't belong. The guy spat, his disgust in his voice, "Learn your place."

I lay on the ground, feeling the weight of my powerlessness as anguish shot through my body. My determination grew with every heartbeat.

I furiously nodded, my eyes welling with tears. I rolled into a ball. My uncommon hunger disappeared immediately, and I sobbed in agony. I did not numb pain like the wolves did, nor did I recover like they did.

I was feeling everything, and for weeks to come, it would show. I stayed there for ten more minutes, until I was startled by frantic footsteps coming down the hallways. I got up quickly and hurried inside my bedroom. I fell asleep sobbing into my blankets and cried myself to sleep.