The Brethren Of Tavish [Vampire Coven Book 1]

Prologue

Banished to the ice and snow, the lone man
stumbles through an encompassing blizzard. Jagged pieces of razor-sharp ice had
all but sliced the fur boots he wears from his feet—but he is unable to take to
the air. Starving, weak and alone he
is
certain only
impending doom is before him. Tavish is the last of his kind from a small
vampire coven.
The youngest of the Reign of Galf.

At only two centuries old, born the tail end of
the ice age, 15,000 B.C., Tavish was too young and too weak to fight off the
angry clans of primitive man. The clans had banded together to purge themselves
of Galf and his family of twenty-eight. The angry mob of one hundred and fifty
plus had proven successful.

They came at dawn clad in furs, armed with
hunting weapons. Galf’s people were cornered in the family cave, their home,
domicile and protection, like the clans’ own homes of caves, against the wind
and storms.

Tavish had approached four other covens with
deference. Each time he had been chased away and humiliated, taunted by his
father’s failure to keep his family safe. The last coven had allowed him only
to partake of vermin blood until, unable to take any more, Tavish had run
again. Only one came after him.
The leader, Rakin.
Rakin told him to head farther north into the ice. If Tavish ever showed his
face again, he would be killed for his disloyalty. Rakin called him a coward
and a fool. Tavish was without family or friends. He was all alone.

The cold didn’t bother Tavish. He could see
clearly. In Galf’s coven, his people all had pale blue eyes that changed to
clear snowy white when necessary. Tavish could see in the dark, yet he could
only see in black and white when his white eyes shone. It was what his father
described as a peculiarity, his color blindness. Because of it, Tavish had
grown partial to dark-haired men and women or the blondest of blonds. His
entire deceased coven had all been dark-haired. The very blond was a rare
occurrence.

Tavish was on the lookout for sustenance.
Tavish’s last meal had been yesterday. The young, motherless seal had offered
little enjoyment; the blood was laced with the taste of fish. Tavish hungered
for the sweetness of a young woman’s blood. He longed to sink his fangs into a
virgin. Never again did he want to feast on rats and vermin.

Seething with anger, Tavish stumbled into an
icy cave. He sat on a frozen boulder and placed his head in his hands. He was
all alone, again, consumed with misery. He no longer had the safety of a coven.
His family was dead.

He could still hear his family’s tortured
screaming in his ears. The humans unexpectedly appeared in the early morning,
and they had come with fire. Tavish could still see the look on his mother’s
beautiful face as she burned to death in front of him. He knew he would never
get the stench of blood out of his nostrils. The images and scents would haunt
him forever.

Those of his coven who weren’t burned were
staked. Galf had saved his only son’s life. Tavish hadn’t wanted to run; he had
fought so hard side by side with his sire, but his father used the last of his
strength to fling him up into the air at the mouth of the cave.

Live, my son.

Helplessly, Tavish watched as his father was
impaled from behind. There was no sense in returning; the entire coven had perished.
Tavish would make the guilty pay. He balled his large hands into fists. He
would make them all pay for what had been done to him and his beloved family.
Tavish would never love again. The pain of loss was too much. He couldn’t bear
it. Anguish consumed him.

A snarl caught Tavish’s attention. He spun to
encounter a massive polar bear. He was mildly surprised; he had been so in tune
to his despair he never even heard her heartbeat or felt her warmth until now. Gazing
deeply into the darkness, Tavish saw the bloodied body of a young bear cub, a
hybrid polar-brown bear mix. The mother bear looked like she had fought for her
own life as well as for her little
cub’s
. No doubt she
had been set upon by a stronger male and lost half of her battle. Tavish looked
at the ground where he saw drag marks. The mother had brought her dead cub in
here, or perhaps she had brought it here and stayed with it while it died. What
a tragedy. Tavish understood the feeling of being turned on by your own kind.

