Reclaimed (Shadow Beast Shifters, #2)(37)

Angel already had her weapons in hand, and while her expression remained calm, it was the look in her eyes that told me she was slipping into a mental place to which all warriors went before they fought. “Need me to scout ahead?” she asked.

Shadow shook his head. “No more flying. They’ll spot you from a mile away.”

Angel was on her feet in the next instant. “Well, I’m not hiding here in the shadows.” She arched her eyebrow at him, and it was clear that she had just about had enough of our clandestine journey across the realm.

Shadow rumbled, picking up on her choice of words. “Are you calling me a coward?”

She leaned forward. “You’ve waited an eternity for this revenge, and I feel like you could have taken us straight into the compound. Only you’ve chosen this route!”

They weren’t exactly shouting, but we were going to draw attention soon if they continued.

“Yes, I’ve had an eternity, and that means I won’t barge into a situation and get us all killed. Every day that I’m here, I grow stronger. Not to mention, the element of surprise is what will give us an advantage.”

Angel bristled. “Excuses, Shadow. With this attitude, you will not best your family. We need the warrior, not the scholar.”

She was being somewhat unfair… Shadow was cautious, and since I was personally not a fan of getting killed before we’d even had a chance to fight, I was all for it. It made sense that with his sister on alert from the doorway opening, he’d be careful in his approach.

“What’s your plan then?” he asked her, and I could feel the heat off his skin. I wasn’t even that close to him, so that meant he was getting pissed. “We just fight our way through? What about Mera? She’ll be in danger.”

That was the point I realized that he had been extra cautious because of me. The weak link. Fuck. Now I was the pissed off one.

My wolf rose, scratching at my chest. I hadn’t been prepared for her push this time, though, too focused on their fight. When she surged to the surface, a choked howl spilled from my lips… and I was shifting.

Shadow felt the moment the change took hold; he was the shifter god, after all. His flames burst to life as he dove for me, but he was a second too late for the wolf, who was finally free.

Free to frolic in the mists of her land.

I was shoved so far back that I blacked out and lost consciousness for a brief second, giving her complete control in a way that she’d only had for the first few minutes of our first shift.

There was nothing I could do to stop her as she sprinted right for the guards. She tipped our head back, power threaded through us in a blaze of heat, and it was clear our beast form was on fire, scorch marks scarring the land around us. Not just scorch marks, but the grass was alight, and whatever this flora was made of, it liked to burn, a veritable blaze building behind us.

My wolf didn’t stop, her power overflowing and spilling into the land, so when she howled, it was the same power-filled ballad that had knocked the Torma wolves down the first time I’d used it. The guard came to attention, but it wasn’t me they stared at.

It was their creatures.

My wolf called them, the dozens upon dozens of shadow creatures. In our monochromatic vision, it was hard to tell if we knew what they all were, but we did recognize some of them.

They converged on me, and I braced myself for an attack, but all they did was fall in beside me. The fire burned a few of them, but the others adapted and ran a little ahead of my blaze.

Stop, I begged my wolf, finally regaining some control in this situation.

Free.

She was free, and she was not giving it up. At least not yet.

The line of guards scattered, shouting and screaming in a tongue I did not understand, and it allowed me to leave the grassy field that I’d probably destroyed with my actions. I was almost into the town—one of the closest towns to the compound, according to Shadow.

We had to go through it to get to the royals, and that was apparently what my wolf was doing. As I stepped onto a paved path, there was nothing for me to burn, so I was just a flaming wolf—my hair color made a lot more sense now. I wasn’t a sunrise. I was a forest fire.

Stalking into the town, the shadow creatures stayed with me and all I could hear were screams and the sound of running as everyone bailed. My wolf didn’t care, stalking through their city like a devil in disguise. Watch out, Shadow, we were coming for your job.

“Mera!”

I heard his roar. My wolf even paused. Shadow stopped her like I hadn’t been able to, and that was… curious. Clearly, he was still alpha to us, but despite making her pause, he was too far away to bind her completely. She continued in a fast sprint, dodging through the houses, setting some of them on fire as we went.

Dammit.

This plan of hers was absolute bullshit. I would never destroy homes in this manner, but this was beyond my control. The fire wolf was in charge, and she gave zero fucks.

When we were deep into the village, approaching what felt like the center, a figure stepped out into our path. A tall, brown-skinned male, with no hair visible anywhere, his chest bare, as he wore only leather pants. Across his skin were dancing tattoos. Definitely a royal.

He shouted to me, but it was not in a language I understood. Obviously. Shadow and Angel knew English from their many years on Earth; they spoke about a billion languages. I was the only moron with just one up my sleeve.