Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters, #1)(75)

“You might kiss me against my will,” I spat at Torin. “You might touch and drag and hurt me.

You’ve always had more power than me, but the one thing you will never have is me submitting willingly to you. Just ask Shadow here. My independence is the part of me I hold above all else.”

“He kissed you against your will?” Shadow’s words were sharp, each syllable a figurative blade.

I swallowed roughly. “Yeah, he did. Twice. Just before you got to us, so I now owe him a broken nose or two.”

The heat soared around the beast, and I almost gasped as Torin dropped to his knees, screams ringing from him. Jerking my head up to see Shadow’s face, he was staring the alpha down with an impassive stare—flames in his eyes.

Holy. Fuck.

I knew exactly what was happening, having felt this particular power before, and while I would never feel sorry for Torin, I was the one who wanted to break this bastard.

“Shadow,” I said, placing my hand on his burning skin. “It’s fine. I can handle him.”

His chest rumbled, but he didn’t argue as he released Torin. The alpha dragged himself up to his feet, shoulders heaving as he shook off that pain. I waited for his attack, but he decided not to respond in the same manner, choosing a different path.

He held his hands out to me and took a shaky step forward. “Just come home with me, Mera,” he pleaded huskily, “and we can work out our dynamic. I know you’ve always wanted a welcome back into the pack, and now you have it. The alpha’s mate will never fear for her life.”

He had reached into my chest and yanked out my deepest, strongest desire. The wish I’d been making since I’d been a pre-teen. Since I’d lost my father. Since my world in Torma had imploded.

But despite his apparent sincerity, I knew the truth: he would control me for the power boost our bond brought.

“What about Sisily?” I asked with a derisive laugh.

“What about her?” he shot back just as fast. “She obeys her alpha, as all my wolves do, and whatever I decide works best for the three of us is what will happen.”

I lunged forward, prepared to murder this stupid fuck if it was the last thing I did. No one could miss what he’d just implied there, and if he thought he could start his own harem, then he was going to wake up with a blade in his chest. Again.

Torin and I went down in a tangle of limbs, and I shifted in the same instant, the pain almost negligent in my fury. My wolf wasted no time tearing into Torin’s throat, and at first the alpha didn’t fight me—my attack had taken him by surprise, but his survival instincts kicked in moments later as he too partly shifted. It was too late, though, with Shadow wading into the fight, and yanking me up and out of there before Torin could land a single bite.

“You’re a poor match for her,” the beast told the bloodied shifter. “And if you try to touch her again, I will forsake the power you provide to me and wipe your kind from this world.”

Torin spat out some blood as the visible gashes in his throat started to heal—unfortunately, I hadn’t hit anything too important. “You might claim her for now while you track your shadow creatures, but she’s not yours.” Torin showed no fear, and I honestly didn’t know where this bravery was coming from.

Shadow must have had the same thought, as the gold bled back into his eyes. “You have briefly demonstrated the reasons you were chosen as her mate, but it’s too little, too late.”

“Never,” Torin seethed. “If there’s anything else I’ve learned in the past year, it’s that only death is permanent.”

Shadow’s cynical laughter rang out as he turned, with my wolf still in his arms, and stepped toward the library portal. “You’ve put your death out into the universe, mutt. Let’s hope she doesn’t decide to take you up on that challenge.”

“I have your weakness, Shadow Beast,” Torin bellowed after us, finally managing to get to his feet, just as we vanished from sight and Earth was cut off from us.

Flames lit up the white hallway, and if I weren’t safely in his arms, I would have burned to death in the inferno that raged around us. Shadow marched along, not speaking, and judging from his expression, it was best for me to keep my thoughts to myself.

But for Dannie, I would risk his wrath.

Initiating the shift back to human, I cried out as the pain of bones breaking and re-mending couldn’t be ignored again. Shadow held me through it, and somehow it made it better… and worse.

When I was finally a huffing, coughing, wincing human, I patted him on the shoulder.

“I have to go back,” I said with urgency. “They’re hurting my friend because of me. Well, you and me, and it’s our responsibility to help her.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” I bit out. “We need to take care of it right now. Please. It’s not negotiable.”

His hand landed on my naked ass, a firm slap, and as his power surged through me, I cried out. It hadn’t hurt exactly, but it had been a warning.

A warning to shut the hell up. He had to know there was no way that was going to happen.

Kicking out, I started to struggle harder against his hold, and for my effort, I received another slap on my ass. This time, his hand tightened to the point of discomfort as he held me in place, his long strides continuing.