Compelled (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 5)

The trip back from limbo was a rough one, and in reality, I didn’t expect anything less. This was a rebirth, and I’d heard the stories from Mera and Angel.

There was no birth without pain.

Eventually my shaking eased, and I rejoiced at the lack of pain. Strength infused my limbs, bones, and muscles as my wolf howled in my chest, feeling stronger too. Vampire blood infused her shifter soul in a true hybridization.

Opening my eyes, I felt Lucien’s presence, just as someone jerked me out of the bath. I knew it wasn’t my mate, even before Carter snarled some bullshit and slit his wrist to force blood down my throat.

Hunger rose in me, but stronger than that was disgust. Only a trickle of blood made it into my mouth, and I spit that out as my mate’s roar rocked the foundation of this stone room. Lucien had shown up for me, and that was amazing, but what was even more amazing… I could show up for myself.

Drawing on my own power, I shifted in an instant, and Carter howled as my wolf swiped claws across his face, tearing from his right eyeball down to his lips. Five slashes marred his features, and I was out of his arms in a heartbeat.

It wasn’t until I was crouched outside the tub, preparing to attack, that I saw the way Lucien and Carter had both frozen. Staring at me.

It was so hard for me to tear my gaze from Lucien, his golden face wreathed in darkness, eyes blacker than night as his body heaved with fury, but I managed to look down long enough to see that my hybrid wolf form had changed.

I was bipedal. My limbs were covered in hair, arms and legs longer and more muscled than in my humanoid form. Five lethal claws tipped the end of each hand; hence why I’d been able to leave those marks on Carter’s face.

Speaking of, the male grabbed me once more, hulked up as blood spurted from his face. “You belong to me,” he roared.

His power wrapped around me, and I recognized the use of compulsion, having had it forced on me too many times. Lucien’s rage was palpable as Carter tried to roll me. “You belong to me,” he repeated, more of his power smashing me in the face.

Panic hit me at the thought of losing my will again, but even as Carter poured everything he had into me, all I felt was a brush across my mind. There was no control or the cloudiness that usually followed. Not only that, but the compulsion band that had been in my mind whenever I’d tried to speak of what happened last time in Valdor was gone too.

Holy shit.

I had truly been reborn, and now, I was too strong for compulsion.

As a smile sprang across my face, I grabbed Carter’s throat and tore it out. The master’s shout was garbled as his blood bubbled from the wound, and I was glad when he reactively threw me across the space.

Lucien’s scent wrapped around me as he caught and held me close. His face buried in my neck—my hairy-as-fuck neck, yo!—and he breathed me in.

A howl escaped me, and I was happy to still sound like my wolf.

I still felt like her too, and in some ways, more complete.

This was my ultimate form, which, from what I could see, was like a lycanthrope—a beast I’d thought was just a human myth.

Carter, his throat healing quicker than I would have liked, lunged toward us. Prepared to take him on, I was a little disappointed when Lucien slid me behind him and crashed against the other master. They hit with the force of two semitrucks colliding, the crash so loud that it reminded me of the gong I’d heard in limbo.

Lucien immediately got the upper hand and sent Carter crashing against the side of the bath. The liquid spilled over, and I tried not to lose my mind at the splashes of Carter’s blood in the water. The fact that he’d used his blood to save me—after almost killing me, of course—didn’t mean I was his.

Not in any way, shape, or form, and when he was dead, we’d all feel a lot better.

Another howl spilled from my lips, and I was the one to leap across the space now, jumping about three times the distance I could usually make.

Which meant I overshot Carter and ended up behind him.

“Simone!” Lucien bellowed. “Bee, please get your ass over here, or my vampire energy is going to turn this place to dust.”

“No,” I rumbled back, and holy fucking fuck… I could talk.

I mean, it wasn’t super clear, sounding exactly how I’d imagined a wolf would if it had the vocal cords to talk, but it was definitely speech. “This is my kill,” I got out.

