Page 1 of Shifter Island


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Chapter One

Daphne

“Why’s a pretty lady like you going to the prison island?” The captain of the ship on which I currently traveled asked me, standing beside me.

The turquoise water hit the white sand of the beach in gentle waves. Palm trees swayed in the wind.

“Sometimes you just have nowhere else to go.” I kept my words emotionless, not betraying the turmoil of emotions inside my soul. I examined the feelings one by one. The most prominent one was fear: I was scared of the unknown, terrified of this place even though it had been my decision to come here. My other feelings were complete and utter disappointment in my family as well as disgust towards myself.

The captain was an old man, strongly-built for a human, but he had nothing on the people who I had grown up surrounded by – bear shifters like myself. I felt his gaze linger on my face, and I shivered knowing that he was examining the scar that ran from my temple through my cheek to my jaw. The wound I had suffered a year ago defending my sleuth, the bear clan I was part of, had left a nasty mark on my body.

Self-consciously, I fiddled with the hem of my simple blue t-shirt that said ‘Drop dead nerdy’. I had been a programmer for a local hospital, improving their software but that life was history now. At this moment, I was just a woman with nowhere to go.

The captain nodded, running a hand through his bushy white beard. “I can see how that could be true. You seem like the type that’s running from something.” He stopped staring at me and turned his attention to the island. We were coming closer and closer to the beach, and the small pier with a few buildings. “Still, Isla Paraiso is a paradise in name only. It’s been three years since the uprising.”

“What happened?” I was intrigued to learn more about the place I would soon call home.

“This used to be the island where Venezuela would send their most dangerous shifter criminals. You know – the murderers, rapists, arsonists.” The captain sent me a glance.

I nodded in understanding. It had been a convenient way for our country to keep the worst shifters confined in one place but as with any brilliant idea, it seemed it had only worked up until a certain point.

The burly man continued the story. “The wardens kept the shifters in check for seventeen good years but then, three years ago, the prisoners organized themselves and attacked Fort Torres, the seat of the wardens.”

“I take it they succeeded?”

“Yes, and now the island is under the criminals’ control.” The captain sighed. “It is a difficult place to live. I would advise you to not enter this world, but there’s no way I can convince you to come back with us, is there?”

I shook my head. “There’s no life for me in Venezuela. Not anymore.”

“You could try other countries; anywhere else besides this place.”

I repeated the refusal motion with my head. “I’m a shifter. I don’t expect you to understand.” A rogue without a sleuth was nothing; worse than trash. Here, at least nobody would ask questions about why I wasn’t on the mainland, under the protection of a bear clan. Isla Paraiso was the final destination for anybody who had nothing left to lose.

The captain scratched his head. “Well, the best advice I can give you then is to head west and try to reach the Santuario sleuth. Those are the only good people left on the island; former wardens and their families.”

“Thank you.” The advice had come to me unexpectedly, and I eyed the man suspiciously. Why did he care to help me? After what had happened to me, I had stopped believing in people’s kindness. Nothing was free in this world, at least not for me – I didn’t deserve being cared for by others.

Another sailor called the captain.

“I’m coming! Excuse me, miss.” With those departing words, the old man walked off towards the bow of the ship.

I continued staring at the island. The sight was beautiful: the waves peaceful, and the greenery inviting. Yet, my thoughts went to my past, to the events that had set me on this path. I liked to torture myself with remembering the event that had signaled an end to the peaceful years I had lived amongst my sleuth, the Sun of Perez.

On my 28th birthday I was celebrating my coming of age as a shifter. My parents threw me a small but fun birthday party– justmyself, them, and my best friend Yuliana. We went to the shooting range first, and Yuliana and I did what we both loved so much – we shot guns at colorful targets. After that activity, we all ate a birthday cake at home and chatted about small and cheerful matters.

I still remembered that day fondly: the smiles of my human mother and my bear shifter father, as well as my best friend, when they handed me presents. Since my father had married my mother, a human, he didn’t have a high standing in the sleuth. Some said he had diluted good shifter blood, and I, as the product of the union, a half-breed, wasn’t looked on fondly either. Luckily I could shift into bear form, although I hadn’t learned how to do it until my early 20s, unlike the full shifters who could change forms from childhood.

After the party, we decided to take a trek into the nearby woods. We were just walking through the village when I saw Sander Castillo, the Beta’s son, with three of his friends in the middle of the main square.

I stared at Sander in wonder, like I had never seen him before. At this moment, Sander was the most handsome man I had ever met, with his long dark hair and olive skin. When our eyes met, his own so dark they were almost black, it was like lightning struck me. The revelation that he was my fated mate shook me to the core. I ran up to him, a happy smile on my face but Sander’s expression showed deep disgust.

“A half-breed with a disfigured face like you – my mate?!” He screamed, waving his hands around. His friends chuckled behind him, which made him even more furious. “I won’t stand for such a slight.”

I opened my mouth to protest. A part of me, the bear in my soul, had already started to make sounds of distress. She knew what was coming even before I did.

“I don’t want to mate with you! I reject you as my fated mate.”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, I fell to the ground, gripping at my chest. It was as if someone had ripped out my heart, taken my breath away, and kicked me until I was a ball of pain. Tears fell from my eyes like waterfalls, and I realized I was screaming when Sander made a disgusted face.

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