Picking it up like it was a live grenade, Cole carefully tore open the envelope and pulled out the letter inside.
Cole Matthew Moreton
SSN – 1997-459-QMMH
REF: SHIFTER COMPATIBILITY TEST
Dear Mr Moreton,
An appointment has been made for you at 9.00am, Friday, June 5th, at the Crescent Moon Medical Centre. Please bring your identity card and report to the reception desk at least fifteen minutes before your appointment. The test itself will take no longer than two hours, but you may be at the clinic longer depending on the number of patients that day. Please make arrangements with work/school accordingly.
Failure to appear for your scheduled appointment is a criminal offence, and the police will be involved in all cases.
We look forward to seeing you.
The bite of food Cole had taken turned to ash on his tongue as he read the words.
“Hey.” His mum’s hand on his shoulder startled him. “Neither your brother nor your sister were compatible. Hopefully you won’t be either.”
“Hopefully.” Cole shoved another forkful of food into his mouth.
According to the latest statistics, one in four humans had the right genes or DNA. His parents were too old to be considered, but both his siblings and his cousin had been negative. Or not positive enough. He’d never paid that much attention to how the tests worked. But one thing was for sure, the odds were not in his favour.
“And either way,” his mum carried on, fingers gently squeezing Cole’s shoulder. “At least you’ll get to move out of here and finally have your own place.” She tried for humour, but Cole heard the slight tremor in her voice.
Each London borough had its own pack. Crossing between territories was relatively easy for humans, but once you affiliated to a pack, it got a whole lot more complicated.
If his test was positive, there was no guarantee he’d end up close by, and they both knew it.
And he wouldn’t be a Moreton any longer.
THE TRIP TO uni was usually something he enjoyed when the weather was nice. He was fortunate enough to live within walking distance—public transport was a bitch these days and cars were hard to come by unless you had a legitimate need for one.
Today, Cole found his feet dragging and his usual enthusiasm sorely lacking. How much longer would he be taking this route? He glanced around at the familiar surroundings, and his heart clenched at the thought that he might have to leave all this behind.
Maybe they’ll let me stay in Richmond.
Maybe I’ll get chosen by the Davidson Pack and everything will be okay.
Or maybe the test will be negative.
Cole clung to that last thought.
It was probably his best hope.
Like most of the human students his age, he’d started his course later than used to be the norm. Schooling had changed a lot in the last few years since the Shifter Alliance Party took over. History lessons now included an in-depth look into shifter history rather than the token mention it had been before. The sciences covered shifter anatomy in far more detail, and understanding the new laws concerning pack affiliation was introduced as part of the curriculum throughout primary and secondary schools.
For kids like Cole, who’d already completed most of their schooling—he’d been studying for his A levels when they implemented the changes—it meant a two-year catch-up course before they could attend university or look for a job.
This wasn’t the future he’d imagined when he’d chosen what subjects to study in year nine. It had all seemed so simple then.
Now everything had changed.
COLE’S UNIVERSITY was relatively new, built in the years after the fighting ended. He could still remember the science park that used to be there before shifters took over and re-purposed the whole site as a university.
New colleges and unis had sprung up all over the place with the sudden restriction on travel between shifter territories.
Campus was busy, even at eight thirty in the morning: students milling around chatting in the early morning sun, others hurrying to class. It was easy to spot the humans—they were the ones rushing to get where they needed to be before the bell went. Lateness or absence was a punishable offence unless you could provide sufficient reason for it. But this rule was usually only enforced for human students. No human teacher wanted to face up to a young, volatile shifter and tell them they were in trouble, and their alphas weren’t likely to give a shit as long as they passed their exams. But no one was late for any of the shifter teachers.
