Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters, #1)(20)

Not that the last ten years were his fault alone. The pack could have taken a different approach, a more logical one that didn’t punish innocent shifters for the actions of one individual. Jaxson, especially, I’d expected better from.

This moment hurt.

And the memories of tonight would haunt me for years, but I couldn’t make myself leave.

Jaxson’s wolf and mine played for hours, frolicking like they were old friends. Technically, they were, but they were now enemies, and that was what we needed to remember above all else.

Pack. My wolf whined at me.

No, I reminded her. Pack does not attack pack. They hate us.

Finally free of her confines, she had temporarily forgotten the last ten years, caught up in the heady sensation of running free and being with her pack. To her, the wolves had never been an issue; it was the human sides that caused all the drama.

I let her have this moment, and in all honesty, both of us enjoyed it.

When the moon finally lost its luster, the early light of day creeping across the pack lands, we felt the call of the alpha, yanking on the bonds that tied us to this pack, and to that sociopath.

Fuck! We’d forgotten about escaping and now it was too late to try. Now they would be keeping an eye on me, so I would have to bide my time.

Next shift for sure.

My wolf was fatigued as we jogged with the others back toward the pack house, and it was only when the alpha came into sight that I remembered one more chilling fact: he’d said he was going to bond me to him in a way that would ensure I could never escape.

And I’d spent my only chance at escaping running with a bastard who had turned his back on me at the first sign of drama. Why was I so fucking stupid?

My wolf didn’t understand the issue. She figured we were strong enough to get away at any point, but fuck… They’d tracked me down once already, and that had been before the bonds were as secure as they are now. If the alpha tied us even closer together…

We’d be prisoners forever.

I turned my head, but Jaxson was right up my ass; there was absolutely no way for me to escape.

My heart pounded hard, more of the wolf fading as we approached the alpha. He was back in human form, naked, waiting for us. More wolves were here now—a lot of the pack had joined the run tonight. I couldn’t see Dannie, but I hoped she was out there somewhere. I needed an ally.

As my wolf joined the others, a dark grey wolf sprinted to the alpha’s side and started to shift. My wolf surged forward toward him as my insides burst to life, sparks firing along all my senses. The intensity almost sent me to the ground.

There was no way to stop my beast as she sprinted for the grey wolf.

The alpha’s son.

Our true mate.





12

Torin hadn’t quite shifted to his human form yet, and just as the magic was about to wash over him, he must have scented us. True mates only had to be shifted and near the other for their wolves to recognize the mate bond.

I had lost complete control of my beast now as we ran faster than the wind, our souls desperately searching for the one who would make us complete. The one who would right the wrongs this pack had bestowed upon us.

If I’d have been in my right mind, I’d have been disgusted at this sentiment. I was not the type to wait around for a white fucking knight. No way. But wolves did not think like humans, and mate bonds were sacred and revered… cherished.

It was the human side that screwed with the magic.

Victor seemed taken aback as we dashed toward him, and I saw his stance adjust as he prepared to be attacked. He thought we were just like our father, but he couldn’t be more wrong.

When I sidestepped him and headed for his still wolfed-out son, the expression on the alpha’s face was almost comical. Torin, meanwhile, had his hackles up, and that was my first indication this was not going to go well.

Not a huge surprise to me, even if my wolf held more faith.

My emotions were mixed, strongly leaning toward disbelief, disgust, and annoyance, but there was also the tiniest bit of hope. Hope that this might be the moment everything changed for me in this pack.

Torin would be the future alpha. He would control all the wolves, and if I was his true mate, they would have to learn to tolerate me. My father’s sins might finally not be mine to shoulder.

He straightened as I closed in, his wolf almost double the size of mine, and a grey so dark, it was near black. There were a few speckles of white on his right eye and two white socks on his back paws, but otherwise, he was a midnight beast.

A magnificent midnight beast who was showing no signs of ill effect from the blade I’d plunged into his chest.

Torin took a step toward me, but before we touched, another wolf jumped between us, snarling and howling. I didn’t know this one, but from the thick, mahogany pelt, it wasn’t too hard to guess.

The fur color teamed with an aggressive possessiveness of Torin made it clear who faced me: Sisily.

And she was pissed.

Her wolf slammed into mine, and unlike Jaxson, this roll had nothing to do with play. It was pure violence, claws and teeth tearing into me with a ferocity that spoke of more than putting me in my place. This was purely designed to hurt… maybe even kill.

I had zero experience fighting in wolf form, but instinct kicked in, and we fought back. My jaws clamped down into her flesh and, since she wasn’t as accustomed to pain as I was, she let out a series of yelping howls. Blood filled my mouth, and I could taste her power as it drained from her body and into mine. It was the oddest sensation, but I was so caught up in the battle that I didn’t care.