The Ganga Shift

Mary Bernsen

Description

Life hasn’t been easy for Isabella. She spent most of her childhood in the foster care system, and now at twenty-two she has landed herself in prison on drug charges. Her troubled past is what makes her a perfect candidate for the government’s latest scientific endeavor, Operation Gene Re-sequencing. No one will miss her. No one will question her absence. But, when it’s discovered Isabella is immune to their DNA-changing drugs, she is selected to be used as prey for those who aren’t.



Chase and Brayden couldn’t be more opposite; Chase is calm, reserved, and completely insistent that he will control the changes the virus is causing in his body. Brayden, on the other hand, has always been wild and uninhibited. He welcomes the new animalistic nature coming over him. The one thing they have in common? They both have a taste for the cute little Asian inmate who is now sharing their cell.

Sujets

• Paranormal romance
• Shifter
• Werewolf
• Science fiction

Informations

• Publié par: The Parliament House
• Date de parution: 10 avril 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9788827546994
• Langue: English

Extrait

The Ganga Shift


Mary Bernsen
Copyright © 2018 by The Parliament House
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Edited by C.K. Brooke & David Rochelero
Cover Design by Shayne Leighton
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Created with Vellum
Contents



Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Chapter 30

Chapter 31

Chapter 32

Chapter 33

Chapter 34

Chapter 35


About the Author

Isabella Still Needs You
Chapter 1

“Y ou’re making this much more difficult than it needs to be, Ms. Baker.”
The warden tightened the dull, fraying leather restraints on Isabella’s wrist, pinching her skin into the armrest of the ice-cold metal chair he had tethered her to. Despite the sting, she refused to wince.
Instead, she focused on her hatred and glared wordlessly at him. Detestation burned on her cheeks, and her jaw ached from grinding her teeth.
A flickering lightbulb hovered above their heads on a crude wire, offering a circle of clarity in an otherwise dark and hidden room. The secrecy was redundant and stupid—she knew where she was. They had taken her to this room, tucked in a hidden corner of the infirmary, countless times over the last couple of weeks.
And she knew what was coming.
Right on cue, the jumpy redheaded nurse who had become so familiar to Isabella knocked on the other side of the door.
“Just a minute,” the warden barked before returning his attention to his prisoner. He slid a finger across her cheek, then slipped it under her chin before he brought his mouth a breath away from her face. “This is your last chance, my little dragonet. All you have to do is submit, just a little, and I can make it stop. This is the last infusion before your DNA will change permanently. Let me help you.”
Isabella lifted a disgusted lip at him, baring her teeth. Russell Walker had called her his dragonet from the very first day she stepped foot into the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility two years ago. A Japanese chick with spunk. The jackass didn’t even take the time to come up with just a little creativity.
He leaned forward just a bit, as if he had somehow determined she would finally give in to his advances.
“Walker,” she warned with a stern edge in her voice. “Do I really need to remind you of the last time you tried to put your filthy mouth on me?”
She clicked her teeth together and he immediately tensed. The warden took a step back as he rubbed the scar that marred his upper lip. A smug grin swept across her face as she recalled the way his eyes widened to the size of saucers when she bit down on him, her teeth sinking completely through his flesh.
Isabella had little doubt that if he were to remember anything about her once she was gone, it would be that she was the first and only inmate to send the infamous Richard Walker to the infirmary.
He heaved out a heavy sigh, sinking the weight of his fat stomach even lower. “You’re going to wish you had decided differently. You have my word on that.”
She lifted her chin, once again offering him the defiant silence she knew infuriated him. As much as he tried to hide it, his flexing jaw revealed her victory. He turned on his heels and took long, hurried strides across the room. The metal door clanked and creaked as he unlatched the lock and swung it open.
