Behind the world that many humans see, there is the culture and lives of shape shifters. Explorers and smugglers capture most of shifters population. With most of the rather small shifter population is enslaved, the owning of a shifter is a must have 'trend'. For the few,whom haven't already been taken, they must intergrade themselves into a society; that for the most part the shifters had ignored and avoided for many generations. The only way to find out who is a shifter; is if they transform in front of you, or if you see a birth mark somewhere on their body that representing their animal.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Nyoka must hide her serpent shifting abilities from her adopted parents, and the school in-which that she hates. Nyoka's brother, Draco, looks over her, tries to protect her, even if she doesn't want to be protected.
A human boy, Matthew, takes interest in Nyoka, and meddles in her life, then accidentally sees her shift. She must answer all his questions, and do what he saids so that he won't tell her secret.
See if Nyoka snaps or hisses when faced with all of these problems.
Ella is falling apart trying to live a "perfect" high school life. Then she meets Ren, who can see past her scars. Suddenly perfection isn't her only option.
*****
Ella Volkov is a gifted music student, but she's depressed and starting to crack under the pressure of high school. Her overbearing father won't even let her choose what instrument she plays. Then she finds herself alone at a party with Ren, her best friend's crush. She'd always thought he was rude, but after that night he's all Ella can think about. Now she's trapped. If Ella dates Ren, it will ruin her friendship with Jenny. But if she stays true to Jenny, she's losing the one person who can see past her scars. It's up to Ella to decide if she will forge her own path, or stay in the "perfect" box designed for her...
Content and/or Trigger Warning: depression, anxiety, self-harm, violence, sexual assault.
[[word count: 50,000-100,000 words]]