Page 3 of Let's Talk One True Mate

The newly-created species ofwolven, bearen,andfelenintegrated into human villages and lived human lives, keeping their animal halves secret. Over time, thewolvenbecame the police officers of the world, while thebearenbecame the fire fighters. Thefelenwere a more varied and mercenary group, with a fair amount of them being drawn to politics and medicine.

Although the wolven mythology references only threeshiftenspecies, there is one more: thefoxen.Foxensometimes haverenquaand sometimes don’t, sometimes can shift and sometimes can’t. They live as humans, often not knowing what they are, and intermarrying with humans.Foxenare rumoredto be sneaky and underhanded.Wolvendon’t know much about them, but they do know thefoxenbelong to Khain somehow.

Long ago, thesefoxenwere the deliverers of the Vahiy, an ancient telling of a distant day of reckoning that would be the death of Rhen. Thewolvenknow little more than rumors about the Vahiy, and still it strikes fear into their otherwise fearless hearts.

In modern times, Rhen’s body is protected by ruthlessfelenin the tunnels under the Serenity Police Department. The piece of herself that Rhen placed in the shoulder of each animal is seen in our contemporaryshiftenas arenqua,a variable mark thatwolven, bearen, andfelenare born with. It looks like a tattoo on human skin, and a fur color change in animal form, reminding eachshiftenof their life’s purpose and their connection to Rhen.

Three stone statues border Serenity—the bear statue to the east, the catamount statue to the west, and the wolf statue to the north. No one knows who carved them, when, or why.

Shiftenare guided by prophecy, relayed by Citlali—theshiften’sspiritual leaders who can converse telepathically with Rhen. Anyshiftenborn with a starrenquais recognized as Citlali and given leadership positions as they mature. They possess powers that give them limited mind-control over humans, and also let them ‘bind’ ordinaryshiften, immobilizing them for the purpose of discipline or correction.

30 years before our story starts, the demon delivered a deathblow to ourshiften, by way of a mass poisoning of the world’s water supply with an undetectable concoction that proved swiftly fatal to virtually all femaleshiften. The males who were left fell apart when they lost their mates, their mothers,their daughters, their sisters, their aunts, and their nieces all at once—and the youngest generation suffered silently.

Rhen grieved, stirring an angel’s [rather invasive] compassion. The angel, known as Azerbaizan, went to the Ula and coupled with multiple human females, leaving behind a pendant as an object of power with each, intending to create a new race of half-angel, half-human females powerful enough to join theshiftenin their fight against the demon. The angel meant to communicate with his celestial daughters as they grew and matured, to help them develop their unique powers and to inform them of their role in the battle against Khain, but the angel was captured by the demon and kept in a special-metal cage in the Pravus, the demon’s hellish home. This left our heroines clueless as to their purpose, their powers, and the biological pull each of them feels when they turn 25.

These are the One True Mates, and their prophecy matures in One True Mate 1; Shifter’s Sacrifice.

5—Series Story

I want to tell you the full story of the series so far, but I’m pretty busy right now, working on One True Mate 11. Luckily, some of our friends are talking about it. Let’s listen in.

(This long conversation won’t be seen in 11, but can be placed on the timeline just before chapter 1 of book 11—and also during chapter 27 of book 10 (Trent and Rowan).

(If you need a refresher on who any of these people are, skip ahead to Chapter 6—Characters)

∞∞Burton Risson

Timber Wheeling finished packing his rucksack, then closed the flap and secured all the ties and buckles, then tossed the rucksack into the growing pile of equipment he and his brother, Canyon, would be hauling out to the truck and then up the bluff. They were in the bunker, their warehouse-sized office in the tunnels below Serenity Police Department, preparing for a major investigative trek into an abandonedfoxenvillage. Canyon was at his desk, finishing their reports.

The sun wasn’t up yet; he and Canyon had only slept a few hours, but that’s how it was sometimes as a KSRT (Khain Special Response Team) officer. They’d worked 18 hours yesterday, slept on the couches in the breakroom from midnight to four a.m., and now they were hoping to get up the bluff by sunrise.

Company,Canyon said inruhi, making Timber look at the security monitors, currently displayed on the wall of screens in front of their two side-by-side desks.

Burton Risson was coming their way, moving slowly, his wide shoulders slumped, his gaze on the ground. He was tall, muscular, and fit, with short black hair and brown skin, clean-shaven, wearing jeans, a dark-blue t-shirt, and black jump boots. He’d been the Chief of Police for the last 40 years, but he hadn’t given an order or overseen an operation in the last 30—ever since the mass poisoning of the femaleshiften. Burton’s only daughter was believed to have died in the poisoning. Guilt and grief had poked holes in Burton’s psyche and stolen his ability to function. He hadn’t been replaced because Deputy Chief Wade Lombard had taken over his duties, and because Burton was the most powerfulwolvenCitlali alive—no one but Rhen had the true ability to displace him from the job.

Burton’s daughter, Eventine, had miraculously survived. She’d spent 30 years living a non-existence in the meadow, Rhen’s divine dreamscape, watching her mate and her father suffer. Six weeks ago, Burton himself was taken back in time by the One True Mate Leilani, where he picked up Eventine’s body from her deathbed and brought her to the present, where she drankdragenblood and lived. Burton had been recovering ever since, regaining his energy and confidence a little bit at a time and Timber was glad to see it.

Burton had been a distracted, inattentive guardian to Timber and Canyon, but he was the closest thing to family they had—they didn’t know who their dad was. After their mother had died in the poisoning, 5-year-old Timber had carried newborn Canyon the half mile to Burton’s house. Burton hadn’t come home for a week, but Timber had managed to keep Canyon alive and fed.

Burton entered the bunker through the door, far from where Canyon and Timber were. They had one corner of the warehouse-sized room blocked off with computers, shelves, and security chests, leaving the rest of it for storage and stupid games. Burton plodded down a corridor toward them, but stopped a few feet before he breached their area.

“Chief!” Timber called. “Good to see you.”

Burton looked around sadly but didn’t speak. His gaze did not quite land on Timber. Instead, he looked around at the shelves and boxes surrounding him.

Timber exchanged a look with Canyon, then tried Burton in telepathicruhi,which Canyon could also hear.

Chief? You ok?

Burton met his eyes, then Canyon’s, then said, “I need your help, boys,” in a raw and rough voice.

“Anything you need,” Timber told him.

We got you,Canyon said inruhi,which he preferred.

Burton looked up at the ceiling, then all around, like he was seeing the space for the first time, then back at Canyon and Timber.

“I’ve been…” he trailed off, his gaze returning to the ground. “I’ve been remiss in my duties,” he finally said. “I need to know what’s going on.”

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