Lucien released a long sigh, but didn’t argue, instead choosing to take a step back and give me a chance. I started to circle Carter, who was pulling himself slowly to his feet. “What have you done to my mate?” he snarled. “You corrupted her pure soul by sharing blood with Lucien?”

“Your mate is gone,” I rasped in my wolf speech. “My soul was reborn, and it belongs to Lucien. It has always belonged to Lucien. You stole and claimed it in a previous life when it wasn’t yours to claim.” Sure, I had no evidence of this, outside of the way I felt for Lucien. But instinct told me I was right.

Lucien’s face blazed in my sight, and unlike the normal monochromatic nature of wolf vision, this hybrid beast could see all the colors. More than my usual color spectrum, actually. Lucien’s eyes were so green, and I could see the multitude of pigments that formed his unique color.

“Mine,” Lucien said, a soft promise that made me want to shift back to human and climb him.

At this point, Carter truly lost his mind, grabbing the sides of the metal bathtub, and hefting it at me in one solid thrust. I had no idea how heavy it was, but as I braced myself, I caught it with ease. Not just caught it but threw it back so fast that I even took the vampires by surprise.

It crashed into Carter and slid him along the floor to pin him against the wall.

He was able to push away in seconds, but seconds were too slow.

Lucien and I got there at the same time, but he didn’t fight me for this kill, understanding that I had to end whatever ties I had to Carter. Once and for all.

Like a true mate, Lucien protected my back and gave me all the support I needed to finish this.

Carter’s wide eyes were the last thing I saw before I swiped out, my clawed hand filled with all the energy and power inside me. This time I wouldn’t stop with just tearing his throat out… nope. This time he had to die.

White noise filled my head as the wolfish instinct took over, and I howled as I cut through his neck, completely severing his head in one brutal swipe. It hit the floor with a thump, and I felt a slightly queasy pull in my stomach—first kill and all that—but my wolf shielded me from stronger human emotions.

We were more bonded like this, able to move between animalistic and rational with ease.

Lucien’s hand landed on my shoulder, and I wasn’t sure what that gesture meant until he remained there, offering comfort as I pulled myself together. With a long exhale, I released my wolf and all but collapsed into his arms.

I’d been strong, and now I got to be needy, fully embracing the multifaceted nature of my personality.

“You are spectacular,” Lucien murmured against my lips as he lifted my naked ass higher. “I don’t know how I missed your soul through the centuries, but I’m so fucking glad I found this version of you.”

He’d apparently figured out the reason behind Carter’s obsession.

His kiss stole the air from my lungs, but I didn’t give a shit.

A second later, when it was just starting to get good, there was a huge gust of energy from the far side of the room. Lucien spun around to block me from view as Shadow, Reece, Galleli, and Len burst into the space. Lucien dropped me to my feet, ensuring that he kept me completely shielded as he faced his brothers.

“Luce,” Len exclaimed. “Is Simone okay?”

“She’s fine,” he said, and I pressed in closer, needing to touch him.

“Carter’s dead?” Shadow raged, and I guessed he had noticed the headless master. “Well, fuck. That was my kill.”

I snorted. “Actually, it was my kill, and I’m pretty impressed with it.”

Peering around Lucien, I noticed how they all stared at the motionless lump of Carter’s head. It lay on its side, the neck visible and showing signs of having been severed and jerked from the body. We all knew that a regular shifter didn’t have the strength to do that, and no doubt many questions filled their intelligent minds.

Shadow walked toward us, sniffing the air as he followed the scent of my new energy. “What happened to you?” he asked.

When he was two feet from us, Lucien’s hand shot out and landed on his friend’s chest. “Too close, brother,” he bit out. “She almost died and now she’s naked and I’m feeling a little possessive. I don’t want to fight any of you, so back up a touch.”

Shadow didn’t appear remotely upset by Lucien’s push as he nodded and stepped away. There was no way my mate was going to let me move while still naked, so I decided it was easiest to shift. It would cover me up and answer Shadow’s question.

Two wolves with one stone.