*1st place winner of the @AdventureCommunity contest 'Bad Romance'! I wanted to share it here for you...

There was nothing quite like the aroma of freshly roasted coffee on a dark, winter night in the middle of nowhere while pressurized steam transformed it into a rich cappuccino accompanied by the pittering of adoring heart beats.

It never got old. Even for a rock-star, thrill seeking mountain of muscle like myself after 150 years of life on this planet.

Mascara coated eyelashes batted my way from half a dozen teenage girls in the small café, but they were too young to be of interest to me. The only one who could grab ahold of my heart and take it home was yet to be found. My mate. My one. My love was out there somewhere. I would find her, I had to remind myself while the barista who was barely shaving yet fell madly in love with me. I gave him a wink.

My band mates were in the bus – we had a big gig tomorrow and would be driving all night. But I the lyrics to a love song running through my head to write.

"Are you Jeffrey Jones? Lead singer to Summer Sun?" a girl with too much cherry-bomb lip gloss asked me, sneaking up from behind. I knew she was there of course, my hearing could pick up the termites in the foundations of this joint.

"Yes, I am." I gave her my rock-star smirk. To the chorus of 'Oh, my gawd' screams, I quirked my full lips to perfection for the pictures that would arrive in 3...2...and snap.

"Girls, I'll sign everyone's tee—" I broke off my sentence, attention seized.

Into the café stepped an angel, smelling of jasmine perfume and fruity shampoo. One whiff of her scent, and time froze for a moment. She was tucking a loose strand of brunette hair behind one ear, her chin was down in shy confusion, and a book was in the crook of her arm. A bookworm who didn't know how beautiful she was. And she was at least 20, maybe 21, so that made it perfectly acceptable for her to be my mate. As adults, the age difference of 130 years was practically nothing.

"Your double cappuccino, full cream milk, extra foam and cinnamon sprinkles to go is ready," the barista said, voice breaking.

"Thanks," I said. My sense of smell guided my hand to my drink, because I couldn't let this yowza girl out of my sight for even on second. She was my mate. She didn't know it yet, but she belonged to me in the bondage of fated love. A love which would rage with animalistic abandon as soon as possible, if I had any say in the matter. Which I did.

She crept up to the counter, book protecting her chest. "I'd like a—"

"She'll take what I'm having," I told the crushing barista.

"But what if I don't like what you're having?" she asked.

I scoffed. "Try it and tell me if you don't like what I have to offer." Adorably unsure of herself, she wrapped her gloved hands around mine to tilt the cup to her naturally pink lips. I let the full strength of my masculine pheromones pour from my body, willing my angel to experience the lava heat of my desire.

She coughed. "That's really good, actually. Do I know you? Aren't you Jeffery from Summer Sun?"

"Our souls have met in the halls of the ancient gods and now our bodies have met and will come together like the waves to the shore, like two magnets when held close together, like a woodpecker and a tree. You are my mate-chic!"

"Are you serious? This is so intense. I don't know. I'm not sure if I can believe you, but then again, you are so hot, how could I not believe you?" she asked.

I shrugged. She had a good point.

***

The gorgeous rock star was leaning in for a kiss! He wanted to kiss me! I was a jumble of nerves and shaking hands. Why did he even find me attractive? Glossy brown hair, trim figure and my nose always in a good book. At 21, I had no experience with guys because, well, obviously I wasn't pretty enough to attract any attention!

A muscular, tattooed arm slid around my waist to pull me in closer. His breath fluttered on my lips, the barista sighed wistfully, the girls in the room were taking selfies, but when his lips brushed mine, he jerked upright.

"Army trucks approaching! At least five. We should leave. You are coming with me."

"Go where with you? We only just met."

"But I am your mate, you have to come. No – they're here!" he said, pulling me towards the kitchen.

All the doors were kicked in and black-clad soldiers rushed inside.

"Everybody freeze! This is a national emergency! Not only is this storm a blizzard the likes of which the South has never seen, the President has declared marshal law. There is a population crisis, folks. Most men and women have been rendered infertile by consumption of GMO grains. To counteract this crisis and avert the death of the human race, we are to artificially inseminate all women between the ages of 19 and 41. That means you, ma'am."

A gun pointed at me.

"Artificially...what? When?" I asked.

"Right now." He held up a humongous syringe.

"You can't impregnate me like that against my will! You don't control my body!"

"That's right," my hunkalicious boyfriend said, tearing off his shirt.

"Actually, according to the government, we can and we do," the soldier said. He lunged with the syringe.

There was a hairy blur next to me and screaming from the teenage girls. The barista jumped over the counter to karate chop a soldier. Automatic rifles fired in ear-splitting staccato and I dropped to the floor.

"Jeffery!" I shouted. A massive mound of fur stood over me and I held up my arms to keep this dog – no, this wolf from ripping out my throat.

