Midnight Kisses (Shifter Island Book 1)

by Leia Stone

  Whoa. Is that…?

  Just beyond the misty shore loomed Alpha Island. From here, all I could see was the highest tip of the snow-covered mountain in the center of the island.

  Without another word, Justice grabbed my duffle while Rage hooked a hand under my armpit, and then I was being hauled toward the boat like a criminal.

  “Hey! What’s with the manhandling? I’m a willing participant here.” I jerked away from him.

  He tucked close to me. “I don’t want you getting scared and running off. I have a package to deliver.”

  I’m a package now? Great.

  I stepped onto the boat while the boys chatted up the mage captain. He wore a long thick cloak and bore the mark of a mage on his forehead. The triangle with a single dot inside always fascinated me. I’d only met a handful of lower-level mages in my life, ones who came to trade on our farm, but they all bore this mark.

  The man was tall and lanky as most mages were, but this one looked more powerful than a simple boat captain should. There was intelligence in his deep brown gaze, one that washed over me and gave me chills. The mages had a hierarchy: novice, adept, advanced, master, and then, of course, high mage, but there were only five of those in existence at any given time. I didn’t understand it much, but if I had to guess, I’d say this guy was advanced or master.

  He stepped over to me, pulling a small, black palm stone from his cloak.

  “Summons.” He held his hand out to Rage.

  Rage produced the papers once again as my heart kicked up about a hundred notches. Any time someone asked for that summons, weird things happened.

  His gaze bored into me. “Nai of Crescent Clan. Alpha heir?”

  “Yes, sir.” I gulped. Hey, I wasn’t about to piss off an advanced magic-user. My own magic was piddly-diddly compared to this guy. As a wolf heir, we only had access to one of the elemental magics: usually earth or fire, and only once we went to Alpha Academy and learned to use it, but this guy … he could probably turn me into a toad.

  He held out his palm, facing up, and the black stone began to glow.

  “Upon entering this island, you are magically bound from speaking about your experiences at Alpha Academy. Do you accept?”

  The hairs raised on my arms, and I swallowed hard.

  This was it. This was the magical binding everyone talked about. For some reason, I looked at Rage as if asking his permission, which was stupid. He simply gave a curt nod, and my gaze flicked back to the advanced mage.

  “I accept.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Then, touch the stone.”

  Oh. Right.

  I took a breath and steeled myself, reaching out to lay my hand over the stone. The second my skin touched the cool black surface, an electric jolt ran the length of my arm, exploding at my shoulder blade. I yanked my hand back with a yelp and grimaced at the mage.

  Oww. He could have warned me.

  “Interesting.” He narrowed his gaze at me.

  Justice griped, “Come on, you big baby. I want to get back in time for dinner.”

  Interesting? Why did the mage say that? Interesting meant strange, and I didn’t need to be any more strange than I already was—or am. Before I could dwell further on it, I was shuffled onto the boat.

  After a few moments, the boat took off from the dock, and I gripped the sides, peering over into the water at something black swirling in its depths.

  “Selkies. Don’t make eye contact, or they might sing for us,” Noble said. “They’re still pissed about Shifter Island becoming Alpha Island.”

  So, what my father told me was true. Of course, they were pissed. The alpha king kicked out all other shifter species from the island and claimed it for wolves only. This forced other shifters to the fringe areas of the magic lands to mingle with the mage folk and live in less desirable conditions. I wanted to tell him being driven from your home sucked, but the consequence of dealing with Rage and Justice’s tempers and/or sarcasm was one hundred percent not worth it. Also, I’d heard selkies’ songs could be dangerous, so he was right.

  Twenty minutes later, we approached the white crystalline beaches of Alpha Island. A shimmering iridescent barrier hugged the shoreline, stretching as far up and over the horizon as I could see. Nerves churned in my gut as I saw the group of guards standing with their spines erect, each one carrying at least two katana swords.

  “Wow, they really guard this place,” I mentioned when Rage stood, and I knew from his furrowed brow and tight jaw that something was wrong. The other three Midnight brothers stood as well, and suddenly, I felt like hiding.

