Sharkbait Down Under Ch. 01-10

"Yes, sir."

He handed the form to me. "Verify the information is correct and sign it." I read through it quickly. It started by listing my name, date of arrival, the ship I arrived on, my 'offense' of providing support to traitors to the Crown, and my seven-year sentence. The next section was the conditions of my release. I could not leave the Sydney territory for two years without permission. I had to obey all laws and regulations of the Sydney Colony. I must find employment and support myself and any family. My freedom was conditional on the will of the Governor. The ticket's conditions were so vague that looking at someone the wrong way could put me back in chains. It had happened to a man I'd been working with this morning. I took the quill and signed on the line. "Don't make any trouble; we've got enough Irish rabble here now. Guard, take him to the blacksmith, then release him."

"Yes, sir." I could hardly believe it as I shuffled to the hut where the blacksmith used a cold chisel to remove the shackles from my ankles. I walked out a free man. Lonely, thousands of miles from my home, but free.

I also had no money, no job, and nowhere to sleep for the night. My wolf had not been out in five years, and I didn't know if he would even come out now. I did know that my best chance for a full belly and a good night's sleep did not lie near the prison, so I headed west. I reached the edge of the settlement just after nightfall; finding a hollow log to hide my clothes, I stripped and shifted. It hurt, and I struggled to complete the change after so long.

I shook out my black fur after steadying myself on four legs again. I looked a mess as I inspected myself in the soft moonlight. I could see the patchy hair on my back where the whip strikes had torn flesh, and I had bare spots on my real legs where the shackles had left permanent scars. I listened, hearing only the wild, and smelling only the fires from the homes in the distance.

Letting out a chuff, I turned to the west and ran as a wolf for the first time in years. The strange land didn't bother me; I was free, the wind in my hair and the moon at my back. I ran until I couldn't sense humans at all, then stopped at a stream to drink.

I was hungry, and my wolf wanted to hunt. Heading upstream, we went slower now, sniffing the air for scents. I picked up something strange and turned away from the creek to follow it. Cresting a small hill, I crept forward in the grass until I saw them.

Kangaroos. Six of them, each as tall as a man, feeding in the grass below. "Like deer with feet that can break your bones," I said to myself. We'd heard about them in prison and eaten their meat on rare occasions. They were big and fast, capable of leaping eight feet in the air, and vicious when cornered.

I would need to get close. Sniffing the wind, I retreated and moved around until I was approaching from directly downwind. I moved towards the herd slowly, moving when the grass did, my belly low to the ground. I patiently waited, watching until the closest faced away from me. I picked my target, a smaller one, and rushed forward to leap onto its neck.

One spotted me and let out a bleat, causing the herd to freeze and then run. I'd already made my leap, and the warning was too late for my victim. Sharp teeth clamped around its throat, ripping into the flesh as my weight pulled it over. It struggled and tried to get up, but I kept the pressure on its throat, just like my father taught me. It took a minute for the kangaroo's energy to wane from lack of blood and oxygen, and then it lay still.

I'd done it. Sitting up, I howled to the moon in thanks and triumph, and then I tore into the warm flesh and gorged myself. I tore the stomach open, pulling out the innards that would spoil the fastest. I gorged on the nutrient-rich liver before tearing into the tender flesh of the shoulders.

I woke up just before sunrise, flies around me and the dead carcass, and dried blood matting my fur. I ate as much meat as I could, then pulled the remains towards some trees to get it out of the sun.

I followed my scent back to the stream, finding a shallow pool where I could wash my fur clean. The cool water felt good on my skin. I rolled around in the slow-moving water, rubbing my matted coat against rocks to help loosen the dirt and blood. I'd climb out and shake myself dry, then go back in and keep washing. When the water ran clear, I shifted to human form and just sat there, enjoying the moment.

It was too dangerous to go back towards the settlement in the day; men with muskets could be out, and they would shoot a wolf on sight. Instead, I walked back to my kill. I tossed the carcass over a high branch, then shifted and curled up on a patch of grass in the shade. Full and free, I fell asleep again.

My wolf woke me three times during the day, the last to chase away dingoes that want the meat. The warm day will have it rotting soon, so I eat my fill just before sundown and leave it on the ground. The scavengers will have it to bones by morning.

