Chapter Oneღ

        soulmate

        noun

        A person ideally suited to another as a close friend or romantic partner.

                "Are you excited?"

            I glanced up from my plate, which is still untouched after an hour, and looked at my Mum. She was leaning forward, her elbows resting delicately against the fine oak wood of the dining room table. Her dark hair gleamed beneath the light from the chandelier as her blue eyes watched me excitedly.

            "Yes. Of course." I replied formally.

            That was a lie.

         I was anything but excited for tomorrow, the day that I would finally turn twenty one. It was strange – most people, especially girls, longed for the day to come where their destiny would finally become clear.

        On the day of your twenty first birthday, you would wake up with the name of your soulmate tattooed on your wrist. It could be anyone – your best friend, your ex-boyfriend, your teacher, someone you barley knew or someone you had yet to meet. It was up to you what you would do with this information, some chose to ignore it and continue with their lives while others would search for their soulmate, never giving in until they found that one person they were made to be with for the rest of their lives. People tended to choose the latter, it was a natural instinct, to want to be with the person that was specifically designed for you by the universe.

        "I remember the day of my twenty first birthday like it was yesterday," Mum sighed, a wistful expression taking over her delicate features, "When I woke up with your father's name on my wrist, I was the happiest girl alive. I had always had a thing for him, I used to stare at the back of his head every history lesson!" She giggled like a little school girl, exchanging a loving glance with Dad.

        It was obvious to anyone how much my Mum and Dad loved each other - excluding the fact that each other's names were tattooed into their wrists of course. They only had to glance at each other and they lit up like the sun. They were so comfortable around each other and sometimes they even finished each other's sentences, they were a perfect match – obviously.

        Which was why I didn't understand why I felt sick at the thought of waking up tomorrow.

        My stomach had been in knots the entire day and there had been an occasion where I had had to lock myself in the bathroom and put my head between my legs to stop myself from fainting.  Whenever I thought about tomorrow panic shot through me like lightning bolts, my blood would turn cold with fear and my palms would become sweaty. I had tried to ignore it, telling myself that it was normal to feel this way - although I was beginning to doubt that as I listened to Mum bang on about how happy she had been when Dad's name had appeared on her wrist.

        "I'm sure Dominic is excited too." Mum said.

        I swallowed hard at the mention of my boyfriend, "Dominic?"

        "Yes. You two must be thrilled that the wait is finally over." Dad beamed.

        "You can finally begin to plan your future together!" Mum told me earnestly.

        Dominic and I had been together around a year now. We had started going out when we were sixteen after we had shared a drunken kiss in my best friend's birthday party. I had been thrilled, I had fancied him for two years and had been positive that he was my soulmate. I was still sure – Dominic and I were like two halves of a whole. We got on like a house on fire, barely arguing and always laughing. I loved him, more than anything, which was why I was desperately hoping that it was his name that I would see tattooed on my wrist tomorrow morning.

        It has to be him! Who else could it be? He's the perfect guy!

        "Yeah, he sounded pretty excited on the phone last night." I answered as I pushed my peas around my plate with my fork.

        It was true, Dominic had been excited when I had called him up last night.

        "This is it, you're going to be mine forever."

        I smiled as I remembered his words, my panic dwindling slightly. I was just being stupid – of course Dominic was my soulmate, I loved him.

         "He wants to take me out for my birthday, you know, to celebrate." I added when I remembered how Dominic had insisted that he take me out to a fancy restaurant and spoil me rotten like the amazing boyfriend he was.

        "That sounds lovely!" Mum exclaimed. Her smile faltered for a moment as she exchanged a glance with Dad, "As long as you stay in town."

        I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, "Yes Mum."

        For the past year my Mum and Dad had been extremely protective. It had happened after they had watched a news report one night, in the past year the number of young girls that had been kidnapped had increased by double, the thing my parents and others like them found most troubling was that the girls that were being kidnapped were all from rich and prestigious families who lived in the city – like ours. The police had found no leads to the kidnappings, they had searched for the victims for months but each time they came back empty handed, telling the devastated families that their daughters had vanished without a trace.