The squeaking of Patsy’s sneakers followed. She wore her fiery red hair pulled back this time. Usually she let the curls fall to frame her chubby face. She wore the standard blue scrubs along with her familiar plastered on apologetic smile that told Isabella she wanted nothing more than to tell the girl everything would be all right.
Of course, she wouldn’t. Isabella couldn’t even imagine her telling such a lie with a straight face.
“How are you feeling today, Isabella?” she asked as she pushed her glasses to the bridge of her nose.
“Fine,” she answered simply.
“No changes in your sleeping patterns?”
“No.”
Patsy creased her forehead, observing her a moment before tilting Isabella’s head back to shine a light in her eyes. “What about your appetite? Have you been any hungrier than usual?”
“Or in my sexual urges,” Isabella announced before it could be asked. “Everything is the same as the last time I was here, Patsy.”
“Hm.” She tapped her index finger against her lips. “Mr. Walker, I think we should let Doctor Conley examine her before we—”
“Like hell,” he shouted before she could finish the suggestion.
“Sir, please be reasonable. Every other host has exhibited at least subtle signs of the mutation after just the first injection, and this will be Isabella’s final dose. She should be all but changed by this point. Perhaps there’s something unusual in her genes that’s blocking the change from occurring. If there’s even a small possibility she is immune, he’s going to want to know.”
“He’s going to get his hands on her soon enough. What difference will it make if it’s before or after the final shot?”
“Could you imagine the implications? The idea that someone could be immune has never even been considered. Doctor Conley is going to want to—”
Walker threw is his hand in the air, his face turning crimson with rage. “This is my prison, Patsy. You work for me, not Doctor Conley. Understood?”
She opened her mouth to protest, but closed it again just as quick. Even his employees were trained not to provoke the beast. “Yes, Mr. Walker.”
“Then,” he jerked his head in the detained inmate’s direction, “proceed.”
“All right.” Patsy gave a curt nod before she pulled a rolling stool to Isabella’s side and sat on it. “Isabella, I need to prepare you for what you are about to experience.”
The girl swallowed the lump that had found its way lodged in her throat. Patsy had probably injected her a dozen times, and each stick was more painful than the last. The last time, her whole body wracked with burning spasms, sending her into seizure-like convulsions until she passed out from the pain.
Isabella didn’t know what the serum was supposed to do to her, but whatever it was, it clearly it wasn’t working. She was going through all this for nothing. Her pride wouldn’t let her ask to see this Doctor Conley—whoever he was. If she did ask, Walker would know she was afraid. He wouldn’t get that satisfaction.
Still, a split second of weakness had her considering the warden’s offer; she was sure if she begged him to reconsider, he would stop this whole thing. If she promised to comply with his rules, if she agreed to show him a little respect in front of the other inmates, maybe even threw him a wink every now and again . . .
No. She wouldn’t let him win.
She sucked in a deep breath, and paid close attention to what Patsy was telling her, preparing for the worst.
“You’ll quite likely fall unconscious in a matter of moments once I’ve administered the shot,” the nurse explained. “The pain will be excruciating.”
Isabella’s face went numb as blood drained from her cheeks. Patsy wasn’t going to sugarcoat shit for her. As her heart rattled against her ribcage, Isabella fixated on the reflection of her orange jump suit in Patsy’s glasses. A simple distraction to keep from shaking.
“When you wake up you can expect to feel some muscle aches and nausea, that’s normal. If all goes according to plan, there will be some other . . . less familiar side effects.”
“Such as?”
“You’ll notice some physiological changes. Your heart rate will likely be much higher than normal, which means you’ll feel hotter. Your vision will be sharper, as will your sense of smell.”
“Are you trying to tell me I’m going to turn into a dog?”
Patsy leaned back in her chair, trying to create a space of indifferent distance between them. “I can’t say what you’ll turn into. A beast of some sort, but I don’t know how your body will morph under this particular strain of the virus. Everyone’s DNA seems to react differently.”
“A virus?” Isabella’s eyes grew wide. “You’ve been injecting me with a virus?”
The nurse swallowed hard, banishing her guilt down into her gut where it was sure t