I washed my fur off one more time, then set off east for Sydney again. I've enjoyed this time as a wolf, but staying like this is too dangerous. I need to survive as a human. I need to get a job, save money for passage, and make my way home.

Reaching my clothes stash well after dark, I dress and fall asleep again.

I wake when the sun is high in the sky. The unfamiliar sound of female laughter in the distance awakens me. Sitting up quickly, I look around. I've rarely seen women in my time here; the British held them in a different area of the prison vessel, and they were too valuable to the Colony to be subjected to the hard labor the males were. One in seven prisoners sent to this world were female, mostly poor and uneducated. I'm sure it wasn't an easy life; most turned to soldiers or wealthier freemen in exchange for protection. Those men kept them sheltered and pregnant, so what was one doing out here?

I stood up to follow the sound, walking silently through the woods as I'd learned as a child. They were quite a ways away, and it took me ten minutes to close on them. I spotted them about a hundred yards away, a girl of maybe fourteen, the younger maybe ten. "Laura, how much farther," the young one asked.

"I don't know," Laura replied.

"Are we lost? We've been walking for HOURS."

"Well, what do we have here," a deep male voice said.

"Stay behind me, Emma," the older girl said. "We got lost looking for one of our lambs," the older girl said.

I saw the male; he was in his thirties, a sword on his heavily scarred back, his body muscled from years of labor. Another man, shorter and thinner but just as scary looking with a long knife in his belt, came up next to him. They looked like escaped convicts, living outside the Colony boundary, and stealing to survive. "Good news for us," the big guy said.

"I get the young one," the skinny man said.

"No. These two are our tickets out of this shithole. I imagine their father will pay almost anything to get his little girls back safely." The two men stood in front of the elder girl, the younger clinging to her from behind. "Who is your father?"

"Neil Baillieu," Laura said softly.

"I know him," the skinny one said. "Owns a lot of land and sheep, one of the richest men in the Colony."

The big man reached out, pulling the necklace from Laura's throat, then grabbing the one from the neck of a terrified Emma. "Take these to Neil's home," he told the skinny man as he handed them over. "Tell him we will return the girls for five pounds each. If he refuses, tell him they will die by sundown, just like they will die if he tells the authorities or tries to follow you."

The skinny man took the necklaces and put them inside his shirt. "That's a lot of money."

"Enough for us to get passage on a ship and start over," the big man agreed. "Go."

The skinny man left, and he left me with choices.

I could walk away, leaving the girls at the mercy of these men.

I could charge them, outnumbered and unarmed.

Or I could use my wolf.

I couldn't live with the first two, so I chose the third. Pulling off my clothes behind the tree, I stacked them before shifting into my wolf. I watched until the skinny man was out of sight, then circled well away from them until I caught his trail.

He was not paying attention, and that was all the break I needed. The sound of my paws didn't register in time, and he turned to look as I leaped for his throat. I bit through the soft flesh, ripping a large chunk free as my momentum carried me past. Spitting it out, I watched as he struggled for breath as his blood saturated the grass around him. He fell face first, letting out a rattling last breath, and then was still.

I shifted, picking up the knife from his belt. Using it, I hacked at his neck and shoulders, hiding the evidence of the bite that killed him. I thought briefly about taking the knife back against the big man. My knife against his sword, untrained as I was with it, was suicide.

I tossed the blade as far as I could, then shifted back and returned to the clearing. I let loose a howl of rage when I saw Laura, stripped and struggling, trapped under the man as her sister cried. I ran forward, leaping onto his back, my teeth and claws digging into his flesh.

He bucked me off, screaming in rage, and tried to get to his sword. I lunged for his arm, biting down until I heard bones break. He flung me off, and I rolled a few times before I got up again.

When he turned to his sword, it wasn't there.

Laura was.

And Laura plunged the sword through his stomach as she screamed her rage.

I quickly moved between them, pushing the older girl back to her sister as the criminal fell to his knees, then onto his side. "Thank you," Laura said as she ran her fingers through my fur.

I shifted, my body covered in blood. "Get dressed and help your sister," I said. "I'll be back."

Neither were afraid of the wolf turned man.

Ch. 4

"We need to stop by a drugstore before we go to the hotel," I said.

"Are you not feeling well?" Hammer looked at me, a little concerned.

