Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters, #1)(99)

I drew on my wolf and she came snarling to the surface as parts of us transformed so we could slice out at the ones holding us. “Use more of the morrow powder,” Torin snapped. “Knock her stupid ass out. The Shadow Beast got to her; we’ll need to break her back home.”

Break me back home? Oh, man, I was going to show him just how wrong he was— In the darkness, a slap of the powder hit me in the face, worse than before, and I choked and spluttered on the mildewy substance. My will to fight faded to nothing, and as I breathed in more of the disgusting concoction, my lights went out completely.

Leaving me vulnerable with the two males I hated most in the world.





54

The sensation of coming awake in an unknown place and situation was one of the worst I’d ever experienced, and it had been happening far too much lately. I needed to change my life choices stat—because this was not fucking healthy.

Whatever the alpha and his beta had hit me with had left behind a raging hangover, and once I finished throwing up bile and whatever dregs had been in my stomach, I rolled over to find myself chained to a bed. Just by one ankle, but it was a silver chain that was reinforced and too strong for me to break—something I knew after several attempts to get free.

When the pounding in my head eased a touch, I pulled myself up to see my surroundings better. I was in Torin’s room. I had a terrible feeling about what this meant; the alpha hadn’t minced his words the last time when he’d all but inserted me into a harem with Sisily. I had to end the bond now— permanently. I just needed to wait until he was in the room and close enough to ensure it would work.

Another throb of pain clamped across my head as I again wondered what was in the powder they’d hit us with. What sort of substance could do that to Shadow and the Library of Knowledge? I mean, how the fuck was it even possible that shifters could sneak into the library without help in the first place?

Or had they followed us?

There had been that movement I’d seen as we’d been leaving Torma with the fireball. I’d written it off as a fox or rabbit, noticing fur in the bushes, but it could have been more. It could have been two lunkhead shifters thinking they were saving me. All the while getting one over on Shadow.

The bedroom door slammed open before I could think about it any further, Torin entering with his bullshit swagger. My wolf stirred in my chest, but it wasn’t like the last time she’d reacted to him.

The longing and need were gone. The urge to submit to her alpha and mate had faded against our fury at what he’d done to us. After all the years of bullying and torment, after rejecting me, the fact that he thought he could stroll into my life and make any decisions for me had my body burning with fury.

I craved his blood. Under my nails and in my mouth as I ripped his throat out.

“Hello, mate,” he said cheerfully. “I’m here to release you now that I know you’re not going to suffer any aftereffects of the powder.”

I didn’t say a word, just stared him down with the sort of look that would have worried a more intelligent shifter. This dumbass was too self-involved to even bother looking close enough to see the murder in my eyes.

As his hands wrapped around my ankle, he caressed it slowly, and I forced myself to continue breathing evenly. “Are you happy to be back, babe?” he asked, clearly still stupid.

My jaw was clenched so hard, I couldn’t speak, but I managed to lie with a head nod, and he was happy enough with that. “You’ll forget about your time with Shadow Beast soon enough,” he added as the chain finally clinked and my leg was released.

The moment that happened, my wolf took control. I hadn’t realized in my own fury how absolutely out of control she was, and in seconds, we’d shifted. As a wolf, I did exactly what my father had attempted and attacked the alpha of Torma. I hadn’t expected Torin to anticipate the attack, but somehow the asshole knew.

“Stop!”

It was a command with alpha power behind it, and unlike last time in my human form, his command did actually control my wolf. We snarled and fought, but since technically this was still my pack, I was forced to follow the rules of pack law. Although his control did feel flimsy at best.

“Let’s go for a run,” he added, and he shifted into his wolf so fast that I would have been impressed if he wasn’t such a dickbag.

My wolf tried to attack again, but he kept her locked down with his magic, our legs only able to move when we were following him as he intended. She didn’t fight again, and I knew deep down that my wolf still held out a small hope of claiming her mate, no matter how pissed she was today.

Human me, on the other hand, would never stop trying to rip this fuck’s face off.

Torin kept his power locked over us for the entire run, and it was bittersweet to cross pack lands with my mate, but once again, be a damn prisoner. A time better arise soon in which I wasn’t a victim to every powerful asshole who thought he could push his will onto me.

Right now I hated them all.

When Torin was done, we returned to the pack house, and he bounced around me like a playful puppy. My wolf didn’t respond, both of us done with him. Eventually, he shifted back, disappearing to return dressed with Jaxson by his side. They sat in front of me, and I stared at my oldest friend— turned enemy. Even with my wolf vision, he looked tired; the year apart had aged him.

“What can we do to prove that this is where you’re supposed to be?” he asked, leaning forward as he appealed to me. “Torin is in charge now and he’ll make sure no one blames you for your dad’s mistake any longer. You have no idea what we went through to get you back. I don’t understand why you’re not more grateful.”