Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters, #1)(47)

One absolute truth of my time spent here—there was no way I could go back to buying my clothes off the rack.

With a final glance in the mirror, I smiled at my reflection. I seriously had to dress up more than once every twenty-plus years. Don’t get me wrong. Jeans, shirts, and mom buns were my jam, but there was something to be said about stepping into some glamour on occasion.

Tonight was my night.

Pulling on the matching heels that had been provided, I wobbled around for a minute before finding my balance. When I was ready, I left my room and entered the lair. It was fitting that a beast would have a “lair” and I wondered if there would come a point in which I’d get to see his real beast.

Did Shadow actually have a furrier side?

Walking toward the veil, I realized I had no idea where this dinner was being held. The only place for eating that I knew of was in the hall, and I doubted that was what Shadow had meant when he’d had Gaster demand my presence at dinner. Especially not with the style of clothing I’d been provided.

When I neared the fireplace, I heard a deep burst of laughter and about died. My hand dropped to my stomach, trying to calm what felt like a thousand butterflies having a rave. Laughter?

I’d never heard Shadow actually laugh, not in an open and relaxed manner like that. It was disarming, and enticing, and completely unnerving. Who was with him causing this sort of happiness?

Unable to help myself, curiosity hammering in my chest, my stomach still a mess, I moved forward, my heels clicking on the wood floors as I walked. The heat of the fire reached me first, every one of my senses expanded to try to pick up a new scent or unnatural energy.

But there was nothing.

Whoever was with Shadow was as powerful as the beast himself, able to mask their power with ease. Inky wrapped around me suddenly, and I ground to a halt. “What?” I whispered. “Is it dangerous?”

I was released immediately, and before I had time to question it again, Shadow was looming before me. The warmth I’d thought was fire had actually been him. His presence had a liquid heat trailing down my spine to settle in my six-inch-heeled feet.

Shadow’s gaze was heavy, the gold in his eyes like a burst of sunshine, matching the burning flames of his power. “You’re late,” he said. How two words could sound so ominous, I had no idea.

“We don’t like to be kept waiting.”

I pasted on my broadest smile, praying the red lipstick wasn’t smeared on my teeth. “A woman is never late, Shadow. We arrive precisely when we mean to.”

Thank you, fictional character, for the perfect quote once again—I’d been waiting years to use that one. Shadow shook his head like he couldn’t for the life of him figure out what the fuck I was going on about.

So the usual with us.

“Wait, we?” I burst out. “Who is we?”

His teeth flashed in the low light of the nearby fire, and I had the distinct feeling I was about to be eaten by the big, bad wolf. “It’s time to figure out what you are, Sunshine. Outside of a pain in my ass, that is.”

I crossed my arms. “Look. Being a pain in the ass is my calling in life. I’m never going to stop, not even for you.”

His eyes drifted down to where my arms were firmly secured under my free-boobing tits. This position pushed them to new heights, and in a low-cut dress like this, my nipples were about to salute the world.

We both stared at the impressive display, and in all honesty, I felt no need to be shy and cover up.

My body was the only one I had, and I would wear that fucker with pride. She kept me strong and moving, and I was grateful every day I was still alive.

“So, gonna take me to dinner?” I finally said, cutting through the heavy tension.

Shadow’s focus returned to my face, his jaw a little more rigid, his eyes blazing. Both of which probably had nothing to do with my tits and everything to do with him being annoyed by my existence.

It wasn’t as if he’d noticed me in a sexual way before now, treating me more like I was a pet he had to temporarily keep alive.

That was made all the more obvious when he clicked his fingers for me to follow as he walked with Inky toward the couches. Couches that were not empty.

Swallowing down my shock, I halted on the edge of the fire’s glow, trying to take them all in. I’d expected there would be one guest—since he’d said we—but five males were seated around the fire, casually chatting, crystal glasses filled with a deep red liquid in their hands.

There was a low, hypnotic rumble filling the air as they talked, and I couldn’t understand a word of it. Their lyrical language swirled and surged in the oddest cadences, and I was desperate to know the words. Unlike the Library of Knowledge, though, here in the lair, there was no magical translation system. A true shame because whatever they were discussing had them super animated.

Even still, the simple act of staring at each of these truly spectacular specimens of the male species was probably more than enough entertainment for the night.

“She’s here,” Shadow said, and almost immediately, the others shut up and turned our way. “This is Mera, the shifter I was telling you about.”

Five sets of eyes landed on me, and in a less confident body, one would have melted to the floor at the intense level of power and sex appeal in a small area. Demure wasn’t my style, so I decided to just proceed as normal. “Where has Shadow been hiding you five?” I said, blatantly admiring each and every one of them…