Bree's first memories were about her previous life in the modern world. In that life, she'd been stupid. She'd had all the modern conveniences a girl could ask for. She was your typical sorority girl on the surface. In reality, she was an awkward nerd who was dying of cancer and was hated by her parents. She was the perfect representation of her parent's lost pride. No one wanted to see that girl, that girl didn't have friends.
In the end, she was surrounded by a bunch of fake friends who took advantage of her at every turn. She knew that they didn't accept the real her, but the alternative was being alone for the rest of her pathetic life. In the end, death was due to being in the wrong place at the wrong time and not actually from cancer like her doctors had predicted. She had died by being ripped to shreds by guard dogs. Although it had been painful up until the moment she'd lost consciousness, somehow it had been morbidly satisfying, her life had ended so suddenly in an unexpected way. In some ways, it had been a relief to be over. She felt that she'd oddly cheated death.
In this life, she hoped to have a better future, but that seemed unlikely. In this world, all shifters are born from eggs no matter what type of shifter they are. For this reason, most shifters are compatible with having babies together if the pregnant female stays in their human form during the incubation process of pregnancy. All shifters grow to be quite larger than an animal that we would recognize on Earth. The biggest issue that new mothers face is if they've laid a female egg since they can easily become the target of theft. You can tell the difference between a female and a male egg because the female eggs will have a spotted pattern on their shell.
In the shifter world, there were dangerous meat-eating plants that lived in the forest and animals that looked similar to jellyfish, octopi, monstrous-looking creatures, large-scale covered creatures, and multi-limbed creatures. These were the types of foods that shifters typically ate. Unfortunately, some of the more aggressive clans ate weaker shifters too.
This was a world of survival of the fittest where the powerful ruled. Because of the barbaric and warlike society, they had evolved to give birth to a great deal more males than females. The different types of shifters went anywhere from one out of ten to one out of one hundred females. For this reason, any female was highly prized. The different clans would constantly fight over land and resources. Females were considered the most valuable resource. It was normal for females to be stolen away or sold.
If females refused to find at least two mates by the time they matured, they would be sold. You didn't want to be sold. Sold females were considered property and would get a mark of ownership on them. Because females were so expensive, they were usually bought by whole communities to be shared by unmated males.
There were also the nomadic tribes who plundered as they traveled. Not much was known about them or many other clans who kept to themselves.
Although this world valued females and seemed to treasure them openly, there was a dark side. You needed to create a strong home by contracting with powerful shifters. After contracting, they would receive your mark and become your champion. They would fight for your honor and provide for you. In return, you were expected to produce eggs.
Females were typically quite competitive and territorial. The stronger their champions, the better their resources. Clans typically had one queen female and her court. Every full moon, they would fight for the honor of having their female enter the queen's court. At the end of the queen's reign, she could choose a new queen from her court.
Different compatible species sometimes formed new clans together. While some species tended to stick with their own. However, the different species do have their customs which can become tricky. For instance, Bree was born as a bunny shifter and the common practice was to kick the newborn babies out on their own three weeks after they hatch.
So here she is, bouncing around like a roadside snack, while she's munching on bitter grass. What she wants is to eat a burger and have a hot shower. Thinking about all of the things she used to take for granted when she was a human just makes her feel sick enough to puke. Why did she have to retain all of the memories from her previous life? This is too cruel!
Although females were typically highly prized, the bunny shifters weren't known for being very maternal. Her 'mother' was currently already pregnant again and so couldn't be bothered with her last batch. Her mother's name is Beth and she was considered quite pretty in their Hollow Forest Clan. She looked like a pale-skinned petite woman with cute curves. She had long white hair, long hanging bunny ears, a cute little fluffy tail, and pink eyes. Her dad was also a bunny shifter, but his hair was dark brown, his eyes were gray, and he had light golden-brown skin. Their clan stuck to themselves and tried to hide the best they could because typically it was too dangerous for bunnies to live anywhere else. They lived in a hidden opening in the forest with huts built into hills.
Bree's fauna form had light brown and white fur and big light gray eyes. Her coloring took after her father, but she didn't know precisely what she would look like, because she wouldn't be able to shift for another six weeks. In the meantime, she was locked in a pen to stop her from randomly roaming around and getting eaten. Her brothers weren't so lucky, already five of the eleven brothers she'd been born with had wandered into the forest and hadn't come back.
Her mom wasn't the least bit concerned about her little bunnies, she was currently already pregnant with the next batch. Bunny shifters were well known to be excellent breeders. They could even get pregnant while they were already pregnant. Her mom had a total of twenty-five contracted mates, all bunny shifters. She was a bit of a selfish diva and so when she saw Bree's female egg, she thought money. Although female eggs were incredibly rare, it's not like she was in any hurry to create more competition for herself.
She'd prefer to make herself a great deal of money by selling her daughters off. She just had to be careful to not let the rest of the clan know what she was planning on doing or they would object. Six more weeks and Bree would be sold, right after she had her first shift. Beth was excited and jittery thinking about all the great things she would be able to buy after her daughter was sold. Bunny shifters weren't exactly the best providers, but she wasn't nearly brave enough to go after any other type of shifter. This was the best solution in her book.