Page 26 of Shifter Island


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Did I deserve love? I wasn’t sure, but so far on every step of my journey I had fought for myself. And now, when it came to being treasured, I would defeat my own demons to give our new connection a chance. I wouldn’t give up before I tried to let myself find happiness.

Chapter Thirteen

Gabriel

The day after Esteban told me he had spent time with Daphne cooking in the dining hall’s kitchen was quite busy. The new shipment of supplies we had requested had arrived. Esteban, myself, and ten of our men had gone to the dock to escort the goods to Santuario.

We had been on our toes during the entire journey, expecting someone to attack us, most likely Victor. In the past the Bloody Claws had surprised us sometimes by trying to get in the way of transporting our shipments, but I was definitely more worried about any kind of conflict with Victor’s goons. The way they fought was far more organized than the ex-convicts from the Bloody Claws.

Luckily the transport succeeded without problems this time.

Esteban and I were standing near the warehouse now. Ban was checking the crates, and I was marking off on a list the goods that had been delivered; I held the fountain pen, a memento of my late father, in my hand. My fingers were dirty from the ink.

“Ammunition for our rifles. This is the second crate.” Esteban closed the large box after looking inside, letting me know about the contents.

“Still three more to go.” I checked one more tick on the list.

Ban whistled. “You sure bought a lot.”

“We’re expecting war, aren’t we? Better safe than sorry.”

We chatted while working. At some point I felt a presence behind me. I turned around to see Daphne standing there with her arms crossed. She had her brows furrowed.

“We’re bear shifters. If we’re going to fight, wouldn’t it be better to do so in animal form?” she asked, a confused look on her face.

“That depends entirely on where we’re fighting,” Esteban explained, but Daphne still looked puzzled.

“What Ban means is that if we’re fighting inside structures made for our human forms, with tight corridors, our large bear sizes are a disadvantage,” I said. “Also, if the enemy has forty men firing rifles at us, we can’t quite run up to them in bear form. We would be killed. We need to take out as many of their forces as possible with our own gunfire before we shift.”

“I see. Fighting tactics are more complicated than I thought,” Daphne put a hand on her jaw. “The one time I was in combat, I was in bear form.”

“Don’t worry. Now that we have all the ammunition, we’re better prepared.” I smiled. “We will protect you, you don’t have to fight.”

Ban shook his head.

Daphne pouted, putting her hands on her hips. “I can fight like everybody else. I can shoot guns, and I’m a bear shifter too.”

I raised my hands in a ‘don’t shoot’ gesture. “Alright. If you think you can defend the sleuth, I won’t say no to another pair of hands.”

Daphne nodded, pleased with me for backing down. I didn’t entirely agree with having her go up against Victor’s goons but hopefully she wouldn’t have to.

I glanced over at Ban. He still had a grim expression on his face, eyeing another box of ammunition. Even with all these bullets, we still weren’t ready to go up against Victor’s main forces. He had too many men.

“So what brings you to us, Daphne?” I smiled at our mate. Did she just want to chat?

She had an uncertain look on her face, seeming a bit lost. “I wanted to talk to you but you’re busy, so… I can wait.”

“What we’re doing isn’t urgent,” Ban voiced my thoughts exactly. “We can talk now.”

Daphne shifted from foot to foot. “It’s really nothing too important though. I just… wanted to get to know you better. So if now’s not a good time…”

I glanced at Ban. So the moment had finally come; our mate was showing interest in us. A big smile appeared on my face. “We’ll always have time for you. Even if you just want to talk about small matters.”

Daphne blushed but nodded.

When she said nothing further, I spread my arms wide, trying to indicate I was ready for her questions. “So, what do you want to know?”

“Just general things… about you and Esteban…” She said in a small voice, not meeting my gaze.

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