Deserted (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 4)

Mera’s predictions proved to be true, with most of Torma filled with shifters going about their daily lives. We found Simone in their main shopping precinct, which was one long and wide street, lined on both sides with a variety of stores from homewares to cafes and even a large hardware store.

‘Holy crap and fucking hell!’ Mera squealed when she ground to a halt in front of a red brick store. ‘She reopened the bookstore.’

Mera, like Shadow and myself, was a huge reader. Before finding out her true destiny, she’d worked in the only bookstore in Torma, which had been owned by Dannie, who had been secretly pretending to be a shifter. It turned out that Shadow’s mom was the legendary Danamain of the Shadow Realm, and when too much power had gone to her head, she’d attempted to wipe all of our memories of her time in Torma.

This store had been one of those memories, but it appeared that now we’d disposed of her machinations, Simone had decided to give the store a new lease on life. The façade had changed, the red brick set off now by a bright forest-green awning framing a large window filled with fantasy and romance books, artfully displayed on wood shelving.

‘Once Upon a Howling Good Time,’ Mera said with a laugh, reading the huge sign across the front door. ‘I love that she’s giving it a good old shifter try at making reading fun again. Torma has never been known for their love of the arts.’

Shadow cleared his throat. ‘Yeah, that’s probably my fault. I designed shifters to be predators without taking into account that without culture and empathy as well, the packs would never evolve past the beasts from which they were born.’

‘They’re not that bad,’ Mera snorted, rolling her eyes a touch. ‘But yeah, a sprinkle more book smarts would not have gone astray.’

‘I’ll remember that,’ Shadow said drily, ‘for the next time I invent an entire race of beings.’

Mera patted his chest. ‘See that you do.’ Then with a wink, she strolled her ass into the bookshop.

Shadow took a full minute to watch her walk away before he shook his head and rubbed a huge hand over his face like that would snap him out of the spell Mera had over him. He never looked my way, and I focused my eyes forward as well since there was an unspoken rule amongst warrior friends: We let each other have our weak moments, and we don’t point them out.

Once we made it inside, it was to find Mera and Simone hugging and crying and rocking back and forth in the middle of the room. Bookshelves were to the right of them and a large, raw-timber serving table on the left. The room was filled with the scent of paper, parchment, ink, and… home. I would always find warmth and comfort in a room jam-packed with words and knowledge.

‘Your belly is so big now,’ Simone gushed as she pulled away, her dark eyes lit up with what could only be described as true happiness. ‘You’d better not have this damn baby without me. I swear to fuck, Mera.”

Shadow pushed in behind his mate. “That’s why we’re here,” he said. “Mera has to leave the library for a few weeks, and she wanted to check in on you and drop off more parchment so you can stay in contact while we’re gone.”

Simone paused, some of her excitement dying as her hands on Mera’s stomach stilled. “Where are you going? Should she be travelling in her condition?”

Shadow opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Mera growled. ‘She is standing right here, and there’s no condition. I’m pregnant, not dying. The baby shouldn’t be here for at least another month or two, and I’ll be safely back in the library by that time.’ Her gaze flicked toward me. ‘Back me up, Angel. I mean, women have been working in the fields right up until they squat to give birth. I can sure as fuck leave the library for a few weeks to help a friend.’

Shadow wisely remained silent; we all knew they’d argued about the Desert Lands more than once, and since Mera had won, there was no point going over it again.

‘Women have been giving birth in exceptional circumstances for millennia,’ I confirmed. ‘Especially on Earth, where often they lived quite primitively without the modern conveniences they have today. Despite the fact that childbirth has been one of the biggest killers of women for centuries—’

I cut myself off as Mera’s eyes widen dramatically. Shit. Some of that factuality was probably not appropriate with her current situation.

‘Which, of course, is not relevant to you at all,” I hurried to fix it, “since you’re a god. Our babies might be quite powerful, hard to grow and birth, but…’

Her face was super pale at this point, and I decided to just shut my mouth.

‘You’re going to be fine,’ Shadow said as he reached out and rubbed a hand across her lower back, soothing her in the way that only he could. ‘The most important part of what Angel said is that you’re a goddess born of the Nexus. Practically indestructible. You will birth our child as easily as you snared yourself a powerful mate.’

Mera’s head snapped up as she glared at him. ‘Are you actually shitting me right now? What part of everything that we went through to be together was easy?’

Shadow didn’t blink an eye at her sudden aggression. Even before pregnancy, she’d always had a streak of don’t fuck with me, which I was fairly certain he loved. ‘Every single part of it was easy. Comparatively. We’re fated to be together, but I would have chosen you and everything we went through even if that weren’t the case. Loving you is the easiest thing I’ve ever done.’

Mera’s face softened as she let out a long breath. ‘It’s lucky that you occasionally say the right thing.” A small smirk crossed her lips. ‘And with that perspective, I guess loving you is also the easiest thing I’ve ever done.”

Shadow’s lips twitched, but he refrained from saying more. Mera also let it go, returning to Simone since we didn’t have long. “This is the parchment,” she said, handing it across. “Can you keep me updated on what’s happening in the packs and if anything eventuates from this big meeting?’

Simone nodded, taking the paper and moving behind her counter to slide it into a drawer. “Of course I will. Now, take a seat so we can talk for whatever time you have left here. Tell me everything that’s been happening since we caught up last.’

Linking arms, the pair moved to the back of the shop where a few couches were arranged in a small reading space. Choosing a loveseat, they both started talking at once, and despite the words spilling from their mouths at a pace that should deny the ability to both hear and comprehend what was being said, somehow they managed it.

“I’m worried about Sam,” Mera said after telling her what we’d learned in Clarity. “While it’s clear that she’s in no immediate danger, there’s definitely some shady shit happening in her pack. As soon as Sam’s ready to share with us, we need to help her wade through it.’

Simone nodded, serious brown eyes locked on Mera’s face. ‘Yeah, I’ve been worried about her for the same reasons. There’s an undercurrent of darkness in her pack, similar to how Torma used to feel.’

Corrupt alphas, the seed of evil that could send a pack into complete turmoil.

‘I’m putting that alpha on my kill list,” Mera muttered. “Those power-hungry bastards are the death of a true pack bond.”

Shadow’s chest rumbled. ‘You’re sexy when you’re plotting murder, mate.’

Mera just shook her head at him. ‘You’re no help, dude. You should be the one plotting murder. You’re the goddamn Shadow Beast.’

The rumble in his chest increased. ‘Firstly, don’t call me dude. Secondly, if you want me to murder someone, you only have to ask once and it will be done.’ His voice lowered. ‘And thirdly, if you need me to destroy the entire fucking planet, it’s done.’

Mera’s smile was so bright that it was blinding as she beamed and blinked back tears. ‘That’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me.’

Only those two could turn murder into romance.

Shadow took a few steps to crouch down behind her chair and kiss her roughly. Even though it was only a kiss, Simone and I shifted uncomfortably because with these two, the chemistry burned so hot that right now I felt like I’d walked in on them right in the middle of sex.

Sucking in a rough breath, I turned and left the shop, needing a moment to compose myself. Through no fault of her own, Mera had me craving a life that was probably never going to be mine, a fact I needed to come to terms with and fast.