Deserted (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 4)

That random meeting with Reece unsettled me to the point that I could not rest that night, and by the time Mera and Shadow appeared, both dressed in black jeans, plain white shirts, and black boots—looking couple goals and well-rested, the bastards—I was standing in the center of the library feeling like shit but ready to get to Earth. I’d even dressed in as close to human attire as I could find, with my own jeans, red checkered shirt, and sneakers. My hair was in a braid and my wings were tucked away, so I’d blend right in with the locals.

I really needed Earth to be done so that the Desert Lands could get done. Once this was all over, I would shove Reece back into the past where he belonged and get to working on my future. Speaking of…

‘Did Reece find you last night?’ I asked Shadow, my voice flat.

He paused at my tone, his flaming eyes narrowing as he took in my current expression. ‘He got a message to me that he’ll bring us all across later tonight, if we’re back from Earth in time.’

Shadow spoke in his usual gruff demeanor while also staring into the deepest recesses of my psyche. ‘Don’t,’ I warned him, and as we often did, our next communication was silent.

His glare said, You and Reece need to sort this shit out before we get to his world. No one has time for it.

I glared harder. Listen up, asshole. This is not on me. I ignored him as expected, but Reece was the one who turned it into a war again. Talk to your friend.

Before he could glare some new “words” at me, Mera, who’d clearly caught the silent exchange, cleared her throat. ‘What the hell happened?’ she said. ‘What did Reece do?’

Mera knew some of our past, and she thought we both just needed to get over it and move forward. Decades of holding grudges was just too much for someone with so few years behind her to understand.

‘Nothing,’ I said with a long exhale. “Nothing at all happened. It’s just a tense situation.”

In truth, nothing had happened. We’d exchanged about ten words and none of them with any significance. My pique had more to do with the way his damn eyes had stolen my soul.

Stolen and shredded it, especially when they’d turned icy.

Changing the subject felt like a very good idea right now. “Are we ready to get to Earth?”

‘Yes!’ Mera chirped, expression brightening. Her red hair, which was out in loose waves, bounced around her body as she wiggled. ‘I’m excited to give my girls this magic fae parchment. It will be nice to regularly exchange messages.’

Shadow wrapped his muscled arm around her. “Yes, and with that in mind, we should get going. We need to be back here and on our way to the Desert Lands by this mid-moon.’

Mera stilled and turned her head to look up with a furrowed brow. “Mid-moon?”

“Let’s walk and talk,” Shadow said, guiding her along the center path of the library. “The Desert Lands have a moonlike ball in the sky,” he explained. “They call it the yertin, which roughly translates to sphere. The phases are new-moon in the morning when it’s quite red and warm, then mid-moon at mid-day, half-moon in the evening when the red fades to a light orange-yellow, finished up with the dark-moon, which is a sliver of light in shades of blue and grey.”

Mera hung on his every word, desperate for knowledge of the worlds. If she wasn’t reading, loving her mate, or creating Christmas, she was questioning every being who stepped through the doorways, wanting to know of their lives.

“That’s so exciting. I can’t wait to see it,” she said in a rush, “and the different colored sands. We really do need to get to Earth and get back here.”

Despite her extra belly, she was the one to pick up the pace, moving us out of the library and into the white hall. Her smile remained in place as she chatted, until about halfway down the length she ground to a halt. She dropped her hands to her stomach, and Shadow and I were both at her side in a beat.

“Is everything okay?” I asked, my hand on my chest to feel for our bond.

Before I could explore it in detail, she let out a low sigh. ‘Every single time this baby kicks me, my heart swells. It’s the weirdest sensation, but since I’ve moved past my fears of an alien invading my body, I can’t imagine not feeling these daily flutters and kicks.’

Her essence had already opened and connected to the life she’d created with Shadow.

‘You are my own personal miracle,’ the beast whispered as he leaned down and pressed his lips to her stomach.

‘They kicked again,’ Mera exclaimed. ‘Right when you kissed me. I swear, this little one knows your power already, Shadow.’

Shadow’s rumble was a deep, broken sound. It hurt in my chest to hear it because I knew his life had been akin to my own—two souls who’d never thought they’d be whole. And yet here he was with everything he’d ever dreamed of. Despite our differences, I was happy for him.

‘Come feel,’ Mera said, holding out a hand to me. I reached out without hesitation, wondering if this was the moment the baby would kick for me. No matter how many times I’d tried to catch their movements, whenever they felt my power, they stopped.

And today was no exception. Mera grasped my hand and placed it on the spot she’d felt the kicks, and the second my palm touched her shirt, not a movement could be felt.

We all stared down. ‘Baby doesn’t like me much,’ I said, trying to keep my voice light, even though I felt slighted by a fetus.

Mera’s warm palm pressed down on mine. ‘Not true. Baby is going to love Auntie Angel. Maybe your power is just a touch foreign to them at the moment.’

It was a possibility, but since Mera and I shared a similar powerbase now, it seemed unlikely. Children of power were often unpredictable, and I guess I wouldn’t find out what had this one rejecting me until they were born.

We were quiet as we walked again. Shadow controlled the hallway exit so that we arrived in Sam’s pack, Clarity, which was located in the small town of Hrento in the Sierra Blanco Mountains of New Mexico. I’d been here a couple of times with Mera before, and since this time we’d shown up with no way for them to have been warned of our impending arrival, this was our best shot at finding their darkness.

As we entered the small town, it was quiet, and as always, nothing screamed danger or unease here. Clarity Pack had built their base within a gorgeous, forested mountain range, giving the shifters a decent chunk of a few thousand acres to roam without worrying about running into any unsuspecting humans. Their township itself was smaller than Torma, where Mera had grown up, but since Torma pack was one of the largest in America, that made sense.

Clarity pack was filled with a lot of beta type wolves and only a few that could wear the mantle of alpha, which meant they weren’t ever going to challenge Torma for top pack status, but in the overall pack hierarchy, they held their own.

As we moved further into the winding and narrow streets with wood cabin–style houses dotted in and amongst the trees, the few shifters who were lingering around scattered like scared mice, disappearing into their homes. This in and of itself was not odd since Mera and Shadow had already built quite the reputation among the packs, but usually someone was brave enough to approach and greet us.

We continued on, moving further into Hrento, a village which could be described as having a treehouse vibe. They had really worked in harmony with their landscape here, taking away as little from the natural habitat that they could. It was a nice place, and from what we’d observed, this pack appeared to be far less brutal and rigid with its members compared to Torma. Yet Sam had done everything she could to escape them.

And then she’d come back. All of it was confusing, and I didn’t blame Mera for feeling the need to continually check in on her.

Mera’s face was somber as she strode along, and I knew all of us were using whatever extra senses we had to probe at the undercurrents of this pack.

“It feels really calm today,” I said, feeling barely a ripple in my energy.

“Too calm,” Shadow said shortly.

Mera stopped walking, her face shadowed by the trees above as she closed her eyes and breathed deeply. “There’s no one here,” she finally said, opening her eyes again. “I mean, outside of those who vamoosed when we arrived, I can’t feel any other energy.”

Shadow was the one now to close his eyes and send out his power to probe through the shifters. They were his creation after all, and none could hide from him.

Letting them do their thing, I walked to the closest house, one with large pots of lavender gracing either side of the front door. Peeking inside, I noted the dark interior and a slightly stale scent wafting out from under the window.

Not only was no one home, but it appeared they hadn’t been here for some time.

“The town is empty,” Shadow said, and I turned to find them both on the front porch with me.

We’d all reached the same conclusion, and now we needed to find out why.