Bear and vampire each eyed the other warily and
hungrily. Tavish was weak, and desperate. The female bear was majestic even
though she too looked weak and desperate. She had to weigh at least two
thousand pounds. They circled one another. The bear roared, the noise
reverberating off the cave walls and Tavish hissed, exposing his two fangs.
They weren’t nearly as impressive as the bear’s. Tavish was young yet.
Though not the youngest of vampires.
Rakin’s chosen female
mate had given birth to a son, Remo. How Tavish envied and loathed the babe.

At one time, Tavish had been the coveted one,
the one the others revered because his mother was chosen. She had been the most
beautiful of them all. Tavish had been so proud to be her son. In her eyes, he
could do no wrong. She had mated with the man of Galf’s choice, only the most
powerful human male he could find. Tavish was the result. Galf and his mother
had loved one another.

Once Tavish had been weaned, his mother’s
reward was to reign at his father’s side for eternity. Tavish had been turned
at age twenty-eight by Galf, making him his own blood-son. Tavish was tall,
muscular, powerful and in his prime. Galf had been so proud of him. Tavish had
been loved and had loved. One day Tavish would be sire to his pack and rule by
Galf’s side. Now Tavish’s dreams were destroyed. He had nothing and no one.

His heart filled with pure hate, Tavish
attacked the bear. He clawed at it ripping its throat open viciously and
dived
face-first into its blood. They would pay, they would
all pay, both humans and vampires. The bear swung its paws helplessly as Tavish
feasted greedily upon it. He gorged himself after days of little food. The bear
stumbled to her side. Finally filled to almost bursting, Tavish stepped away
from the beast and wiped his hand across his blood-streaked mouth, cheeks and
nose.

The bear lifted her head in agony. She moaned
pitifully. Large dark eyes settled onto Tavish; he could see her loss and the
sadness reflected in those dark eyes. Tavish cocked his head and felt pity for
the beast. All of his misery wasn’t her fault after all. She was a beauty. Snow
white hair covered her in a thick pelt in the places she hadn’t been mauled.
Tavish looked at her neck with a small bit of remorse. He had made a mess of
it. It would take her awhile to die. Tavish sat on the same boulder he had
vacated, watching her flailing attempts to
rise
.
Finally, she just lay there whimpering.

“Just give up, join your little cub,” Tavish
said to her. She groaned an answer. “I can’t take much more from you or I would
give you peace.”

Tavish pushed up from the rock and once more
went to the bear. She was too weak to do anything but lay with her tongue lolling
out the side of her mouth. He trailed a hand over her luxurious fur. As his
fingers delved deeper into the thick pelt, an idea occurred to him. He could
skin the bear and bring back his victims here to the cave. They wouldn’t freeze
to death if he could wrap them. The idea had merit. He could sneak closer to an
inhabited igloo, grab a meal and eat it here, away from Rakin and any other
vampire. Tavish filled with renewed excitement.

“Hurry up and die,” Tavish said to the beast.

The bear lay there whimpering. Tavish began
pacing. Growling, he went back to the bear thinking he could bash in her skull
with a rock. Tavish picked up a large boulder and stood holding it over the
bear’s head. Right before he plunged it down, the animal looked up at him. She
was intelligent; he could see it in her eyes. She knew what he was about to do.
Tavish knew some creatures cried, but when a tear trickled from the bear’s eye,
Tavish lowered his weapon of convenience. He could feel her sadness.

“You wish to live, don’t you? You’re afraid.”
She was such a beauty, only the blood marred her pale white perfection. She was
helpless and alone, betrayed. Sighing, he realized they were somewhat of a
kindred spirit. Tavish understood aloneness. “I will offer you a kindness and
spare you the pain of bashing your brains in. I won’t be another who turns on
you.
Another race for you to abhor.”

