Reborn (Shadow Beast Shifter, #3)(106)

As much as it hurt me to let her go, Angel was a grown-ass warrior who definitely didn’t need a babysitter. “Okay, friend,” I said, wrapping my arms around her. “We’ll meet you back here for the big celebration dinner, right?”

She smiled, and it was more real and more content than any smile I’d ever seen from her. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything.” A secret twinkle hit her eye, but before I could press her to reveal her thoughts, the rest of our friends pushed closer.

“We’ll keep the system running until you get back,” Reece said, slapping his hand on Shadow’s shoulder in a manly gesture of friendship before he leaned down and kissed my cheek. Lucien, Alistair, and Galleli all did the same before each of them disappeared into the library.

When it was just Shadow and I, he led us through the bowing and cheering crowds. No one touched us, of course, as they still feared the beast in charge, so we had a clear—and noisy—run toward the hallway to Earth.

“Do you think Len and the mists are okay?” I asked, worried that they weren’t here waiting for us.

“They’re fine,” he assured me. “Inky got a message through saying they’re staying a little longer until all the securities were in place.”

“Oh, fuck,” I said quickly, the word “message” reminding me that I’d lost the parchment I was supposed to use to communicate with Simone. Not to mention the stone Len had given me to protect my mind.

When I told Shadow, he just laughed. “You died, Sunshine. You were lucky to keep your life. Don’t worry about the other parts.” He pressed lingering kisses to my cheeks and down my face, and I forgot everything but the taste of my mate.

Somehow when his lips hit mine, the world went silent and cool, and I knew we’d entered the white hallway. Finally alone after being surrounded for so long by others. “I missed you,” I said stupidly, since we’d never really been apart.

Outside of that dying thing.

“You’ll never need to miss me again,” he promised. “We’ve paved the path to our future, and it’s bright, Sunshine.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, I caught that cute play on words.”

Shadow grumbled before he dragged me along the hallway. “Just like old times,” I said with a sigh.

He didn’t bother to reply, but he did throw me over his shoulder, sending my heart into a racing pace. He was recreating our first memory together. The moment my life had changed.

Through Shadow, I had found a true mate, and a true pack in Angel, Simone, and the rest of our merry band of assholes.

“I almost feel bad that I’m heading into Torma to strip the pack away from their lands,” I said to Shadow, resting against him and enjoying the sensation of my body jolting against his. “Torin’s rejection is what set this all in motion, giving me the best fucking life, while he’s still a sad sack of dog balls.”

“My vote is to kill him,” Shadow said with a shrug, lifting me higher. “But out of respect to you, and your right to enact punishment over them, I’ll accept whatever decision you make.”

Leaning back, I wrapped my arms around his neck in an awkward hug. “You’re so sweet, mate. And while some of them deserve death, it just feels so limited. They’d suffer for a minute, maybe less. What a waste.”

Shadow’s shoulder lifted again as he chuckled. “Oh, sweet Mera. I can show you ways to drag their suffering out for as long as you need to.”

I joined him in laughter, wondering if we might not both be a little psychotic these days. In truth, when had either of us ever been normal? Normal was overrated, and while I might not hold the same bloodthirsty streak as Shadow, I also wasn’t letting Torma get away with their sins any longer.

“I think I’ve decided,” I said softly, and like a true mate, he didn’t ask me what it was, just accepted that when the time came, he’d be at my side to inflict this punishment.





59





Torma looked exactly the same as the last time I’d been there, but somehow, it was also vastly different. Maybe it was that I had changed and now looked at it with a different perspective, turned what had once been a beautiful and strong mountain community, into one that was rather tired and outdated.

The alphas had not been keeping the town or pack as they should have been. Money went into the pack house and lands, with little returning to build up everything else. I’d always known the school was a pile of crap that needed to be demolished, but I hadn’t really seen it everywhere else. No doubt because most of the time, my focus had been on hiding and surviving.

I was seeing it all with new eyes today, and I was determined that this time, Torma would change for the better. If it was the last thing I did.

As Shadow and I stepped into the pack lands for what would probably be the last time, my power spilled from me, washing across my form until I was over six-feet of badass winged wolf-phoenix. Shadow followed my lead, his Anubis beast form making an appearance, and I had no idea what the shifters thought when we strolled into the main street, the ground literally trembling beneath our feet.

Did we look like gods to them? Their awed and fearful expressions said yes.

One could grow addicted to that sort of power, if one hadn’t seen firsthand what craving power could do to a being. I would never be Dannie. I refused. Thank the gods for my friends and family, who would keep me in check if I ever lost sight of that.