Chained by Choice Book 04

BIANCA'S POV

"Why would a lovely damsel like you be heading to a hellhole like Dartmoor Island?"

The captain's voice pulled me from my trance. I stood at the edge of the railing, watching the dark waves crash against the hull.

The sharp wind struck my ankles. I shivered.

"I simply have no other way to go," I whispered. "I don't have options."

I tried to keep my voice steady, but the dread was overwhelming. Tears threatened to spill, hot and stinging against the cold sea spray.

The captain, an old-school human with a thick white beard, studied me.

His eyes dropped lower. He wasn't looking at my curves. He was staring at the jagged scar that ran from my neck down to my chin.

I pulled my coat tighter.

"You seem like the sort that is running from something," he said, his voice rough but not unkind. "Everything about you screams fear."

"Fear is all I have left," I replied.

He turned his gaze toward the horizon, where a dark landmass was rising from the mist.

"Dartmoor Island is pure heaven if you like chaos," he muttered. "It's been a long time since I docked there. Not since the uprising."

"What happened?" I asked.

I needed to know. This was going to be my new home. My prison.

"It used to be where Calabria sent their worst. Dangerous criminals. Shifters. Vampires. The superintendents held them down for fifteen years."

He paused, spitting into the ocean.

"But the detainees coordinated. They went after Port Louis. Now? The inmates run the asylum. It is a dangerous place to live, girl. I advise you to turn back. Come back with us."

I shook my head slowly.

"There is no life for me in Calabria. Not anymore."

"You could choose a different island," he pressed. "Anywhere but Dartmoor."

"I am a shifter," I said, the words tasting like ash in my mouth. "I don't expect you to understand."

A rogue without a pack was nothing. Worse than garbage. At least on Dartmoor, no one would ask why I wasn't protected by my family.

Dartmoor was the last resort for people who had nothing left to lose.

"Alright," the captain sighed, scratching his beard. "Best advice? Travel west. Find the Centro Villa. They are the only reasonable people left."

"I'll see to that."

"Excuse me, Miss."

A sailor called out to him, and the captain walked away, leaving me alone with my ghosts.

I looked back at the water, and suddenly, I wasn't on the ship anymore.

My mind dragged me back to the moment that broke me.

THREE DAYS AGO........

It was my twenty-fifth birthday. It was supposed to be the start of my life.

I remembered the morning clearly. My human mother and my wolf-shifter dad smiling at me. The cake. The target practice with Clara.

I was happy.