Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters, #1)(52)

she said, her face more relaxed than I’d ever seen. “I’m the last of my family line and will fly above to keep you safe.”

On instinct, I hugged her. Again, there had to be something wrong with me to keep doing this, but thankfully, Angel’s power didn’t shock me into a new reality. Our energies met and mingled, and I felt a buzz across my skin. It was both stimulating and soothing at the same time.

When I pulled back, I waited for her scowl to return, but instead, she looked upon me with wonder. “Unusual,” she murmured, but it was too late to ask more as I lost the battle with my beast.

A howl built in my throat until I threw my head back and released it to the world. There was only time to strip my clothes off before the change broke my bones and rebuilt me as a wolf. A very excited wolf who felt right at home in this land, prancing and yipping as she butted against Angel’s legs in a typical canine way.

We took off, racing through the light, fresh air. It was obviously different to Earth; we could even move faster, with far less fatigue. When I bounced high across the ground for the second time, Angel laughed.

“We have less gravity,” she shouted from above, her wings fully expanded as she stayed with me.

“Run like the wind, wolf walker.”

I did, and it was the best time I’d had in… as long as I could remember. Just me, my wolf, and a guardian angel above. I never did reach the end of her golden grassed field, and I never saw anything else in this land, not even a speckle in the saffron-hued sky.

When we were exhausted and the clawing need to run had faded, we flopped down, resting our head on our paws, allowing the dual nature of our minds to drift as we enjoyed this perfect temperature. After a short doze, we woke to find Angel sitting nearby, staring out into the distance. As always, she looked beautiful beyond this world, and… a little sad.

“Ready to return home, little wolf?” she asked when I lifted my head. “The beast will be raging, so it’s probably best we don’t annoy him any further.”

I nodded, getting back to my feet and following her as she opened a doorway into the library. Like Shadow, those with access seemed to be able to just open a doorway wherever they wanted.

She didn’t follow me through, and I glanced back to find her framed in the door, the glow of Honor Meadows behind her. “See you at lunch,” she said, and then the door was firmly closed.

Not feeling any great urge to return to my human form—and we’d forgotten our clothing anyway— I decided to give my wolf more time to stretch her legs. We padded through the shelves, going where instinct led, and it was nice until I caught sight of Inky up ahead, swelled almost to the size of one wall. It was still in “pissed off mode” and I had a sneaking suspicion I should lie low for a minute.

Give it and Shadow time to calm down.

Ducking my head, I darted through the first set of shelves, following the wall until I made it back to the front veil, exiting into the white hallway. My wolf was somewhat in control at the minute, and she had the urge to get back to Torin… to the one we were bonded through fate.

I, on the other hand, had no such fucking urge, but the wolf was leading the way.

Before we reached the point where you could step to Earth, a white door distracted us. Or my wolf, more accurately, since I was confused as fuck about what we were doing.

She pressed her nose against it, and without any effort, it sprang open. When we moved inside, it was dark, just the light from the doorway splashing through, but not enough for me to see deeper than a couple of feet.

We should leave.

My mental urge was ignored by the stubborn bitch that was my wolf, and as she stepped farther inside, I let my own curiosity have wings—seemed I didn’t really want to stop her anyway.

As we padded deeper into the room, the darkness cloaked us completely, and I knew we weren’t alone. I felt something hovering just out of sight, and it was only when a familiar bellow shattered the silence that everything became startlingly clear.

The abervoq. The shadow creature. My wolf had walked us right into its prison, and she was now beelining for it, head thrown back as she howled in return. What the actual fuck?

Our eyes adjusted enough that its large shape came into view, its limbs restrained by thick chains.

And still, the wolf padded closer without hesitation, and then, to my fucking shock, she lay down against the fur of the creature. The abervoq let out one final bellow, but it didn’t claw us to death.

Instead, a paw draped across us, almost protectively, and once again, safe from the wrath of the Shadow Beast, we slept.





29

The roars woke me.

No longer in my wolf form, my disorientation lasted a few seconds before the memories returned: running in Honor Meadows with Angel, running from Inky, and then hiding out…

I jerked up, or at least tried to, but there was a heavy furred arm draped over me, holding me in place. The abervoq! Fuck. Shit. Fuck! What the hell was my wolf thinking when she’d escaped right into this cell, and… how was I not dead?

The arm stirred, lifting enough that I could roll out from under it. Stumbling my way back toward the door, I eventually found the wall, groping across it for the exit. When I pulled it open, light filling the small space again, I let out a low shriek as Shadow stepped out of the, uh, shadows and made his presence known. “Oh, hi there,” I chattered, my nerves shot. “What’re you doing here?”