Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters, #1)(101)

Her mouth was ajar, her eyes as wide as saucers as she silently stared at me. “You’re in love with the Shadow Beast?” she finally choked out. “The demon of our nightmares? The god who created shifters?” Leaning over, she placed a hand on my forehead to check for a temperature.

With a chuckle, I gently waved her off. “I’m not in love with him. That would be the height of fucking stupid. But I do need to finish this task.”

She screwed her nose up. “Surely, he can’t need you for anything. I mean, I don’t blame you for wanting to stick around, girl. According to the members of the pack who saw him, he’s about the sexiest thing on two legs that this world has ever seen.”

“Not just this world,” I muttered, irrationally annoyed that others had been discussing him that way.

Simone paled. “I don’t want to know. I’m barely wrapping my head around the fact that you’re finally here. Alive. After this long.”

My smile was genuine, and it felt weird to actually have a moment of happiness, while the rest of me was in a mini-panic over what had happened to Shadow and library…

Turning to Simone, I lowered my voice. “Do you have any idea what they did to get me away from Shadow? They used some sort of powder.”

Simone looked around quickly, her gaze darting left and right before she scooted even closer and whispered as fast as she could. “I know nothing for sure. They keep me out of discussions because I’ve shown time and again I’m Team Mera. But it has something to do with Dannie. They were holding her for ages, and I tried to break in and help her, but by the time I figured out a way through their guards, she was gone.” Her voice wavered as she breathed rapidly. “There was blood everywhere, though, Mera. So much blood that I’m not sure even a shifter could have survived.”

Everything stilled around me as white noise filled my head. Shadow had said Dannie had escaped, but from what Simone had seen…

She had not escaped unscathed.





55

Simone held on to me while I had my mini-breakdown, and when I was done, I got to my feet, my wolf raging in my chest. In normal circumstances, after a run, she would have been tired, but the news of Dannie being hurt at the hands of this pack had us both ready to try round two of murdering their asses.

The only thing holding me back was the fact that if I pushed them too far today, they might kill me, and I couldn’t let that happen before I knew Shadow and the library were okay. Not to mention everyone else in the Solaris System I’d grown quite fond of.

Simone jumped to her feet, energy animating her face as she nodded. Whatever she’d been mulling in her head, she’d come to a conclusion, and was now ready to share her plan.

Leaning close to my ear, she acted like she was hugging me again. “There’s a secret pack meeting tonight for enforcers and the top pack members,” she whispered. “I think it’s going to be about you and everything that happened. I didn’t want to tell you because I’m scared you’re going to get yourself killed fighting them, but we definitely have to figure out what they did.”

I clutched her shirt, holding on to her. “Yes. I need to get to that meeting. Maybe just give me the coordinates, and you can stay home, where it’s safe…”

She shook her head, pulling back from me. “Not a fucking chance, bitch. I’ll be at your side, just like I should have been when you were taken.”

I grimaced. “Did you not hear what Shadow did to Alpha Victor? He’s absolutely ruthless and without mercy when he’s angry. If you got in his way, you’d have done nothing other than die. And if you’d done that for me, I would have been so angry that at least two lifetimes would have had to pass before I’d forgive you.”

Her eyes sprinkled with tears as she shook her head again. “When I realized you’d run from Torma just before your shift, I blamed myself. If I’d been a more supportive friend, I’d have been with you.”

I swallowed as my eyes burned. “I’m so sorry for leaving like that, girl. Especially after telling you I wouldn’t.”

Her voice was fierce as she shook me a little. “It wasn’t your fault. I’ve had a lot of time to think about… well, everything. You lived through hell, and I did nothing to help. Not really.”

That wasn’t remotely true. Her love and support had definitely saved my life more than once.

Simone continued before I could. “When you were taken by Shadow Beast, I promised that if you ever returned to me, I’d never let you go. I can’t break that promise… please don’t make me.”

Our gazes were locked for what felt like an eternity, and eventually, I nodded, seeing in her face the same determination I’d seen in my own for years. In truth, me making decisions for her was just as bad as Shadow doing it for me. I was no stronger or smarter than Simone, and as long as she knew all the risks, it wasn’t my job to stand in her way.

“Okay. Just be aware that I’ve almost died twenty times since I was taken from here,” I told her.

“If you’re okay with living on the edge of death, I won’t stand in your way.”

She scoffed. “We’ve got this. Pretty sure being in Torma is living on the devil’s gate anyway.”

There was a pause, and we chuckled.

“I’ve literally been living with the devil,” I snorted.