Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters, #1)(22)

My bare feet padded through the soft grass as I stepped over the wolves around me, careful not to disturb them. All I could think was a second perfect opportunity to escape had been handed to me, and I would not waste it this time.

I had to break this bond to the Torma pack.

To Torin. That fucking bastard.

Now that I was back in human form, I wished there was time to stab him again, followed by a swift decapitation. No coming back from that, even for a shifter. But for now, I’d just have to be satisfied with leaving my joke of a true mate—and never looking back.

By this time, the early morning light had really found its feet, and there was a bite to the sun that suggested today would be one of those “hot” winter days. Generally, those days were followed by a massive freeze, and we’d all wake up to patches of ice and snow.

Not that I’d be here to see it. My very naked ass was on its way out.

My wolf whined gently in my chest, a sad, mournful sound. She’d had such high hopes for the one who would share her soul, and maybe if Torin’s wolf had been in control, it would have been different. Wolves were honorable in ways humans were not.

My wolf whined again, but she didn’t try to enact her will over me. She accepted our fate. Too much hurt existed between Torin and me for it to ever be repaired, and I would die before allowing him to claim us.

He doesn’t want us.

I wasn’t sure who thought that, but it was the fucking truth, and I had to look down and make sure I didn’t have a blade in my chest this time.

Run!

The wolf snapped me out of my musing, and even though I’d been quietly creeping across the field as fast as I could without making noise, I’d missed one huge obstacle in my way: Torin.

He stepped out of the shadows… my mate.

Rejected mate, to be more accurate.

Torin must not have been as affected as everyone else by whatever I did, and he’d come straight for me the second he could. Speaking of, the others looked like they were twitching now too. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Torin bit out, his voice low and rumbly.

A growl spilled from my lips, more animalistic than I’d been able to manage before tonight. “I’m leaving,” I snarled. “To never return. You should be grateful.”

It was Torin’s turn to growl, and unfortunately, his was much more impressive. He stalked a few steps closer, the muscles of his arms and chest tense. Since he was naked, it was easy for me to see his dick start to harden, like he was reacting to me, despite the rejection of our bond.

Spinning, I took off in the opposite direction and got a decent distance away before he tackled me.

We wrestled, and not in the fun, naked way. Nope, this was about survival for me, and once again, I was thwarted by the superior physical strength of a male shifter.

If I survived all of this, I needed to develop some fighting skills that would even up the odds in a battle.

Torin hauled me up, his hands wrapped around my biceps as he held me in place. “You do nothing without my permission,” he rumbled. “I. Own. You.”

I kneed him in the balls, and whatever inflation had been in his dick would be long gone by the time he retrieved his testicles from his throat. Shifters were tough, but I had spared no power in that hit, and it was enough to knock him back, his hand cupping himself.

“You are dead to me,” I said quietly, not willing to expend any further emotion on him. “Don’t show your face before me again, or the next time I stab an object through your heart, it will be something that kills you.”

He lunged for me again, but I was already moving, sprinting across the field.

“Stop her!” Victor shouted, a rumble in his tone as he came fully awake.

I didn’t look back, pushing through my exhaustion. Footfalls sounded behind me, closer than I would have liked, and I picked up my pace, almost completely tapped out in energy.

“Sunny,” Jaxson hissed.

Fucker.

Somehow, I found a small reserve of strength, sprinting even faster. Jaxson let out a muttered expletive, the air making the slightest whoosh sound as he dove forward to tackle me. I’d been expecting it, though—Jaxson and Torin were so similar in their approach—and as I judged the direction of his attack, I sidestepped him.

My footing was sure and strong, despite fatigue, and I didn’t lose any time in my deflective move.

If being a shifter didn’t come with all this pack bullshit, I’d think it was the absolute best thing that had ever happened to me.

“Mera!” This bellow was from Torin, and I was legitimately getting whiplash from him. Why would someone who’d rejected their mate be so adamant that I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere?

There was no time to ponder that because the alpha must have decided that enough was enough, and as he jerked on the ties I had to his pack, my feet finally missed a step and I tumbled forward.

Motherfucker. I’d forgotten about the alpha control, and even though it was weak on me, it was enough to throw me off-balance.

As I pushed myself up, a heavy fist slammed into my temple, and everything went fuzzy and grey around the edges. Shifters packed a mean punch, and while I had no idea who’d hit me, the blow definitely knocked the reality out of me.

IT TOOK at least thirty minutes to heal a head injury, and by the time I was back in fighting form, I’d been taken into the pack house and chained to a bedpost. It was a reinforced metal post that looked unbreakable, even for shifters. My cuffs clanked against it as I jerked into awareness.