Tavish dropped the boulder. He knelt by the
bear’s throat. Her blood was still gently flowing. Tavish leaned down. He took
her regal head into his arms and shushed her. His words were crooning and
gentle. Tavish stroked her fine head, gazing into her beautiful eyes until she
settled under him. She stopped whimpering and her eyes closed halfway. It was
as though she understood and accepted this one small kindness after being hurt
and betrayed. Her breath that had been coming in ragged, huffing pants, slowed.

“I won’t hurt you,” Tavish crooned. A tiny
grunt was his answer.

Tavish lowered his head; he lapped at the
oozing blood. His hunger was again upon him, although not nearly as great.
Calmly, he spoke to her in reassuring tones. As carefully as possible, he sank
his fangs into her tortured throat. Tavish was surprised as their memories
mingled. It happened with humans, though he didn’t know why. She was an
intelligent beast. He watched her fight for the life of her cub, he watched her
fail. She had brought her little cub back to the cave to die. She, in return,
was given the glimpse of his family’s pain, their demise, his overwhelming sorrow
and loss. He sank his teeth deeper into her neck and sucked until he could take
no more. He couldn’t drain her.

Try as he might Tavish couldn’t ease her pain
mercifully. Tavish tried. He felt dizzy with his attempt. The bear shuddered.
Tavish dropped to his side, he whispered an apology. After all this time he let
himself sob with his loss. Tears and blood mixed. He had failed again. The poor
majestic beauty, he hadn’t meant to be so cruel. His hand rested on top of the
bear’s head, stroking her until he finally stilled. The bear’s paw pulled him
close to her heart. Tavish was spent. He closed his eyes. He fell unconscious
on the cave floor wrapped in a bear hug.

When next he woke, Tavish sat up groggily. He
hungered. A sound to his left captured his attention. The white bear sat on her
haunches. She was watching him. Tavish stood up and approached her. She had
something half-buried under her, and moved of her own accord. Wrapped in a
white pelt made of baby seals was a woman. She was alive.

Tavish looked at the bear with wonder. She had
brought him food. Tavish chuckled when the young woman stirred. She sat up and
cried out at the same time. Tavish studied the bear. Her clear white eyes
glowed. Her fangs were even longer. Her throat was healed but blood still
stained her. She made a short snuffling sound. A massive paw was raised in the air.

The bear grunted again.
For you my master, my friend.

“Well it would seem in trying to offer an act
of compassion we have both been saved. No one would ever suspect a polar bear
and a vampire.”

Tavish knelt; he reached for the frightened
woman and gazed into her eyes. He shushed her fears and smiled with roguish
charm. Soon her look was glazed, accepting. Tavish kissed her lips, her cheeks.
He whispered she was beautiful and she was. Tavish loved each one of his
victims for the few moments he spent with them, nothing more. He would leave
this one innocent. She slumped into his arms. Tavish licked her sweet neck then
leisurely sank his sharp fangs into her throat. He was very gentle; this female
had not harmed his family. No female had harmed his family; it had been the
angry clan men who had killed his loved ones. Tavish groaned as the sweet taste
of virgin blood slid down his throat in exaggerated swallows. Her warmth flowed
through him, filled him. His mind feasted on her charming memories, her stolen kisses
and first sexual awakening and he graciously allowed her a few teasing ones of
his own. It was like making love in their minds. Soon enough she tired. Their
connection broke; he no longer needed to love her.

When Tavish had his fill, he laid her back into
the furs and went back to the rock and sat. The idea to turn her never crossed
his thoughts. The bear had been Tavish’s first and that had been an accident.
Although the idea of the bear was appealing, Tavish was no longer alone and he
didn’t have to be responsible for the creature—they were more companions. It
was a dark and primal time and Tavish only had primal needs; the humans had
made him dark. He was a hunter. That was all he knew; he had been raised that
way. It was in his essence that flowed with the bear’s.

The polar bear approached the woman with
Tavish’s permission. The woman would experience no pain. Tavish watched as his
new and only friend finished draining the woman and then fed on her carcass.