Page 1 of Hitched to the Shadow Creature (Monster Matchmaking #3)

A ya

The net slipped through my calloused fingers again, water splashing against my legs as I stumbled on the rocky shoreline. Dawn had barely broken over Tankor Colony, but I'd already been ankle-deep in the frigid waters for two hours.

"Damn it," I muttered, retrieving the heavy mesh before the current could steal it away. My shoulders ached from the repeated casting motion, muscles burning beneath sun-browned skin.

Another meager haul. Five spiny crustaceans thrashed in the net as barely enough to trade for half a meal at the colony market. I tossed them into my collection bucket, where they joined a dozen similarly pathetic specimens.

"Morning looking any better for you, Aya?" Tomas called from twenty yards down the shore, his own net dripping disappointingly.

"What do you think?" I shouted back, gesturing at my pitiful bucket.

The great sea, once teeming with life, now barely sustained our struggling colony. Too many people. Too little food. The story of Tankor since before I was born.

I cast again, feeling the familiar weight of the net leaving my hands, watching it spread across the water's surface before sinking. The rhythm was mindless enough to let my thoughts wander where they often did to parents I'd never known.

Had my mother fished these same shores? Had my father held her close on stormy nights like the ones in the romance novels I traded precious rations to read?

The old novels came from lands far away, written in the time before the shift, but humans who were free of the monsters that now treaded and ruled Terra.

The avalanche that took them happened when I was barely a year old, too young to remember anything but the coldness of the orphanage that followed.

"Daydreaming again, sea rat?" Jora's voice cut through my thoughts, sharp as the spines on the crustaceans.

I rolled my eyes. "Some of us think about more than just surviving, Jora."

"Thinking won't fill your belly," she said, proudly displaying her bucket, at least triple my haul. "Or keep Administrator Voss off your back about colony contributions."

I didn't dignify that with a response, just pulled my net back in with more force than necessary. The water splashed up, soaking my already damp tunic. Great.

The morning dragged on with the sun climbing higher, beating down on my back as my collection grew painfully slowly. By midday, when most fishers headed in with their catches, I'd barely gathered enough to meet the minimum quota.

"Last call!" shouted the weighmaster from his station on the pier. "Bring 'em in for counting!"

My feet dragged through the shallow water as I trudged toward the weathered wooden structure. The bucket felt heavier than it should have for what little it contained.

"Aya Fletcher," the weighmaster said, barely glancing up as I approached. "Let's see what you've got."

He tipped my bucket onto his scale with the crustaceans clicking their pincers in protest. The needle barely moved.

"Sixteen pounds," he announced, making a note in his ledger. "That's five under minimum."

I swallowed hard. "The waters are thin today. Everyone's?—"

"Not everyone," he interrupted, nodding toward Jora who was walking away with a smile and a full ration card. "Fifth time this month you've missed quota, Fletcher."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't feed the colony." He stamped my ration card with a red mark. "That's partial rations for three days."

My stomach twisted at the thought. I was already too thin, my clothes hanging loose on my frame. But arguing would only make things worse.

"Yes, sir," I said, pocketing the marked card.

As I walked away from the pier, my mind drifted to the dreams that kept me going on days like this. Dreams of warmth and comfort. Of belonging to someone. Dreams of a different life far from the endless struggle of Tankor Colony.

"All unmarried women report to the community hall!" A voice boomed through the colony's rusty speaker system. "Mandatory meeting with Administrator Voss. Immediately!"

Around me, fishers paused in their work, exchanging confused glances.

"What now?" muttered a woman nearby, setting down her net-mending tools.

I shrugged, but the tight knot in my belly suggested this wouldn't be good news. Nothing that came from Administrator Voss ever was.

The community hall was already filling when I arrived, my hair still damp and my clothes smelling of salt and fish. I squeezed into the back row, trying to be inconspicuous.

Administrator Voss stood at the front, his tall frame imposing, gray hair slicked back against his skull. He didn't wait for everyone to settle before speaking.

"The Eastern territories have increased their request for compatible females," he announced without preamble. "All unmarried women between eighteen and thirty will submit to mandatory blood testing. Today."

A murmur rippled through the crowd.

"The Eastern territories? You mean the monsters?" someone called out.

Voss's expression hardened. "The Eastern Alliance has provided our colony with essential medical supplies and technology. In return, they've requested compatible human females for their population needs. This is a mutually beneficial arrangement."

"You're selling us!" A woman in the front row stood up.

"No one is being sold," Voss said coldly. "You will be tested. If matched, you will be relocated with full citizenship rights in the Eastern territories. The compensation to your families and to the colony is merely acknowledgment of your contribution."

My heart hammered in my chest. I'd heard rumors about women being sent east, but I'd never thought...

"Testing begins immediately," Voss continued. "Line up outside the medical station. Anyone who fails to comply will have their ration cards revoked entirely."

As the meeting broke up, fear and anger filled the room in equal measure. Women huddled in small groups, whispering frantically. Some were crying.

"Aya!" A hand touched my arm, and I turned to see Mira, another orphan from my age group. Her eyes were wide with fear. "What are we going to do?"

I shook my head. "What can we do? No ration card means no food."

"But the monsters?—"

"Eastern Alliance," I corrected automatically, though the distinction felt meaningless. "I don't know, Mira. I really don't."

The line outside the medical station stretched across the colony center. Women stood silently, faces drawn. A few colony guards stood nearby, making sure no one slipped away.

