Reclaimed (Shadow Beast Shifters, #2)(60)

“You will show her respect,” the furred being said, looking at Shadow, since he didn’t know I could understand their language.

Flames shot up around us, and the pungent scent of singed hair filled the room. When the fire had finally cleared, I bit my lip to stop the burst of laughter from escaping. One side of Cat-man’s head was now completely bald, and with his mouth slightly ajar, he was clearly trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.

Shadow wasn’t amused as he reached out and wrapped his huge hand around the throat of the feline being. Signature move there if he had one. “If you don’t want me to destroy the fucking foundation of your world, you will do well to remember who I am.”

The cat nodded, a wide-eyed look on his face. Shadow held on a beat longer before he released him. Cat-man dashed from the room without another look in our direction. We followed to find that on the other side of the doorway was a corridor. We walked over white floors, so shiny I could see a perfect reflection of Shadow and me; he was still surrounded in flames, and for a second, I thought I was as well, only to realize it was my hair, floating around my body, longer and thicker than I’d ever seen before. It was almost past my waist and a cut wouldn’t have gone astray, but then again, from this view, it was actually pretty cool.

Like having a permanent flame surrounding me at all times.

Once I pulled my attention from the floor, I looked ahead to see what was at the end of this pathway between rooms. Only there was nothing but shiny white walls ahead, and this place was reminding me of…

“This is like the Earth hallway,” I said, looking around. There were no doors, but everything else was almost the exact same.

He didn’t get a chance to reply, as a white-haired woman who clearly held no animal side, stepped into view. She wore a long, silver robe and had an absolutely stunning blue-and-silver crown perched on her head. Whoa. This lady was six and half feet of perfect ice queen.

“Ixana,” Shadow breathed, and my heart about dropped out of my chest.

Holy fuck. It all made sense now; why we’d been pulled from Kristoff’s.

And we’d been very wrong about one thing: the queen didn’t want me at all.

She wanted Shadow.

Her true mate.





29





Shadow and Ixana took what felt like sixty hours to stare at each other, both of them seemingly stunned and broken at finally finding the other. Meanwhile, I was standing there like the awkward third wheel.

An awkward third wheel who was possibly having a minor heart attack because why was my chest hurting so badly?

Ixana stepped closer, breaking the silent stare-off. “I have waited ten lifetimes to see you again,” she said, her voice light and musical to match the cadence of their language. “Darkor. You… haven’t changed a bit.”

Shadow’s face darkened as he crossed his arms and made no move to close the gap between them. “Ixana. You… have changed a lot.” He appeared to have recovered from his initial shock. “Why am I here? Why did you drag me from my set path?”

Ixana didn’t take offense, and I was surprised because I had the urge to punch Shadow on her behalf. No doubt this was a trigger for me, true mate rejection. Shadow was stepping into dangerous territory with his current tone and demeanor.

He clearly wasn’t excited to see her. Why, though?

“I think we need to have a discussion,” she finally said, her movements slowing. I took another long second to really look at her, noting that not only was she tall and willowy, her white hair was almost to her ankles, tied back in a thick and intricate braid that she wore down one shoulder. Her eyes were an icy blue, her skin so pale, she was almost blue as well, and in her hand she carried a long, slender staff that looked to be made of crystal, with a navy pigment through the carved, translucent handle. Atop this was a deep, almost ruby red stone. A color that was super out of place in this setting.

“Come,” Ixana said, turning and waving us over. Her white robe trailed out behind her, showcasing what looked like a million glittering crystals sewn into its length.

Looking all regal and queenly and shit. But she wasn’t wearing clothes specifically chosen by the Shadow Beast, and it showed.

We followed her out of the white hall and into what looked like a receiving chamber, with a platform and ornate throne chair perched upon it. On either side of the room were her guards, all animal-people hybrids. They bowed as she crossed through the middle of them, and she was most definitely the queen here.

Two burly guards in black pants, furred chests on display, waited near her throne. They approached her as she walked, falling in on either side of their queen. They were huge and looked a little like bulls, with dark, thick, and coarse fur. The humanoid mix in their facial features was odd, especially with the tusks on either side of their mouths, but somehow it worked for them. The spear-like weapons they carried, were the same ivory color as the two huge horns out the top of their furred heads.

It seemed that these two were her personal guard and I totally understood why; they were scary motherfuckers.

Shadow moved, jolting me from my observation of everything in the room. Forcing me to once again focus on the fact that he had a mate.

Sure, I’d known in theory, but seeing it in person was a new kind of hell. And even with their first meeting more awkward than either might have expected, I knew it was only a matter of time before the magic of that bond eased the tension and got them back where they’d once been.