SHAPESHIFTERS

2

“Wake up. You have a book on your face.” Blinking my eyes open, I see nothing but blurry lines until I lift the book I was reading off my face and rub my nose. Damn, I must have fallen asleep reading again. I close the human-written romance book about demons at an academy and turn my gaze to where my foster brother is holding the door open. Jesper Perdita has dark brown, overgrown hair that falls around his face and shoulders, and his clothes are all a little too big for him and torn in places because they are hand-me-downs. But he smiles every single damn day, and for that alone, I love him. At just eight, he acts the same age as me thanks to losing his family a year ago and having no relatives offer to take him in. I don’t care that we aren’t blood-related, somehow I’m always going to be here for him, because he hasn’t had a childhood any more than I have. We are foster kids in a pack that hates our very existence, and they make damn sure we know about it. The fact they keep him alive is just because one day he might have a powerful wolf when he turns sixteen. If he doesn’t, he won’t have any family to save him from what happens next. I’m a little luckier in the sense I will find a mate, every female always does at the mating ceremony in the year they turn eighteen, and my mate will have no choice but to keep me alive. Even if he hates who I am, our fate is linked from the second the bond is shown. “What time is it, Scrubs?” I ask, needing to pull my thoughts from the ceremony to anything else before I freak out. He twitches his nose at my nickname. That came from how many times he needed to scrub his face of dirt and mud every single day. He is the messiest kid I’ve ever seen, and it’s awesome. I want a different future for him, one where he could have the same last name as everyone in the pack other than the foster kids. We are given the last name Perdita, which means lost in Latin, because we are lost in every sense of the word. Everyone else in the pack shares the same last name as the pack alpha. Ravensword. “Six in the morning. We have to leave for the ceremony in an hour, and Mike said you need to bathe and wear the dress in the bathroom,” he answers. He looks down, nervously kicking his foot. “Mike said something about brushing your hair so it doesn’t look like a bat’s nest.” I snort and run my hand through my blonde hair. Sure...I might not have brushed it a lot, but the unruly waves don’t want to be tamed. “I won’t go, get a mate and never come back. You know that, right?” I ask him, sliding myself out of my warm bed and into the much colder room. Snowflakes line my bedroom window that is slightly cracked open, and I walk over, pushing it shut before looking back at Jesper. He meets my gaze with his bright blue eyes, but he says nothing. “Whoever finds out you’re their mate is going to want you to start fresh. Without this place and me following you around. I might be eight, but I’m not stupid,” he replies. Floorboards creak under my feet as I walk over to him and pull him in for a hug, resting my head on top of his. The truth is, I can’t promise him much. The males in mating have control over the females, and to resist that control is painful, so I’m told. That’s why the moon goddess is the only one who can choose a mate for us, because if it went wrong, it would be a disaster for all involved. “If my mate does, then I will figure out a way to get him to let me see you. The moon goddess will not give me a mate I am going to hate. All mates love each other,” I tell him what I’ve heard. “I don’t like goodbyes,” he replies, pulling away from me. “So I won’t come with you today. I won’t.” “I get it, kid,” I say as he walks to the stairs. He never looks back, and I’m proud of him, even if it hurts to watch him make another choice that only adults should have to make. I head back into my small bedroom, which has a single bed with white sheets and a squeaky mattress, and one chest of drawers. I grab my towels and head down the stairs to the only bathroom in the old, very quirky house. The bathroom is through the first door in the corridor, and I shut the door behind me, not bothering to switch the light on as it is bright enough in here from the light pouring through the thin windows at the top of the room. Peeling dolphin-covered wallpaper lines every wall, and the porcelain clawfoot bathtub is right in the middle of the room. A cream toilet and a row of worn white cabinets line the other side, with a sink in the middle of them. Hanging on the back of the door is the dress I have dreaded to see and yet wanted to because it’s the nicest thing I am likely ever going to wear. The mating dress is a custom-made dress for every woman in the pack, paid for by the alpha to celebrate the joy-filled day, and each is made to worship the moon goddess herself. Mine is no different. My dress is pure silk and softer than I could have imagined as I run my fingers over it. The hem of the dress is lined with sparkling white crystals, and the top part of the dress is tight around the chest and stomach. The bottom half falls like a ballgown, heavier than the top and filled with dozens of silk layers that shimmer as I move them. As I stare at the dress, the urge to run away fills me. The urge to run to the sea and swim to the wall to see if there is any way to get out. Any way to escape the choices I have been given in life. Mike was right, I can’t see the light in the pack, because the