        My parent's had been so worried and paranoid they had been considering moving back to England. We had moved to Novosibirsk two years ago when my Dad had been offered a job in one of the local business departments. The transition had been hard, barley anyone spoke English and the country was so huge it was intimidating and slightly daunting, but my parents had jumped at the chance to move to Russia in hopes for a brighter future – which was why they were so disappointed by the recent criminal activity.

        There were constant rumours about these crimes– some claimed that they had seen who had kidnapped these girls. The witness had told the police that it had always happened at night, the only things they had seen had been long black coats and silver heeled shoes. The police had pressed and pressed the investigation, insisting that the witnesses must have seen something more – some people thought the witnesses had been bribed, others thought they had been too scared.

        I heard terrible things – that the girls were taking into camps, forced into taking drugs until they became addicted, some would be shipped over to foreign countries to be used as sex slaves or paid brides, while some would be used as a pawn to blackmail their grieving families into giving their captors anything they asked for. Of course, these were just rumours, no victim had ever been found to confirm them.

        Mum pursed her lips in thought, "I still want you to take Christian with you."

        "I-"

        "No objections Nadia," Mum cut me off mid-protest, "He'll make sure to stay out of your way, won't you Christian?"

        "Of course Mrs. Wolfe." His deep smooth voice said from behind me.

        I looked over my shoulder, my hazel eyes filled with resentment as I looked at the 6'2 rock of a man.

        His name was Christian Blake. He had graduated from St. Starks Academy, one of the best academies in the world that produced the deadliest soldiers. Christian had graduated early, leaving with honours at the age of twenty two, the very reason why my parents had hired him to be my own private body guard.

        Yeah, when I said they had become extremely protective – I meant it.

        Christian followed me everywhere. He was like my shadow, constantly watching over me, his dark eyes saw everything. He would walk a few steps behind me, giving me some distance so that I could feel independent – well as independent as I could get while I had a bodyguard babysitting me, but still close enough that he could rush over and remove a threat if it ever occurred.

        I knew it was wrong to give him my death stare, it wasn't as if he could deny my parents orders, it was his job to shadow my every move, but I couldn't stop the anger and disappointment that radiated off me like waves at the thought of not being able to be alone, truly alone, with Dominic on my special day.

        Christian continued to stand stoically with his hands behind his back. He was dressed in his normal attire, a black shirt and black pants – he always wore black, even on the hottest days. His brown eyes were fixed on the far wall, but his eyes flickered to me as he sensed my dirty look. He stared at me for a moment before he looked away, his face just as impassive as it had been previously.

        "Come on Mum, I can take care of myself." I tried once again.

        Dad snorted, "That might be true, but I think I would feel more at ease if Christian was the one protecting you, he is a trained body guard after all."

        "Come on-"I started to protest.

        "That's enough Nadia." Mum snapped.

        Her warning expression was enough to tell me that no matter how much I argued, going out tomorrow without Christian was out of the question. I gritted my teeth in irritation, finding it hard to bite back the string of curse words I so desperately wanted to release.

        "Come on now, stop sulking sweetheart." Dad sighed after we had ate in silence for ten minutes. "It's your big day tomorrow, we should be celebrating."

        I rolled my eyes but forced a smile on my face.

         He was right, it wasn't worth falling out with my parents when I had so much more to worry about. 

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                 The cool breeze washed over me as I opened the back door. I walked along the decking before taking a seat on the swing chair that faced the flower beds. 

            It was about ten or clock, after tea I had spent the rest of the evening watching TV with my parents – and Christian, although he had sat at the far end of the room reading a book with a title I hadn't recognised. I had barley watched the film myself, I had been too distracted watching the clock. As each hour passed, the more nervous I became. I had finally given in to my primal instinct – to run, and I had told my parents goodnight before making a beeline for the door.

