The Search For A Mate

A/N: When I ended Roses and Regrets, I hadn't decided on my next story yet. I had not even considered a sequel. I got a couple of reviews that asked if there would be one, then a couple of PM's asking for one. I started thinking about it. I thought about it while trying to go to sleep. The idea stuck, and by the time I got to sleep, the story line was firmly in place and I had the first chapter written in my head. So without further ado, Chapter 1 of The Search For A Mate. Enjoy!

The Search For A Mate

Chapter 01

He lay on his borrowed bed, in his borrowed room, in the house of his borrowed family. Borrowed because he had never had a home of his own. He had a room at Alaric, but it wasn't home as long as Mukuro ruled. It was just another borrowed room. Borrowed family, because they had made him a part of it even though he really wasn't. His black hair spread out on his borrowed pillow. The white starburst in his hair glowing in the moonlight that shone through the window. His crimson eyes were closed, but not in sleep. As had been a common occurrence lately, sleep eluded him.

The 'forbidden child' had a great many things on his mind, his earlier conversation with Kurama among them, if not the most important. He had spent his life trying to prove he was so much more than the unwanted mistake of his mother. He had been told his mother had wanted him, but her people had feared him, and the prophecy surrounding his birth. He had faced death head on barely hours old, and survived.

At first, he'd only wanted to give others a reason to fear him, and he had succeeded. Then, he had met Yusuke and been forced to work with him as a member of the Reikai Tantei. Through the years they had all become his friends, his family. He thought that it was enough. Then Mukuro had made him her heir. The heir to Alaric, and a demon lord in his own right. He now had power and influence. He was somebody. When people heard his name now, very few associated it with the term 'forbidden child'. He was now Lord Hiei, one of the Reikai Tantei, a winner of the dark tournament, master of the dragon of darkness. He was important.

The rest of the Reikai Tantei had mated, had children, raised families. He was accepted as a member of all of their families, Uncle Hiei to all their children. It was enough. There was no need for him to indulge in the foolishness of love and children. He was surrounded by it. He himself was above it. Or so he had thought. Up until a week ago.

He recalled it clearly. Mukuro had sent for him. He took a seat across from her desk as usual. Just another routine meeting. Until she had casually dropped her bombshell. "I'm stepping down." He gave her an amused smile, as close as he got to laughter. "Which century? I'll mark it on my calendar." She gave him a stern look. "I'm not joking. I've had enough. It's time to move on. Did you think I spent all this time training you just to amuse myself?" He sat up stunned. "You're serious?" She had nodded.

"When? How long?" She leaned her elbows on her desk and folded her hands under her chin. "That depends on you." "What do I still need to learn? What have you yet to teach me?" "I have taught you everything I can. What depends on you is, can I trust you with what I built?" "What do you mean?" "I want to know that this will not end with you. That what I have accomplished will go on, that it will be strengthened and built upon." He hadn't seen where she was headed until she had put it bluntly. "Before I step down and hand Alaric over to you, you will name an heir. One that I approve of." He was speechless.

There were few he trusted enough to name his heir. In fact, only two. Yusuke was lord of Tourin already. Even if he thought Yusuke would say yes, Mukuro would refuse. She would never be foolish enough to put that much power in one person's hands. Kurama, he knew would refuse outright. He did not want to rule. If he did, he never would have refused Yomi's wish for him to become his heir to Gendar.

The only other choice was to sire his own heir. Once he thought about it, an heir of his blood would be preferred, and one Mukuro could have no objections to. To do that required the one acquisition he had never wanted. A mate. There was a time when he rejected the idea without any consideration at all. That was the period in his life when he knew no one wanted to be the mate of the 'forbidden child'.

Now he had power, influence, and position. He had seen the speculative looks from the females in the castle and the female visitors on state occasions. He knew he could have any of them. He thought of Beth. Kurama's mate. She loved him enough to give up her humanity for him. They had been mated ten years and she had given him seven kits. The females here wanted only power and position. He could be as ugly as an ogre. He could be as cruel as the cruelest demon. They wouldn't care as long as they got what they wanted. They wouldn't want him for himself.

Mukuro had sat silently while he evaluated his options. He wanted to rule Alaric. He had worked years to make himself ready when the time came. But, he didn't want it bad enough to tie himself to a business arrangement for the rest of his life. Through his friendships, he had observed what real mates and families were like. Faced with having to mate and produce an heir, he found that nothing else would do. He wanted what they had.

He had told Mukuro this. She had understood. She gave him time. An indefinite leave of absence. "Go. Find what you are looking for. I am in no hurry, but I will not wait forever." She had dismissed him then. He walked out of her office with a thousand things on his mind. First and foremost, where the hell was he going to start?

That's how he had ended up at Kurama's house. He always kept a room available for Hiei's visits. He had no idea how to go about finding, much less courting a mate. He only knew he wanted to be wanted, to be loved for himself, not what could be gained from him.

His mind drifted back to his conversation with Kurama earlier. Kurama was in a good mood. Beth had just admitted that she was pregnant again. Number eight. He had teased Kurama about a comment made years ago. He had told the fox that it appeared he was planning on spawning a fox army. Kurama had laughed recalling the comment. That had started the conversation about Hiei's current predicament.

Hiei had cited Kurama's own happy mating, as well as Yusuke's, and his sister Yukina's. Kurama had asked if he wanted a human mate. They had discussed it. He was not sure he could find what he wanted, needed, in a demon mate. Beth had called them to dinner before they could continue the discussion. He knew the fox would give him what help he could, but where to start? He first had to find a suitable subject. Where? How?