darkness smothers too much. It takes too much. I step away until the back of my legs hit the cold bathtub, and I sink down to the floor, wrapping my arms around my legs and resting my head on top of my knees. One way or another, the mating ceremony is going to change everything for me. “Do hurry, Irin. We have a four-hour drive, and this is not a day you should be late like every other day of your life!” Mike shouts through the door, banging on it twice. “On it!” I shout back, crawling to my feet and pushing all thoughts of trying to escape to the back of my mind. It was a stupid idea, anyway. The pack lands are heavily guarded, and they would scent me a mile off. After a quick bath to wipe the dirt off me and wash my hair, I brush my wavy hair until it falls to my waist in bouncy locks, even when I know the wind will whip them up into a storm as soon as I’m outside. The dress is easy to slip on, and I wipe the mirror of the steam to look at myself after pulling my boots on. My green eyes, the colour of moss mixed with specks of silver, look brighter this morning against my pale skin, framed by blonde, almost golden, hair. I look as terrified as I feel about today, but this is what the moon goddess wants, and she is our ancestor. The first wolf to howl at the moon and receive the power to shift. She will not let me down today. I nod at myself, like a total loser, and walk out of the bathroom to find Mike and my other foster brother waiting for me. Mike huffs and walks away, mumbling something about a lamb to the slaughter under his breath, and I look at Daniel instead. His brown eyes are wide as he looks at me from head to toe, likely realising for the first time the best friend he has is actually a girl. He is used to me in jeans or baggy clothes, following him through the muddy forest and not giving a crap if every single one of my nails is broken by the end. And I never wear dresses. Not like this. Daniel runs his hand through his muddy-brown hair that needs a cut before he smiles. “s**t, you look different, Irin,” he comments with a thick voice. Daniel is one year older than me, and when he was tested for his power last year, he was found to be an extremely powerful wolf. He is next in line to be a beta if anyone dies, which would be a big thing for a foster kid to be a beta. Either way, he is free of this place, and who knows, he might even be my mate. A small part of me hopes so because Daniel is my best friend, and it would be so easy to spend my life with him. I don’t know about romance, as I have never seen him like that. He is good-looking in a rugged way, so I guess we could figure it out. “Nervous about today?” I ask him, as this is his second mating ceremony, and it’s likely he might find a mate. It’s usually the second or third ceremony where males find their mates, but for females, it’s always the first. He clears his throat and meets my eyes. “Yeah, but who wouldn’t be?” “Me. I’m totally cool with it,” I sarcastically reply. He laughs and walks over, pulling me into a tight hug like he always does. This time, I hear his wolf rumble in his chest, the vibrations shaking down my arms. “If you’re mated to a tool, I’ll help you kill him and hide the body. Got it?” he tells me, and I laugh at his joke until he leans back, placing his hands on my shoulder. He moves one of his hands and tips my chin up so I’m looking at him. “I’m not joking, Irin. I don’t care who it is, they aren’t f*****g around with you.” “Mates are always a perfect match,” I reply, twitching my nose. “Why would you think—” He lowers his voice as he cuts me off. “You don’t live in the city like I do, and I can tell you now, mates are not a perfect match. Not even close. The moon goddess...well, I don’t know what she is doing, but you need to be cautious. Very cautious because of your background.” “Why didn’t you tell me this before?” I demand. He shrugs. “Guess I didn’t want you to overthink it and try to run. I can’t save you from what they’d do if you ran, but I can protect you from a shitty mate. I.e., threaten to break every bone in his body if he hurts you.” “Daniel—” I’m cut off as Mike comes back into the corridor and clears his throat. “Get in the car, now. It looks bad on me when we are late!” he huffs, holding the front door open. Daniel uses his charming smile to make Mike’s lips twitch in laughter as I hurry to the front door and step out into the freezing cold snow. It sinks into my dress and shoes, but I welcome the icy stillness to the air, forcing me to stop over worrying for a second. “Always daydreaming, this one,” Mike mutters as he passes me, talking to Daniel at his side. “Her eyes are going to get stuck looking up in the clouds one day.” “At least I’d be seeing a pretty view for the rest of my life,” I call after Mike as I hurry after them down the path to the old car waiting by the road. We don’t use cars often, only today and travelling to funerals is permitted, mostly because the cars are old junk that make a lot of noise and take up fuel. Daniel pulls the yellow rusty door to the car open, and I slide inside to the opposite seat before doing up my seatbelt as Daniel and Mike get in the car. Mike drives and Daniel sits next to me rather than shotgun. About ten minutes into the drive, I realise why Daniel sits next to me as my hands shake and he covers my hand with his. Please, moon goddess, choose Daniel or someone decent. I don’t want to become a mate murderer in my first year as a wolf.