  As the captain pulled the boat up to the group, over a dozen guards, all huge beefcakes nearly as large as Rage, stormed onto the boat.

  “Prince Courage! Your uncle has been very concerned. The island has been on lockdown all day. Where have you been?”

  The guard’s words registered and then rattled my brain like an electric fence.

  Prince Courage. Rage. Rage was … a prince…

  “Oh, mystic mages.” I facepalmed. The four brothers of Midnight, they weren’t distant heirs of the alpha king. No one carried the title prince unless they were directly in line to the throne. They were the heirs. But uncle? That meant the king had no children, fascinating considering how valuable heirs were. Maybe he was sterile.

  Rage’s brow furrowed, and he handed beefcake the summons he’d shown the high mage earlier. “We were following orders to fetch an alpha heir. Surely, my uncle knew that, considering he signed the summons.”

  That’s when Captain Beefcake took one long glance at me, and his lip curled. “Who are you?”

  I raised my eyebrows and pointed at the paper in his hand. “Nai, alpha heir to Crescent Clan.”

  The dude frowned, his gaze bouncing from the summons to me. “Is this a joke?”

  I looked at each of the brothers, but none of them were laughing. I wasn’t laughing. Beefcake dude wasn’t laughing. Not even the captain was laughing. “I’m pretty sure it’s not,” I said dryly.

  Like 99.6% sure. What in the name of the high mages was going on?

  A deep crease appeared between his eyebrows. I was 99.7% sure he didn’t think I was funny.

  “We have a problem.” He shoved the paper back toward Rage. “The king didn’t sign this; it’s counterfeit. We’d better go talk to your uncle.”

  My stomach dropped. Counterfeit? How did he know that? And why did I feel like I was to blame?

  I glanced at the four brothers, my attention bouncing from one to the next. All four of them wore similar expressions, making my situation clear as Arkansas crystal. Hello there, trouble, we meet again.

  With every step, that one word replayed in my mind.

  Counterfeit.

  If the king didn’t send for me … who did?

  Chapter 3

  “She wasn’t due to start until next year!” the alpha king’s dark, gravelly voice raged behind the closed door on my right. Something crashed against the wall, exploding with a rain of breaking glass, and I jumped, gripping the edges of the bench.

  Alpha king is an alpha ass.

  As we’d approached the alpha king’s chambers, Rage had pointed at a wooden bench in the foyer and told me to sit. At the time, I’d been pissed, but as soon as the top dog started yelling, I felt nothing but relief. At least, this way I could assess him without him staring me down or using his alpha mind-control on me. I dreaded the day I had to look that sadistic monster in the eyes, the man who’d ordered the attack on my clan, the man who’d banished us to the human world. My blood boiled just thinking about his vicious cruelty, but as alpha king, he held power over all of us. The king had been yelling ever since Justice closed the door, and now I leaned in to listen.

  “How dare you leave the island…?” he seethed. “Do you have any idea how dangerous the mortal realm can be for our kind?”

  Silence.

  “Sir, we were just following orders—” Noble tried to defend their actions, but Alpha A
ss was having none of it.

  “If someone delivered an order to cut off your own head, would you do it? Cursed mage, boy—use your brain. Why would I send my only heirs to pick up Crescent trash?” He punctuated his declaration by throwing another heavy object against the door.

  Yikes. Homeboy was legit psycho and a giant douchebag. Huh, maybe Rage’s winning personality was a genetic gift from this guy’s side of the family.

  “But the summons—” Honor’s mild tone was drowned by the king’s temper.

  “The summons is forged! Did any of you even look at the signature stamp? That is not my mark.” The king sounded absolutely infuriated. If he stroked out … I wondered who would take his place…

  Somehow, I suspected Rage was first in line to inherit Midnight Pack and the alpha king position.

  “Should we take her back?” Justice asked, his voice like smooth whiskey.

  Silence. Was he contemplating it? I mean going back to my family sounded amazing, but now that I was here, I kind of wanted to explore. Besides, going through that two-hour drive, the portal, and the magic oath all over again sounded awful.