Kurama had advised against letting Beth know the true reason for this visit, citing the terror of female matchmaking. But perhaps she could help, if she would agree to the ground rules he would lay out. He could give her a list of what he needed and wanted in a mate, and she could introduce him to a few candidates. He tossed this idea around in his head for a while. When he found no major drawbacks to the plan, he cleared his mind of the problem. He had agreed to train Tara and Kaishou, Kurama's two oldest. They would meet him at 5AM. Afterward he would have a serious conversation with Beth and he would begin his search.

At 4:30 Hiei awoke to the smell of food. Beth always made breakfast. The only times she didn't were when she was in childbed, or it was some special occasion for her, then Kurama made breakfast. It was one of the many little things that she did everyday for her family. He wondered if he should put that on his list. It wasn't really necessary as the castle had a kitchen staff that performed adequately. But if he did choose a human, and she wanted to maintain a home here where they spent some time, she should be able to cook. Gods knew he couldn't.

That brought up a whole new consideration. What if she had family here she wanted to remain close to? Kurama's family had readily accepted his demon heritage when he'd told them, but they had loved him for years before they learned the truth. Beth's mother, Aoki, had been fine with it too. She only wanted her daughter's happiness. It didn't hurt that she thought her daughter's mate was sexy in his demon form. Damn. The more he thought about this, the more complicated it became.

He dressed and took a seat at the table. Beth was just putting food on the table. "Good morning, Hiei." She brought him a cup of coffee and set the sugar bowl next to him. He nodded to her. She was a tall woman. Just a couple of inches under six foot. She even had an inch or so on Kurama. Her light brown hair was long, mid back. She usually kept it tied back. She had started doing that after one of the kits had been born, he couldn't remember which one. The boy had liked pulling it. He thought it was great fun. She had worn what humans called 'glasses' until her transformation. Once she became a demon, they were unnecessary.

She smiled at him in warning before she stepped out into the hall and called out. "Breakfast!" It sounded like a stampede as she moved away from the door. Six boys came barreling into the dining room. Tara was a little more dignified. The only girl, she was also the only one who looked solely like her father. She had Youko's silver hair, which hung past her hips, and Shuichi's emerald green eyes. As predicted, she had turned into a little beauty. At ten, she looked sixteen since foxes developed and matured faster. She was almost as tall as her mother.

Beth looked at each in turn. "Hands washed?" They all nodded. "Let me see." They each held out their hands for her inspection. "Good job. You may start, while I go see what's keeping your father. But mind your manners. Your Uncle Hiei will not cover for you." She gave him a meaningful glance and he smirked.

Beth walked into her bedroom to see her mate still lying in bed. She frowned. Kurama was usually up by now. Thinking he might be ill, she cautiously reached for his forehead. He grabbed her and pulled her down beside him. She swatted him. "I thought you were still sleeping." "I know Hiei is an early riser, so the kits have supervision. I thought we could have a little alone time." He nuzzled her neck. She moaned and then swatted him again. "We had alone time last night you horny fox." "So? I seem to recall there being two horny foxes involved last night."

Beth slipped out of his arms. "You know we aren't quiet and Tara at least has figured out that the plants covering the door during our alone time are sound absorbers. She already compares us to rabbits." He chuckled and folded his hands behind his head. "So you are going to leave your mate unsatisfied?" Beth snorted. "We could spend all morning in here and you'd still complain. Now get your lazy butt out of bed and come get breakfast while there is still some to be had."

She leaned back over to kiss him. "Be a good boy and we might get a little alone time when Hiei takes Tara and Kaishou out to train. You know the rest of the kits will want to watch them." "Um hm." He stroked his fingers slowly down her arm. "You promise?" "Only if you're good." He smiled a wicked smile. "Oh, I'm always good. I think last night you said 'amazing'." "You're conceited. You know that? I swear if your ego gets any bigger…." "It always gets bigger when you stroke it." She tossed the pillow at him. He swatted it aside. "Oh. Were we still talking about my ego?"

Hiei looked up when Beth and Kurama came in. The fox had his arm around Beth. They were always touching in some manner. As if they couldn't get enough of each other. He wondered what that would be like. Did he want a woman who wanted to be touched? Did he want to be touched? It had always been something he avoided. Hell, he'd had a hard enough time getting used to the kids always hugging him. But he had to admit, once he'd gotten used to it, it wasn't so bad. In fact he'd come to like it.

The sexual encounters he'd had, were unfulfilling to say the least. There had been no emotions involved. They had been a satisfying of sexual needs at best. Looking back on the partners he'd had, he wondered if there could have been more if he'd allowed it or encouraged it. He couldn't recall any of their names, barely recalled their faces. No. It was safe to say that nothing would have come of it because he wasn't ready for it.

It had taken years for him to even consider the possibility of a mate, and he was sure he wouldn't be searching for one now if Mukuro hadn't forced his hand. This search was going to be a great deal of trouble. The alternative, spending centuries with some cold bitch whose only interest was in being Lady of the castle, was not an option. A few decades ago it wouldn't have been a problem, but now after all the changes in the Makai, he thought slitting your mate's throat to shut her up would probably be frowned on.

He was brought out of his thoughts by tugs on his sleeve. Tara and Kaishou were impatient to begin their training. Kurama went into his bedroom and came back with a katana. He handed it to Tara. She took it wide eyed. "When you told me you wanted to train with Hiei, I got it for you." He ruffled Kaishou's brown hair. "You never told me you were interested. I will see about getting you one at the first opportunity. Ok?" He got hugs from both his kits. Tara squeezed him tight. "You're the best, Father." "Ok. Go on. Don't keep your Uncle Hiei waiting."

Hiei was already outside with the rest of the kits. Tara and Kaishou hurried to join them. Kurama pulled Beth into his arms. "Have I been a good boy?" "I have to take care of the dishes." He gave her an endearing pout. She giggled. "I'll be done faster if you help."

To be continued….