            I had intended on going to bed, but as usual, whenever I was upset or confused, my feet had directed me to the garden. Being outside relaxed me, I liked the fresh air and the smell of flowers as they struggled to bloom, despite the fact that it was December and a heavy blanket of snow which still entrapped the town of Novosibirsk.

            I felt his presence before I saw him. He radiated power and strength without even trying, I wondered if that was something he learned to master in the academy or if it was just him.

            "Of course, you followed me." I groaned.

            I turned so that I could look at him. He was stood a few meters away in his typical posture, back straight and hands behind his back. I studied him for a moment, the way the wind played with his shaggy brown hair that just reached his chin and how the moonlight made his tanned skin appear a ghostly white. There was no denying that he was extremely good looking.

            He didn't look real in this light. He looked like some kind of mythical God – beautiful yet deadly.

            "It's my job." He replied, his voice void of any emotion.

            That was all I ever heard, that it was Christian's job to protect me. I hated it, I wanted to be able to protect myself, not that I would even need to, I was in no danger.

            I sighed and ran my fingers through my dark hair, "I know."

        I rested my head against the seat so that I could look up at the sky. My eyes glazed over as I stared at the stars, their twinkling lights becoming hazy as my eyes became unfocused. My heart rate slowed as I forced myself to forget about what would happen tomorrow and to focus on the cool breeze playing with my hair and the goosebumps rising on my bear arms.

        "Are you not cold Miss Wolfe?" Christian questioned.

        "Don't call me Miss." I snorted, "You're only five years, well four in a few hours, older than me. Call me Nadia." I waited for him to say something but continued when he remained silent, "And I don't mind the cold."

        "You wouldn't want to be ill for your big day."

        His tone of voice made me turn around once again to look at him. His voice was as passive as ever but I could sense a slight undertone of bitterness in his tone.

        "I'll be fine." I replied. "How was your eighteenth birthday?" I asked him curiously. I was suddenly desperate to know about Christian's eighteenth birthday, how he felt – had he been happy with his chosen soulmate, perhaps not seen as he was here all the time, in fact I was pretty sure he didn't have a girlfriend.

        "It was fine." Christian answered vaguely.

        My eyes flickered down to the thick leather bands that covered his wrists. Warriors were permitted to wear them around their wrists, the law stating that it was mandatory to wear them during any form of battle or protection services as the information of who their soulmate was could be used against them. In some tragic cases warriors had lost their soulmates as their enemies had found ways to weaken them by threatening or killing their other halves. 

        "Were you happy? With your chosen soulmate I mean?" I pressed.

        I waited eagerly for his reply, wanting to connect with him to bring some sort of comfort to myself. I longed for some words of comfort, not from my parents – they had had the fairy-tale ending, I wasn't naïve enough to believe that I would definitely get Dominic as my soulmate, it would be too perfect, although Dominic was perfect, so that would mean that he would have to be my soulmate.

        Please let it be his name I see on my wrist tomorrow morning.

        "It's getting late Miss Wolfe." Christian said curtly, clearly not wanting to talk about it.

        No words of comfort then...

        "I told you, call me Nadia." I grumbled under my breath as I stormed past him, hating the fact that he would follow me a few moments later.

        A/N - Firstly I did get this idea from a plotbunny on tumblr but the ideas/characters/plot is all mine, the only thing I have used is the fact that you wake up on your eightenth birthday with the tattoo of your soulmate on your wrist, the rest is entirely my imagination! 

        Secondly this story is based in Russia, and seen as I am British and have never been to Russia (But I really really really want to go, someone take me please!) some locations or language may not be right, please feel free to correct me if I am wrong about anything, I will not be offended - in fact you will be helping me make this story better! 

        Finally I hope you guys are as excited as I am about this story,  I have so many ideas and plans for it! Please show your support by leaving a comment and voting! It would mean a lot and it will show me that you want me to continue writing this story! What do you guys think of Nadia, Christian and her parents? What do you think will happen the next morning? Will it be Dominic's name on her wrist? Tell me your predictions! 

        Love you guys!