Shift

Fifty-Nine

Roman

I set the freshly picked fruit on the table. Instantly, Summer dug in, popping different foods into her mouth, her eyes closing as she savored the taste.

I shook my head at myself. I was such an idiot. I should’ve had food ready for her when she woke up. She was obviously hungry, though she was too polite to say so.

“So, Summer, how’d you end up on our island?” I asked, curiosity getting the better of me.

She dropped her food, her lips forming a frown, and her eyes on the ground.

“I…” she began.

“You don’t have to…”

“No, but I should.”

I told her, “I won’t force you to, Summer.”

She sighed. “I’m fine. It’s… fine.”

Summer

“My pack was small… We were on a boat on the way to the mainland. The rest of the pack took control of the boat, steering us off course. They acted like those ******* pirates in the movies, taking other boats’ goods and killing the innocent passengers. We’d gone to one of the other islands farther away to discuss an alliance. The other pack was unhappy with us, so they attacked. We got out of their area as soon as we could,” I told him. This part wasn’t so hard.

Roman stared at me intently as I continued, “Unhappy with our alpha for this, the rest of my pack rebelled.”

“What about you?” he wondered aloud.

I whispered, “The alpha was my father.” I bit my lip to hold back a sob. “The pack killed him. They were furious with him for so many reasons. Our pack wasn’t very educated in the world of shifters. The new alpha,” I said, the taste of the words bitter, “was a power-hungry *** hole who didn’t give a **** about anything but himself. Yet, the rest of my pack were happy to go along with his plans after he killed my father.” My voice cracked on the last word, but I continued telling my story.

His name was Samuel, and he raped me. He’d been mad because my father ignored his requests to force me into mating with Sam. I remember him saying, “I’d be good for your daughter. She needs a man in her life that isn’t a ********* retard.”

My father had punched him square in the face. I smiled at the memory. When he finished raping me, he took me out into the open of the boat. Just when I’d thought my humiliation was done, he called for every man that would like to touch me would have thirty seconds if he gave up twenty-five dollars each.

Sure enough, every single unmated man on the ship did it, along with some mated ones.

There was a vote, then. “She is ******* herself off to each and every one of you- do you see this? I call for a vote,” Samuel had yelled. “All those in favor of pushing dear, dear Summer,” Sam said, stroking his dirty fingers on my cheek, “off the boat, say I.”

There was a chorus of “I”’s throughout the crowd. Tears sprung to my eyes. I didn’t have a single friend there.

“Off you go, girl,” he whispered in my ear, grabbing my leg, making me yelp. He silenced me with a kiss, grabbing my aching breasts.

I backed away from him, surprised when he let me go. He grabbed me back once again. I struggled in his hold.

“Goodbye, darling Summer.”

He pushed me off the edge. The flat, blue surface of the ocean below got closer, closer, closer, until –SPLASH!

I sunk down into the ocean, my eyes opening. The salt burned, and the water around me was dark, almost black.

I was sure I’d died. Maybe I can make it to one of the nearby wolf villages on the islands, I thought.

Roman

Someone had taken- no, stolen, her innocence. I wanted to find this man and gift him with a slow, slow, painful, death.

It just seemed like a fun idea.

I took Summer’s chin in my hand. “Summer…” I whispered.

Her big, beautiful eyes stared back at me. I leaned in and placed a single, delicate kiss on her lips. She instantly responded with need, as if she’d been waiting for me to make my move.

She kissed me anxiously, as if she was unsure what to do.

She didn’t have to be nervous, though, trust me. I had nothing to complain about. Everything about her seemed perfect.

I pulled away, remembering Ava’s smiling face, then the way her tears fell down her cheeks, her eyes red.

Summer had made me forget Ava, just as Ava had made me forget Natalie. I shook my head, disgusted with myself.

“Roman, I-“

Was I that much of a ******? Did I really just wait for some one better to come along, snatching her up when I had the chance?

Natalie. I thought she was my only love. Beautiful, daring, sexy.

Ava. She was the one who saved me from myself, making me forget Natalie’s previous existence. Selfishly, I stole her and took her away from everything she’d ever known. Gorgeous, innocent, sweet, caring.

Summer. Simply appearing in front of me as if it was meant to be. Am I just falling for her because Ava was getting boring?

I sighed, running my hands through my hair. These thoughts were running a marathon through my head. It was completely overwhelming, and I felt my forehead crinkling at the thoughts, my hands twitching, and a sweat breaking out on the back of my neck.

Summer stood up abruptly, making me jump slightly in my couch. Looking conflicted, she said, “Shower… I need to shower and use the bathroom and… things.” I nodded.

“Of course. I’m sorry, Summer,” I told her.

Summer

I got the feeling that Roman’s apology had a double meaning. I simply nodded. He said, “Shower’s through the kitchen.”

I bit my lip, feeling as if I should say more. Deciding against it, I made my way across the cabin and into the bathroom, closing the door behind me.

Roman

A smile rose to my lips. “We belong together, like the open seas and shores, wedded by the planet force, we’ve all been spoken for.” I smiled. Summer sang in the shower- how cute.

She continued, and I noticed she actually had a pretty good voice. I, on the other hand, made a dying cow sound like Adam Levine.

“What good is a life, with no one to share, the light of the moon, the honor of a swear? The kingdom of men is hollow within, without depth, without the care, that it takes to make a perfect love, the passion to find the other truth, to visualize the straightening from the skew, to treat a common comfort for all of you, would you try to live the way in which you speak? Taste the milk of your mother earth’s love? Spread the word of consciousness you seek? We are everything we need.”

As meaningful as the lyrics sounded, I had no idea what the song was or who it was by. I didn’t know all that much about pop culture. I had music on my iPhone, but I wasn’t completely sure how to use it.

As soon as Summer had started singing, though, I’d completely forgotten my problems.

When she stepped out into the living room, I made a choice. I took her hand and led her to the couch. It was already well past eleven o’clock, and so I turned off the lamp, and we fell asleep on top of each other.