"I'm good," I said as I relaxed into Nicholas' side. "A little too good, and I don't want to risk pregnancy, so you'll need a prophylactic or two." I wasn't going to be able to deny my wolf for long; tonight, unless Nicholas turned out to be a colossal mistake, I was going to turn in my V-card with my mate.

"Oh, a chemist. I'll get a big box," Nicholas said. He pressed the button, telling the driver to watch for one. "Stop at the bottle-o, too, so I can grab some coldies for the room." He let the button go. "You guys need anything while I'm in there?"

"What?" This stuff was driving me nuts. I was going to have to get an English-Aussie Dictionary on my phone.

"Liquor store for beer," Dorothy said. We stopped at the bottle shop first, and Nicholas went in alone. "What is it like for you to find your mate?"

"It's my second time," I said. "My first mate, I scented him and found him banging his girlfriend. He rejected me for her." I still felt the pain and anger. "Luna gave me another. With Nicholas, it's like we're rare-earth magnets, pulled to each other, and almost impossible to separate. I feel calm and safe in his arms."

"You don't fall in love first?"

"Our wolves know we belong to each other. Our human sides will catch up," I said.

"What would have happened if you and Nicholas hadn't met," Ian asked.

"I'd like to believe that Luna orchestrated our meeting," I said. "If we never met, I'd be alone, or I'd choose a mate. Once a wolf mates with another, the link to the wolf Luna intended for him is gone. When Timothy chose Traci over me, it left a hole in my soul that only now is filling. Whoever Traci was supposed to mate with, I believe Luna will choose another for him." He dodged a bullet with that bitch. "I'm not the only wolf with a second-chance mate. My old Alphas found each other long after their mates died. Susan's husband died over a decade ago, and now she found Hammer."

Nicholas got back in with a bag, then we drove a few more blocks, and he got out again. I peeked in the bag when he got back in; he'd bought two dozen extra-large ones. I raised my eyebrow, and he just shrugged.

I was going to be so sore in the morning!

Amy was waiting outside the hotel for us when we arrived, tipped off by my warning. She handed Nick and Ian their room keys, then handed Hammer a small bag. "Your outfit. Go change and be back down for pictures in an hour," she told him.

"Use Nicholas's room," I suggested. Amy looked at me, wondering what was going on. "I'm not in the wedding party, so it won't take long for me to change. We'll use our room." I stopped to link to her. "Don't say anything, just go help your Mom get ready."

She looked at the way he looked at me, and a light bulb went off. "He's your MATE?"

"Not now, it's Susan's day. I'll stay in Nicholas' room tonight." She got the hint and walked off. We got in the elevator, and I was thankful his rooms were not adjoining his parents. That might be a little embarrassing later. He opened the door, and Hammer walked in behind us. "Grab your stuff, and we'll head to my room," I told my mate.

Nicholas put the beer in the fridge, then set his bag on the dresser. "Mom said boardies and thongs are fine for the ceremony," he said as he kicked off his sandals and grabbed some flip-flops.

"I'll get you Bodyglove swimwear since you're going to be in the ceremony," I said weakly. "We'll see you downstairs, Hammer." I took his hand and led Nicholas down the hall. I knocked on Mercedes' door, and she let us in. Five minutes later, Nicholas had signed a release for filming and walked back out dressed in a Bodyglove shark-pattern shirt and board shorts.

I opened the door to the room Amy and I shared, scenting to verify we were alone. As soon as the door closed, I jumped into his arms, wrapping my legs around his hips. He pushed me into the wall, our tongues dueling as we fought to get closer. My wolf wanted his, but I still wasn't ready. "Come on," I said. I led him to the bed, where I pulled his shirt off before laying down beside him, my head tucked on his shoulder. "I know almost nothing about you, and I can't go farther until I do," I said.

"There's not much to tell," he said. "I'm twenty-two, but I turn twenty-three in two weeks. I was born in Port Lincoln; as Dad said, we live with his brother and his family. I just finished my fourth-year exams at the University of Adelaide Medical School. I'm in the Bachelors in Medicine program there; two more years to go, then I can start my internship."

That was different. "In the States, you would get a Bachelor's degree, then go to medical school for two years."

"It's all the same program here," he said. "I just started my summer break, and I return to school in March."

I raised my head and looked at him. "So, you have the next three months off?"