My stomach growled as I waited, reminding me of the reduced rations I faced. Maybe that was the point. Hungry people were easier to control. Easier to convince that being shipped off to the unknown might be a better option.

After nearly two hours, I finally entered the sterile white building. A nurse I'd never seen before gestured me to a chair.

"Arm, please," she said, her voice softer than I expected.

I extended my left arm, watching as she prepared a needle.

"First time being tested?" she asked, swabbing my inner elbow with cold antiseptic.

"We've never had testing before," I answered.

She smiled slightly. "I meant for compatibility. Your file says you're an orphan, usually orphans are tested as children."

"I don't know. Maybe I was."

The needle slid into my vein with practiced precision, and I watched my blood flow into the collection tube, dark red against the plastic.

"Nervous?" she asked, noting my tense posture.

"Wouldn't you be?"

She pressed a cotton ball to my arm as she withdrew the needle. "The Eastern territories aren't what most colonists think. Some matched women live better lives there than they ever would here."

"So they say," I murmured.

The nurse held my blood sample up to the light, studying it with an intensity that made me uncomfortable.

"Interesting," she said, almost to herself.

"What?"

She glanced at me, then around the room as if checking who might overhear. "Your blood is different."

My heart stuttered. "Different how?"

"Just different. Rare markers." She labeled the tube quickly. "You might be hearing from us sooner than most."

"Is that good or bad?" I asked, suddenly afraid.

She just smiled enigmatically. "Depends who you ask. Next, please."

I walked out of the medical station in a daze, my mind spinning with possibilities. Different blood. Rare markers. What did that mean?

Back in my tiny one-room dwelling, barely more than a shack near the colony's edge, I tried to distract myself with chores. I mended a hole in my fishing net, organized my meager belongings, and tried to ignore the gnawing in my stomach from my reduced ration.

The knock on my door came just after sunset three days later.

A colony messenger stood outside, looking uncomfortable. "Aya Fletcher?"

"Yes?"

"Administrator Voss requests your immediate presence at the central office."

My mouth went dry. "Why?"

"I'm just the messenger." He handed me a sealed note. "Bring this with you."

With trembling fingers, I opened the paper after he left.

Blood match confirmed. Prepare for transport.

The words blurred as tears filled my eyes. This couldn't be happening. Not so fast. Testing had only been hours ago.

I grabbed my worn bag, stuffing in what few possessions mattered, a faded photo of parents I didn't remember, a tattered book of ocean myths, a shell necklace I'd made years ago. What did one pack when being sent away forever?

The central office was brightly lit, a stark contrast to the dimming evening outside. Voss sat behind his desk, looking smug.

"Ah, Fletcher. Prompt. Good."

"What's happening?" My voice sounded small, even to my own ears.

"You've been matched," he said, sliding a document across his desk. "Quite an unusual match, actually. High priority. Transport has already been arranged."

"Transport? Now? But?—"

"This is quite fortunate for you," he interrupted. "Your match is from the Navi Mountains region. Very prestigious. The compensation to the colony is substantial."

My hands shook as I tried to read the document. Most of it was in terminology I didn't understand, but one line stood out:

Match: Sacrarium of Navi. Classification: Elite Predator.

"Predator?" I whispered, fear coiling in my stomach.

"A term of respect in their culture," Voss said dismissively. "The transport arrives in one hour. A preparation team is waiting to get you ready."

"One hour? I... I can't?—"

"You can and you will." His voice hardened. "This match is a great honor, one that benefits the entire colony. Think of all the orphans like yourself who will eat better because of your contribution."

He was manipulating me, but knowing that didn't make his words less effective. What choice did I have?

Two women I didn't recognize led me to a preparation room. They stripped me of my fishing clothes, scrubbed my skin until it was raw, and washed my hair with sweet-smelling soap I'd never been able to afford.

"What's happening?" I asked as they worked. "Where am I going?"

"The Sacrarium," one woman said, applying cream to my hands to soften the calluses. "It's where the elite of the East reside."

"What will happen to me there?"

The women exchanged glances.

"You'll be a mate," the second woman said finally. "Your blood is compatible with one of them. That's all we know."

Mate. The word hung in the air between us.

They dressed me in clothes finer than any I'd ever worn, a soft blue dress that flowed to my ankles, delicate shoes instead of my worn boots. The fabric felt strange against my skin, too smooth, too perfect.

"The transport is here," someone called from outside.

The women hurried to finish, one placing a silver necklace around my throat while the other tucked my brown hair behind my ears.

"For what it's worth," one whispered, "your match must be very important. They've never sent a transport this quickly before."

They led me outside where a sleek vehicle hummed quietly, nothing like the rusted transporters we used in the colony. A tall figure stood beside it, dressed in a uniform I didn't recognize.

"This is her?" he asked, examining me with clinical detachment.

"Yes," Voss said, suddenly appearing at my side. "The blood work is confirmed. She's the one."

The uniformed man nodded. "Good. We leave immediately."

As the transport door opened, revealing a luxurious interior that contrasted with my entire life's experience, terror and a strange hope battled within me. I was leaving the only home I'd ever known, heading to become the mate of some unknown creature from the mountains.

But perhaps, just perhaps, there would be warmth there. Perhaps there would be arms to hold me through the night. Perhaps there would be more than the endless struggle that had defined my existence in Tankor Colony.

I stepped toward the transport, my heart pounding so hard I thought it might break through my chest.

"Wait," I said, turning back to Voss. "What exactly am I matched to?"

His smile didn't reach his eyes. "You'll find out soon enough."

The transport door closed behind me with a soft but final click.