Then I saw his wolfish smirk same as Jeffery's. Not possible. My man was a werewolf?! A syringe was sticking out of his abdomen and he pulled it out with his canines.

A dozen guns were at his head.

"Men, that was our last inseminating formula. We'll have to take the woman back to base with us. Let's take this...creature, too."

"Looks like I'll have to put a crimp in your plans, boys. You can't haul off my bestie without going through me," a young man said from the doorway. He was unusually pale, and hauntingly beautiful; a Michelangelo sculpture in undead, breathing marble.

I had to blink several times, the light shone off his white skin so brightly.

The barista dropped the soldier he had in a head lock and offered to buy the newcomer a coffee. The man smiled, exposing some wickedly long canines. A vampire played lead guitar for the Summer Suns? So cool!

"Wish I had time to accept your offer, barista dude, but I've got work to do," the vampire (his name was Zeke) said.

"Time to move out," the soldier ordered, circling his finger in the air.

My awesome boyfriend growled and lunged for the nearest exposed neck. The vampire laughed in immortal superiority and lunged for the nearest exposed neck. I sat on my ass in awe of my own personal werewolf protector's muscular grace.

Unfortunately, a cross was produced, as well as some garlic bread from the snack counter and the vamp was cornered, while a net was thrown over my boyfriend. Rough hands grabbed me.

"You can't do this! I'm an American citizen with rights and stuff," I yelled. "Jeffery!" He was unconscious. "Jeffery, I love you, you can't leave me!"

I loved him? Had I actually said that? Me, the wallflower who had never loved anyone besides my grandparents who raised me and my pet iguana, Lucy (short for Lucifer, no one could say I didn't have a sense of humor)?

I had. And I did. "I love you!" I shouted. Black clad soldiers dragged me to the back of a truck, while Jeffery's prone body was hauled to another. "At least let me say goodbye!"

The soldiers shoved me inside. My world was shattered. I was in darkness and would never see the love of my life – my fated mate – again.

The truck shuddered to life.

I curled into a fetal position, sobbing. How could I live? How could I go on? Life was meaningless and bleak without him. How could I—"

"I'm sure that's enough existential-pity partying for one evening," Zeke said, tearing off the back of the moving truck. "Now let's go get that lovable ball of fur so I can have my coffee in a secluded corner with my new squeeze."

"The barista? That was fast," I said.

"True love always is," he said, grinning. "Hop on my back. I'm sure with your non-existent fighting skills and my lighting fast reflexes we'll have him out of there in no time."

Hanging on for my life, we practically flew over the tops of the trucks until we were ahead of the line.

"There!" I shouted, and pointed at a leaning oak. "That one!"

He dropped me off on the snowy ground. The trucks would arrive in seconds, so we didn't have a moment to lose. Zeke gnawed on the tree trunk while I pushed, until he decided I should gnaw while he pushed. A great crack sounded and the tree moaned like a banshee with a hangover.

The ground shook when the tree hit the road, creating a blockade. We hid in the woods as the trucks came sliding to a halt, the first one ramming the tree, the next one hitting the first and so on. The pile up was spectacular, but it put the soldiers out of commission without a fight. Brownie points for us!

"Which one is he in?" I yelled over the howling winds and screams of dying men. "Not the one on fire, I hope!"

"Here!" Zeke ran to a truck lying on its side and tore it in half.

"Hey!" yelled a voice. So totally not my werewolf man. I saw a gun. Jeffery, still unconscious, was the target. Pushing aside Zeke, I threw myself in the line of fire.

"If it's a victim you want, then take me, but spare my mate. I'll die in his place!" I declared. Thus, armed with only my boundless love, I vowed to save Jeffery.

"Works for me," the soldier said. "Get out so we can find a ride back to base."

As I marched away, gun jabbing between my shoulder blades (it actually kind of tickled in a 'piss in your pants, get that thing off my back' sort of way) I shouted to Zeke, "Tell Jeffery I love him!"

Zeke waved weakly, obviously heart-broken to see me go. A dark shadow filled my vision. The soldier screamed and the gun was finally off my spine.

"I knew we were fated to be! Nothing can keep us apart." Jeffery pulled me in a warm embrace. Which was awesome because I didn't have a coat on.

"It will be you and me forever, babe. I love you," I whispered. I leaned in for a kiss.

Jeffery stopped me. "I have to tell you something. I don't know your name, but if we are going to be together, you have to know: I'm pregnant." He broke down in a soft sob. "I'm pregnant and I don't even know who the mother is."

"Oh, sweet-heart, it's ok! It was an accident. It's not like you cheated on me or something. I will help you raise your werewolfie baby as if it were my own. And remember, no matter what evil people say, if you want to breastfeed in public, it's your right."

And then a kiss tomelt the blizzard began.

*** The End! ***