He laughed. "Nobody has time off in my family," he said. "Our family has a small aquaculture company that raises Southern Bluefin Tuna for the wholesale seafood market. The season opens soon, so we send our longline boat and a trawler out to the Great Australian Bight to catch our limit."

"How many can you catch?"

"We're not the biggest operation, so a total of fifty tons. We only have one vessel authorized for commercial bluefin fishing, and Uncle Cormac is the only one authorized to receive them."

I didn't know a ton about commercial fishing, but I knew bluefin tuna could be worth ten thousand a fish in the Japanese market. Mako sharks were the only ones fast enough to catch the nimble fish unless they were on a fishing line. I'd seen videos of a four-foot tuna cut in half next to a fishing boat by an opportunistic shark. "It's that regulated?"

"It has to be. Overfishing almost wiped the fishery out last century. The government tightly controls the harvest now; every fish caught gets a permanent, barcoded tag, and its length and weight entered into a database. The tag remains in place through export and sale. Inspectors carefully check shipments to make sure everything is legal."

"You said you use aquaculture." It was like ranching, but with fish.

"Yes. Once the fish is caught and tagged, we place it inside a net put out by the trawler. Once we limit out, we slowly tow all the fish back home and transfer them to an aquaculture pen out we have in Spencer Gulf. We feed them through the summer and fall, growing them out before harvesting in the winter."

"Huh." I could imagine the sharks swimming around, trying to find a way to get to the fish. "You feed them pellets like catfish?"

"We catch and process baitfish for that. We feed the fish twice a day. We can put ten to twenty kilos on each fish between catch and processing," he said.

"How do you get them back out in the winter?" I could imagine trying to catch these big tuna; even in the confined aquaculture pens, some of these fish were bigger than I was.

"Divers and nets. The fish have to be handled with care, as any damage lowers the market value. We capture, gut, gill, and freeze them for transport quickly and carefully."

That had my interest. "You dive?"

"I've been diving since I was six," he said. "It's my favorite part of the job."

That was good. Now for the Timothy question. "Any girlfriend, fiancé, or ex?"

"No. I've dated, but I've never had a serious relationship. My parents raised me to be careful with my heart. You can't let anyone get too close unless you can trust them with your life. The consequences of getting a girl pregnant, or picking the wrong girl, are too great."

"What do you mean?"

He let out a sigh. "From childhood, we are raised knowing that we are different, and we must protect our secret with our lives. If you get a girl pregnant, the child will have the wolf. If the human can be trusted and brought into the fold, they are. If not? They can't live. That's why I've never risked it."

There was NO WAY. "You've never?"

"I've never gone farther than oral," he said. "I want to save lives, not take them. Staying a virgin until marriage was the only way I could ensure that."

Wow. "I waited as well," I said. "I wanted to save myself for my mate."

"You've never had a boyfriend?"

I blushed. "I've had some good dates, but I haven't gone any farther than you have." I snuggled into his side, thrilled that he waited.

"What happens now," he asked.

"We have choices, but this isn't a normal situation," I said softly.

He kissed my forehead, tingles spreading from where his lips touched. "If we were at your Pack and found each other, what would happen?"

I blushed. "We would have marked each other almost immediately, biting each other's neck and shoulder to claim our mate and forge a mind-link between us. After that, we would mate physically. Some new mates don't even make it to a room; they start going at it right there. Once the mating is complete, the less-dominant wolf would move to the Pack of the more dominant wolf."

"You're more dominant than me," he said.

"Yes. Your wolf will gain an Alpha mantle and strength from the mating. Since none of your family are Alphas, we would instantly become the dominant wolves on the Australian Continent. That is another reason we need to talk; our mating will create the opportunity to form a Pack, and that isn't something to rush into."

"You don't want me?"

He was confusing my caution for something else. "NO! I do want you." I moved up and kissed him deeply before returning to where my head lay on his shoulder. "I'm cautious because my first mate ripped my heart out, and this whole situation is so damn complicated now."

"What do you mean?"

I ran my hand over his chest while I talked. "I turned eighteen during an Alpha Summit. It was a gathering of all North American Alphas, bringing along all unmated Alpha and Beta rank wolves. I was a senior in high school, with dreams of becoming a shark researcher and going off to college. My biggest worry was that I'd find my mate and have to move to his Pack, leaving my friends and my school. Then I'd have to give up my dreams to have babies."