  I leaned forward, waiting for him to reply.

  “We can’t. The advanced mage already initiated her magic at the boat dock,” he growled. “If you take her back, we’d have to explain why to the High Mage Council. I’m not willing to risk our favor over this. No, we’ll just have to train her early. However, I do want to find out who the traitor is who forged this summons.”

  “Traitor?” Rage’s voice could cut glass.

  “Yes, find out who forged that document and bring me their head,” the king growled. “Preferably severed from their body.”

  Yikes.

  “I’ll show her to her quarters, then,” Noble offered, his voice coming from near the door. He probably wanted to get me out of here.

  “No,” the king barked. “Rage, you do it. Drop her off, and be done with her. The less you involve yourselves with lowlife Crescent scum, the better.”

  Scum. Ouch. My throat tightened, and I blinked up at the ceiling. I’d love to go home for another year. The island usually pulled us after our twentieth birthday. I’d just turned nineteen.

  Before I could ponder further, the double doors yanked open. I jerked back as Rage stormed out and grabbed my duffle bag. “Let’s go.”

  I jumped up and followed him, scurrying to keep up with his long stride. We exited the foyer, and after the door to the castle closed behind us, I deemed us far enough away to ask questions.

  I leaned into Rage and whispered, “Who do you think sent the summons? That’s super shady, right? Got any enemies?”

  He stopped walking and faced me, his green eyes blazing. “Yeah.” His nostrils flared, and he leaned down to look me in the eye. “You.”

  His answer sucked the air from my lungs, and my jaw gaped. That was mean. Outright mean.

  “We’re not on the same side, Nai,” he said, “You’re Crescent; I’m Midnight. Our clans are enemies—and for good reason. Crescent is shady. I wouldn’t put it past one of your own people to have forged that so you could come to school early. So just learn your magic. Then, go back to your cursed lands, and leave us be.”

  He marched away, leaving me with my jaw on the ground. We both knew no one from my clan could’ve done that from the mortal realm. He’d said it just to hurt my feelings.

  Any delusion I had that we might’ve mended our rift during our two-hour drive dissipated in that moment. What he’d said about being enemies was one hundred percent true. So, why did my heart sting?

  “You have a personality problem. You know that?” I hurled the words at his back, wishing I had something—anything—else to throw.

  He just grunted.

  I stood rooted, watching his lithe form stride away. He still carried my heavy bag, and I let my attention drift to the surrounding courtyard dressed in late summer blooms of reds and oranges, mixed with the vibrant shades of green. All that beauty … and my gaze gravitated back to Rage, only this time, my ire flamed the same colors as the flowers—vitriolic red. Hate wasn’t even a strong enough word.

  This was why the king sent Rage instead of Noble. No chitchat. No friendship. Zero bonding. Rage had no qualms about throwing me to the curb. Like garbage.

  I passed a few students out in the courtyard, all between twenty and twenty-four years old. Despite bearing different marks, they mingled—mostly. Or they did until Rage strode by. Conversations dwindled as he passed, and their expressions morphed into mixtures of jealousy, lust, and pride. Mostly lust. Pretty sure they all wanted to lick him or be him, both of which pissed me off.

  Stupid wolves.

  When their attention landed on me, their gazes flicked up to my mark. And then, they scowled.

  Judge much, assholes?

  Yeah, I hated this place already. A lot.

  We passed a large fountain at the edge of the courtyard. Then the pathway led through a hedge, a clear demarcation at the far end of matching buildings. As we walked between the two gray stone structures, I noticed the path led to a massive clearing in the middle of four buildings. Each one faced a different direction, north, south, east, or west. And while each structure was the same height and width, and constructed of the same materials, they were not all the same.

  I stared at the south-facing building, its gray stone polished and free of vines. Flowerbeds lined the walkway, the dark mulch a stark contrast to the vibrant growth. Engraved into the dark wood door, a full moon declared the residence to be owned by the Midnight Clan.

  Shocker.

