Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters, #1)(24)

He slammed into her, and she groaned, her eyes fluttering closed.

I was desperate to do the same; close my eyes and block my ears, but I refused to look away. All I had left at this point was my pride, and for sure, hell would freeze over before I gave him the satisfaction of seeing me rattled.

Forcing myself to relax, I breathed in and out, pretending for a moment I’d just skipped to a particularly boring porn video. In and out, slam that dick, stare at my face like he was memorizing it.

I held up two fingers. “My score is two out of ten,” I said without inflection. “And that’s only for Sisily’s moaning; she’s almost believable.”

Torin gritted his teeth, fucking her harder, and for the first time since he’d entered her, the bitch opened her eyes. Now both of them were staring into my ragged, tattered soul.

“Good thing you got that chlamydia problem sorted,” I said sweetly. “I’ve heard long term, it can —”

I didn’t get to finish my sentence because Torin had apparently had enough, tossing Sisily across the room so she all but landed at my feet. “Both of you, get the fuck out of my sight!” he roared.

He was the one who left, though, storming from the room, balls flapping in the breeze. Sisily got to her hands and knees, breath still panting from her mouth, and when she lifted her head to growl at me, I figured this was going to end very badly.

I’d been left alone with an unsatisfied wolf shifter. One who hated me. One who was in love with someone who wasn’t her true mate.

Oh, joy.





14

Sisily, true to nature, lunged forward, but while my hands were linked to the post, my feet were free as a daisy to kick her right in the gut. She’d been hellbent on revenge, her attack sloppy at best, giving me the perfect opening to hit her hard.

For the second time, she flew across Torin’s room, and when she got to her feet, she stood there shuddering like she’d almost lost control of her wolf and was about to shift.

New shifters couldn’t change on command yet; that would come with practice and control. But we could lose ourselves to the wolf if pushed far enough.

“I’m going to make sure he kills you.” She coughed, her smile brittle and broken, just like her words. “You’re nothing. He’s hated you for as many years as he’s loved me.” She had to swallow hard before continuing. “Make your peace with today. It’s the last you’ll have here.”

An expert at fake smiling, I managed to lift my hand high enough to flip her off. “If I have to choose between seeing your face again and death, well… I mean, that’s not even a choice.” I tilted my head back and shouted as loudly as I could. “Shadow Beast, get your ass over here and take my soul to the underworld.”

As our creator, we assumed he existed in the land where shifters go after death, and since Sisily was determined to send me to my maker today, I’d give her an extra hand.

She looked spooked for the first time. “What the fuck are you doing? You know better than to call him here.” She backed away, muttering something about a crazy-ass shifter and then she sprinted from the room.

Wow. If I’d known that was all it took to scare her away, I’d have tried to summon him long ago.

Just as I had that thought, a trickle of icy energy traced down my spine. Subtle at first, it was only enough to bring the fine hairs on my body to a stand. My wolf stirred, the first real energy she’d shown since our shift. We’d both been mourning and depressed, on the inside, at least.

What is it? I mentally asked, but she couldn’t really answer me. In this form, she was just instinct and I was the brains. A hush grew across the room, and with it came a sense of panic. Pressing down on me, urging me to run. It wasn’t a natural instinct. This was being exacted over me, like an alpha’s will. But it was so much stronger.

Yanking hard at my restraints, I fought harder than ever to get free, but the reinforced steel was unbreakable. Before my eyes, the light slithered from the room. There was no other way I could describe the event, but I would swear that was what happened.

The existing slivers of light were slowly replaced with darkness, like a candle being snuffed out.

What in the…? It was freaking midday, at the latest—far too early for nightfall.

And when had night ever fallen in mere seconds like that?

I stilled, and whatever noises had been in the pack house died off too. The only sound I could hear now was a dripping tap in a downstairs bathroom. Drip, drip, drip. A steady thud that was all that stood between me and total silence. The darkness was complete now, and even with shifter vision, I was having trouble seeing anything inside Torin’s room.

Was there a solar eclipse I hadn’t heard about?

Such an event was usually big news in the packs because it affected our shifter cycles. It was a stretch to think one just arrived without notice.

My breath puffed out as the air grew chilly.

Not good. My instincts were still screaming at me, even if that unnatural fear had thankfully faded to a manageable level.

Where the hell was everyone?

I jerked on my wrists again and again, until they were raw and bleeding. Healing kicked in pretty fast, and eventually, I stopped wasting my energy, focusing instead on my wolf. Calling her did nothing—either she was too exhausted or there was something extra in these cuffs weakening her.