Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters, #1)(48)

Wait... five? Shadow had told me he trusted five beings. Looked like I was about to meet Shadow’s friends. Lucky me.

All of them got to their feet, and as they moved closer, Shadow crowded into my back. I had no idea why he was so close to me, but I was too distracted to worry about his weird behavior.

The first one to approach was a good head over six feet tall, dressed in long, silver robes, adorned with what looked like real jewels of varying color and size. He had shoulder-length hair, and it was so icy white, that if snow drifted onto the strands, it would blend in.

In actuality, he was, in his entirety, built in shades of silver and light, with silvery eyes—more elongated and cat-like than a human’s—unnaturally glittering as they stared without blinking. He also had slightly pointed ears, the tapered peaks sticking out from the sides of his partly braided hair.

“I’m Len of the Silver Lands,” he said in perfect English, reaching out to me in the human gesture of shaking hands. The moment we touched, tingles of ice ran across my skin, his power surging into me. It didn’t hurt and wasn’t invasive enough for me to jerk away, but it felt like more than just a mere exchange of energy.

“Silver Lands,” I repeated, my hand still firmly in his grip.

He smiled, and it was how I imagined an archangel looked right before they cut someone’s head off in a vengeance quest. “Yes, I’m a prince of the silver providence in Faerie.”

Ah, right.

I decided to keep a tally.

Friend One: Len, the silver fae prince.

Len’s gaze was full of mischief and amusement as he released me, and I didn’t miss the way his gaze went straight to Shadow. Len shook his head minutely, and I was guessing that was his signal to the beast that he couldn’t read me, either.

Good.

Next up was Len’s complete opposite. Even taller, he was broad and powerful in every way, dressed in black leather pants and a long-sleeved bone-colored shirt. His dark hair was almost shaved to his head in an easy-to-manage style.

As he approached me, the very deep, dark blue of his eyes remained locked on my face, like he was trying to read me from afar, and I spent just as much time examining him because he was just so damn pretty to look at.

I mean, gods, he had eyelashes that one could see from outer-fucking-space.

“I’m Reece, from the Desert Lands.”

He didn’t touch me as Len had done, but he did stand close enough that we were all but touching.

Far too close for strangers, but for some reason, it didn’t bother me. Tilting my head back, I tried not to sound breathless. “Desert Lands, hey? Let me guess… you’re a prince as well?”

Reece didn’t smile. Something told me this guy smiled even less than Shadow, and why was I so into these dark and damaged assholes?

“He’s a deity,” Len piped up from where he’d seated himself again. “Competes with our Shadow in power. And broodiness.”

My lips twitched at that, and I already had Len slotted into the smartass friend category. Every group had one—the clown. And while that didn’t mesh at all with his regal looks, it fit his personality perfectly.

Friend two: Reece, the desert deity, was harder to categorize, but I had a sneaking suspicion he was the muscle.

The next one to approach was around six feet tall, with the most defined physique I’d ever seen on a man. Easy to tell since he was wearing the equivalent of male boxer briefs—and nothing else.

“I’m Alstair,” he said, his voice a whisper across my senses, like a casual breeze on a summer’s day.

I placed my hand in his, and it was cool in a different way to Len’s. Soothing, making my head spin as I was reminded of days by the creek.

“You’re from Karn,” I breathed.

Alstair nodded. “Yes.”

I shook my head. “You look nothing like the inhabitants I’ve seen from your world.”

Alstair was far from the androgynous figures I’d previously observed from the water world. And while his skin had a slight blue tinge to it, it was without the translucence of his brethren. His hair was my favorite part, though, a tangle of green and blue curls that sprang across his head. They matched his eyes, which were almost completely aqua, the smallest pupil dot in the center.

“I’m a warrior of my kind,” Alstair said softly, and once again the simple act of him speaking was calming. “A rare race who is born into their position, tasked with keeping our people safe.”

Friend three: Alstair, the water warrior.

The cool and calm in this hotheaded group.

“It’s very nice to meet you,” I said softly, adopting his manner unconsciously.

“And you,” he returned before he walked back to take his seat near Len. Reece hadn’t returned to the seats yet, and instead remained at Shadow’s side, the two giants in the room standing at my back, making sure I at no point felt completely relaxed.

I could feel Shadow’s eyes on me, watching and assessing as each one of his powerful friends approached me. It made sense that these would be his trusted friends, each of them strong and powerful. His equals… or almost.

The second-to-last was definitely from Honor Meadows, and his appearance answered my question about whether there were male figures there. And just like the females of his world, this male was a sight to behold.

Pure gold wings on his back, he wore a simple pair of black trousers, leaving the rest of his golden skin on show. His long, honey brown hair was braided in a thick and complexly interwoven style that no human could have achieved. And his eyes were so dark, it almost looked like his iris and pupil were one.