Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters, #1)(82)

My wolf scratched against her metaphorical cage, trying to force a change. After a moment’s hesitation, I decided that maybe I should let her have the lead here. I had more weapons as a wolf, but there was still a small concern over the odd way she acted around shadow creatures.

“Get out of here,” Angel shouted, not hearing my internal debate. “Get Shadow.”

That was the logical step to take, but there was every chance he was fairly occupied himself.

Surely, if he wasn’t, he would have already felt the chill of these two hunters—their icy energy was like a slap in the face with a frozen bag of balls.

Change! My wolf was not taking no for an answer, and with no more time to worry about the right path, I released her and let the shift wash across me. The pain was over in a flash, and it was the fastest I’d ever shifted. A great achievement if I wasn’t about to fight a darkness-washed hunter.

My wolf had no fear of these beings, and since I was hidden deep inside her soul, there was no hesitation as we attacked. Together we struck when, on my own, I would have shied away.

When we attached to the dark cloak, Angel let out a scream. “Don’t touch their darkness!”

It was too late to stop. My jaws already clamped around the cloak, tearing it away from the body.

The wolf and I both wanted to know what lay below their shroud.

It tasted odd, the material musky and decaying. There had been no scent until we’d attached to it, but the moment that cloak was in our jaws, we were hit with wafts of death and blood.

It didn’t deter my wolf, who was vicious in her attack, as more and more strips were torn from the hunter. Angel continued shouting warnings at me, but I was beyond hearing.

The hunters screamed louder than ever, but it didn’t hurt at all in this form.

“How the hell are you doing that, wolf?” Angel bellowed so close to my ear that I was forced to hear her… forced to think about what she was saying.

Touching them was apparently a big no-no, for reasons I wasn’t aware of. There was just too damn much I didn’t know about this world; information that would no doubt come in handy when I was on the frontline battling.

Since they hadn’t killed us so far, we didn’t stop, choosing instead to up our attack, aiming higher to reach its “face.”

Sharp jabs of power slipped off my fur as it hit back. We felt the blow, but there was no follow-through with actual pain. More of its dark cloak fell to the ground, and my wolf was almost cut in two as a sickle blade zoomed past my head and embedded itself deep in the depthless hood of the hunter.

Its shriek was different this time. Higher-pitched with less force. The first scream was an attack, but this one was pain. Angel had hit right in the spot to cause the most damage.

The black cloak fluttered to the floor and we backed up, eyeing it. Whatever substance had been holding the hunter together had vanished with the strike of Angel’s blade, leaving behind a bundle of dark material.

Angel’s second battle cry was accompanied by a clap of her wings as they slammed into the remaining hunter, before he, too, was dispatched with her blades.

Her fucking awesome, wickedly sharp blades.

If I didn’t think I’d somehow kill myself with them, I would totally be getting a set.

When we were standing above two puddles of material, she spun to me, her chest heaving as she ran her gaze over my beast. Trying to pry out my secrets.

“You, my friend,” she huffed, “are no human or shifter.”

We stared up at her, my wolf as confused as me. What the heck did that mean?





46

Gaster arrived soon after this, and since I wasn’t ready to be naked in front of the world again, I was still in wolf form. “Oh my.” He gasped, looking down at what remained of the cloaks. “You defeated them on your own!”

Angel grimaced. “Is the Shadow Realm door still sealed?”

He nodded in a rapid, nervous manner. “That was the first thing I checked, because if the doorway was open, we’d have a lot more to worry about than a few hunters.”

They were talking about the doorway that Shadow was desperate to get open… right? Apparently, no one was privy to that information and it didn’t sound like they’d be happy about it if they knew. But Shadow did what Shadow wanted here, that much was clear, with no one brave or strong enough to go up against him.

But it would have been interesting to see their reactions if they knew.

Might drop that little fact at some stage, just to stir the pot.

“Are there any more hunters, do you think?” Gaster asked nervously. “I’ve sent out an alert through the lands, and I’ll await their replies and advice.”

Angel shook her head. “There are no more in the library. I’ve attuned myself to their energy, and it’s resonating empty now that they’ve been dispatched.”

Gaster looked down again like he couldn’t quite believe they were dead. “We would have been in trouble without you. Kind blessings, royal one.”

He bowed low then, holding the pose respectfully.

I tilted my head back to see her face, and even in the grey-scale vision of the wolf, it was clear she was annoyed by the title and genuflecting. “I did what any in my position would have, and honestly, if it wasn’t for Mera-wolf, I might not have had a chance to take them both down.”