  I pivoted, scanning past the other students until I located Rage.

  “Yours is that one,” Rage said, dropping my duffle at my feet. He pointed to a dilapidated building facing west. “Your cousin can help you—or not. Just be at the atrium in an hour. Opening ceremony starts at five.”

  Without giving me an opportunity to ask questions, he pivoted and strode away.

  Kicked to the curb—just like I’d thought. Glaring at his back, I wished for air magic so I could force him to kneel before me. Or better yet, fire magic so I could light him up.

  Thanks a lot, Prince Asshole.

  He froze—which meant I’d probably said that out loud.

  Oops.

  “That’s Prince Courage to you,” he growled. “Don’t make me teach you respect.”

  Respect?

  I laughed maniacally. “Pretty sure you need to know what that is to be able to teach it.”

  We’d gathered an audience, and while I might not know much about the ins and outs of this place, being an alpha meant not letting others dominate you, Rage included.

  I crossed my arms. “If you want my respect, you’ll need to earn it.”

  Someone gasped, and someone else snickered.

  Maybe I’d find the snickerer later; they might be the only other sane person here. Right now, I needed to leave—pronto. I hefted my bag and marched toward the Crescent Clan’s quarters. Hopefully, Nolan would be nicer than I remembered. I was done with asshats for the day.

  I stormed toward the building with the crescent moon on its faded door. The grounds on either side of the walkway were overgrown with weeds—not a bloom in sight. Several steps leading up to the door were broken and crumbling, and I grimaced at the vines crawling up the gray stone … poison ivy.

  Leaves littered the ground of the portico, and the volume of debris in the corners indicated years without attention—probably ever since our clan’s banishment.

  Great.

  Reaching up to the door, I knocked, but the sensation of attention from behind served as motivation to try the handle. This was my clan’s dorm anyway, right? The knob turned, but the wood grated against the jamb as I shoved the door open.

  Stepping inside, I noted the afternoon sunlight filtering through the windows, illuminating the layers of dirt and grime. Everything was covered in years of dust, from the chandelier above to the—I dragged my flip-flops through the gray dust and
shook my head—marble floor below.

  Gross.

  After kicking the door closed behind me, I shouted, “Hello?”

  Nothing.

  The stale air carried the scent of rodent droppings. I saw no evidence that this area had been disturbed recently. Did Nolan even live in this dump? Not that I’d blame him if he didn’t. I’d rather camp in a tent then live in this biohazard. I dropped my bag next to the stairs, figuring the bedrooms would at least be one level up, and then set off to find Nolan. Hopefully, I’d find a snack along the way. I was starved.

  My flip-flops slapped against the floor as I wandered in and out of the dusty, unkempt rooms. This place was massive. I spied a ballroom, a game room with foosball, pool, and air hockey, and a study, all down in the south wing. But the neglect made it all the worse. Seeing a dusty, half-broken foosball table was a crime but less so than the books piled on the floor in the library.

  My stomach rumbled in protest of my missed meal, and I closed the door of a musty sitting room and then headed back to the foyer. From there, I moved to the north side of the first floor, getting my bearings around this place.

  The sunlight waned, and I flipped the light switch in the kitchen, groaning in dismay. How could we have no electricity? Did that mean no refrigerator?

  What little light streaming through the windows illuminated the boxes covering the counter. I knew they were food. I could smell it. Rotten bananas and sour milk—which meant someone had lived here recently enough to spill milk and still have it stink.

  Nolan, you filthy pig.

  The groan of the door protesting its abuse caught my attention, and I shouted, “Nolan?”

  “Eww, this is nasty,” a young woman griped, her voice floating down the hall to me. “Effin’ alpha king and effin’ Midnight Clan.”

  No idea who she was, but I liked her already.

  “Hello,” she called in a singsong voice. “I know you’re in here, Crescent girl. I’ve come to save your sorry tail from an alpha heir beatdown.”

  I chuckled—couldn’t help it. Is that what the others thought? That Rage would actually hurt me? I mean he was a total asshole of the highest order but … beatdown?