CHAPTER ONE

"Hank, what are you doing?" Nick asked as he walked towards his partner, who was leaning against the front passenger door of his car.

Nick had just walked out of the jewelry store, holding up a small velvet box containing a shiny engagement ring.

"Testing out the new equipment and getting a picture of you while you're still young and innocent" Hank responded as he checked out the photo he had just taken with his camera.

"Oh, well I am getting married once, not four times" Nick replied, clearly making fun of his colleague's past love relationship mishaps.

"Oh, you're a happily-ever-after guy!"

"Yeah!" he said as he leaned on the passenger door that Hank had just opened.

Nick heard the sound of a woman laughing across the street. He turned his head to see where the angelic music was coming from, and there she was; the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen. She had just walked out of the coffee shop with another woman, whom he assumed was a work colleague. But it didn't really matter; he only had eyes for the blond beauty.

"Detective, what are you looking at? You just bought a ring" Hank said when he noticed Nick was staring at the woman.

"That's not what I'm looking at" Nick replied, shaking his head.

"Come on, don't ruin her for me."

"No, she wears Armani, makes low-six figures, drives a BMW, and is falling for a senior partner at her law firm. Nothing but trouble, Hank."

"Hey, why can't you just look at her ass like the rest of us?" Hank said as he went around the car to open the door on the driver's side.

"I can't" Nick responded, still leaning on the car door.

"Come on Nick, we have a call" he heard his partner say.

Despite what he had just told Hank, Nick couldn't help it; he felt this indescribable desire that pushed him to turn his head so he could look at the mystery blond woman again. She had just parted ways with her friend and was now walking on the sidewalk. She lifted her head and noticed he was looking at her. She smiled back at him as she continued to walk down the street. Nick had no idea why, but he felt incredibly drawn to her; he couldn't keep his eyes off her. A flame had been ignited deep down inside of him, a warm feeling he had never experienced before. And then it happened; Nick felt a jolt of electricity run through him. In the blink of an eye, the beautiful goddess had turned into a terrifying creature.

Adalind walked out of the coffee shop with her colleague Samantha. They had met to discuss an important client case they were both working on at the law firm. Samantha had an appointment she needed to get to, so the two said their goodbyes and started walking in opposite directions. Adalind suddenly sensed she was being watched, so she lifted her head and glanced across the street. She immediately noticed the man who was staring at her, a smile spread across his lips. 'Oh wow, he's gorgeous' she thought to herself, smiling back at the handsome stranger. Then, his striking blue eyes suddenly turned black; and in them, she watched herself morph into the ugly decaying being that lurked inside of her. This had never happened to her before; never had she lost control of her emotions and woged into her Hexenbiest self without meaning to. This could only mean one thing; the man staring back at her was a Grimm.

She still remembered the stories her mother had told her when she was a little girl, about these men and women who had the ability to see past the surface of their skin, into the dark depths of their soul. These superior beings were strong forces to be feared, but Adalind had always dreamed of meeting one someday to find out for herself. As she became a woman, she had often fantasized about encountering such a man to experience his power, and possibly, discover why Grimms were considered so special. She now knew why; for the first time in her life, Adalind felt vulnerable… and it was all because of him.

As she woged back to her human form, Adalind realized by the look on the man's face that he had seen who she was… or rather what she was. She forced herself to look away and to keep walking. Her heart was beating at a frenetic pace. She needed to get away from him as fast as she could. But deep down, a tiny voice was telling her to look at him again, to walk towards him, to take his hand into hers, to kiss him, to… 'What are you thinking?' Adalind silently told herself. 'Keep walking! He's a Grimm! He will kill you!'

So despite every muscle in her body begging her to run towards him, she maintained her eyes in front of her and kept on walking. But soon, she heard footsteps behind her. And the voice of the man who, unbeknownst to her, had already captured her heart and soul.

Nick thought he was hallucinating at first; he couldn't possibly have seen what he thought he did. After all, he wasn't a character trapped in some fairy tale; this was real life. How could this breathtaking woman he had been gazing at so suddenly turn into a decaying corpse horror movies were made of? Was he going crazy? And then, just as quickly as she had disappeared, the stunning beauty came back. But she no longer was smiling at him; instead, she looked away and kept on walking away from him.

Something had happened inside of him, something he couldn't ignore; a change had occurred, but he didn't know how to explain it. His heart was beating fast, and his chest was hurting like it was about to explode. What was this strange sensation that had taken over him? He had no time to stand around and try to figure it out; she was getting away. He had to… no, he needed to follow her. He couldn't let her walk away from him. So he started running after her, completely oblivious to his partner shouting at him, asking him where the hell he was going. Little did Nick Burkhardt realize that he was chasing after the love of his life.