Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters, #1)(60)

I wasn’t so stupidly na?ve that I was unaware of Shadow and his greater plan at work here. He told me next to nothing about his actions behind the scenes, and whatever he was planning, it involved me. In a way I would probably not like.

He’d said he needed me to subdue the shadow creatures, and that was the reason I was still here and going out with him, but I was almost certain that was bullshit. He didn’t need me. He’d subdued and caged them basically on his own both times.

He was keeping me for another reason, and I needed more information to figure this shit out if I had even the smallest hope of surviving.

For this dinner, I didn’t bother dressing in a sexy cocktail number, instead pulling on leather pants, knee-high black boots with a decent heel to shoot my height up among the giants, and a skin-tight white tank that I covered with a short, black leather jacket. Damn, I was going to miss this closet more than anything when I left this place. Maybe I could take it and the lair with me because they were both the stuff of dreams.

I was alone when I stepped out of my room; even Inky was making itself sparse these days.

Shadow was “trusting” me a lot more, and it felt like a trap I was about to get caught in. I also kinda missed the smoke blob, too. Especially when I had no idea where the dinner was.

“What are you doing, Sunshine?”

I didn’t jump because I was too cool for that shit. Especially in front of Shadow.

Hopefully, he couldn’t hear my heart pounding like a damn drum in my chest.

“Len invited me to your dinner,” I said shortly.

He replaced the books in his private shelves, turning as his gaze slowly caressed every leather-clad inch of my body. “And you’re dressed like that?”

It was impossible to tell what he meant by that, because his tone and facial expression gave me no context to go with those words. At a guess, he didn’t seem impressed, but you know what…

“Fuck you, buddy. No one dictates what I wear, and I’m a sight more covered than I was the last time you invited me to dinner.”

His jaw twitched, eyes blazing, but he didn’t push the subject. “Have you figured out how to touch the Shadow Realm?”

I swallowed hard. “I mean, you still want me to do that?”

Flames licked across his arms and I was surprised at how long it had been since I’d seen this sort of irritation in his expression. “Yes, I damn well want you to figure it out. This is legitimately your only task over the next few days while I track the next shadow creature.”

I crossed my arms. “I have no idea how I did it! Like, not a single fucking clue. My soul was broken, my heart aching, and I was being attacked. Unless we can replicate that…”

He grabbed the edge of my leather jacket, using it and it alone to hoist me up in the air so our faces were mere inches apart. His face that was eight freaking feet from the ground. “If I have to replicate the worst moment of your life, Sunshine, I will fucking do it. All day, every single day.

There’s nothing more important than discovering how to… return the creatures to the realm.”

He’d changed track last minute on that sentence. We were back to his cover story of “needing to return the shadow creatures.” Not that they weren’t important, no doubt they were, but there was something more. Something that had to do with the reason his realm was closed off.

“You’ve had enough time to settle in here,” he said harshly. “I’ve given you more leeway than I would any other in my custody. Don’t push me further, and never forget that I own you, wolf. If I wanted, I could destroy you in a heartbeat.”

This was not the same Shadow who had taken me out to find the sprecker. That one had seemed lighter, open… like he’d been warming up to my presence. This Shadow was the scary fuckhead who’d stolen me from the Torma pack.

“I’ll add it to my to-do list,” I choked out before I kicked my legs, hoping he’d let me down.

Only he didn’t.

“Repeat the list to me.”

“Let me down, asshole,” I shot back.

He shook me, and the fucking strength this guy had was terrifying, but thankfully, so far, he wasn’t using it against me in any overt way. So far.

“List!”

Glaring with every fucking ounce of my glaring ability, I spat each word at him. “Figure. Out.

How. To Touch. The Shadow Realm.”

He yanked me closer, and I could feel all the hard lines of his body. Not that he seemed to notice how close we were; he was too busy demonstrating his power over me. “What else is on your list?

I blinked rapidly. “Why does that matter? As long as what you want is number one, surely, you don’t give a fuck about my other goals.”

A low, dark laugh. “Correct, but I also need to know what is distracting you.”

Shadow had reached the end of his patience, and it was growing abundantly clear I probably should have spent more than five seconds trying to figure out how I’d touched the Shadow Realm.

There was no give at all on the hard lines of his face; I was not getting out of here without obeying his will. With a huff, I told him the truth. “Learn about the ten worlds, read all the books in the library, discover your secrets, and lose my virginity so I’m not the only twenty-two-year-old shifter virgin in the world.”

An extended pause. “You’re aiming to fuck someone in the library?”