Reborn (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 3)

This time in the basement, there was no swirling in my stomach. Maybe the wolf was able to filter it better, or maybe the swirl had turned into a flutter in my chest, since that was what I felt as I stepped into the room.

Sam stayed close behind me, and I kept my nose to the ground, following a familiar scent. It wasn’t until I was near the center of the room, right in the spot that had clearly been hit the hardest by the flames, that I figured out why it was familiar. It had a lavender and aniseed undertone. Two smells I associated directly with one person: Simone.

She had been in here. Either before or after the fire, and the thought that the hints of death that lingered here might be due to her presence almost sent me back into my human form.

I couldn’t think like that. I had to stay calm and keep searching, for her sake.

And my own, because if anything had happened to Simone…

Yeah, not a sentence I could finish.

We ended up farther back in the room than I’d gone with Sam earlier that day. Simone’s scents were soon intercepted by a different scent, one that was rich and spicy, and even in wolf form, it curled my toes in a way that was purely sexual. Human sexual, not anything to do with my beast.

It was a smell that, once found, I couldn’t release as it dragged me to its origins.

Sam stayed right beside me, probably wondering what the fuck I was doing as I zigzagged across the room, rumbles ripping from my chest.

I just… finally felt like I was on the right path.

More flutters rose inside me, and the pressure in my brain was stronger than ever as I tried to follow memories and scents. I was bracing myself for the usual stabbing head pain, but… it didn’t come. Was my wolf insulated from the worst of that as well? Had she been the key all along to figuring this shit out, and was that why she was so sluggish? Maybe someone didn’t want me in this form because this form was how I’d get my answers. And that meant we were on four legs until I figured this shit out.

That darkly enticing scent led me to the farthest wall from the entrance. I nosed around, trying to find an opening in the scorched and blackened concrete. Sam nudged me after I’d spent a minute trying to pry this wall’s secrets free, with very little success.

She jerked her wolf head away from the wall, and I followed her the few steps back until I figured out what she had been showing me. The bigger picture of what I was sniffing at.

The burned shape looked exactly like a giant silhouette of a person, scorched into the brick. The silhouette was larger than even the biggest shifter I’d ever seen, and I wondered if it was just a random coincidence, or was this the literal outline of someone bursting into the room?

But from where?

The basement had thick brick and block walls. Bricks and blocks that were still completely intact, outside of the blackened outline of a giant. Moving forward again, I placed my nose right in the silhouette, and the flutter in my chest really kicked into gear.

I sniffed harder, and in the next inhale came a whiff of spice and books and… magic.

My wolf tilted her head back and howled, stronger and with more emotion than she’d had since we’d awoken in Torin’s bed. Her call was a lament of pain, and I had no idea why, but the feeling of loss was so strong, it almost sent me to my wolf belly.

Beside me, Sam joined in with our howls, spurring on my wolf even harder, drawing up more of our power that had been trapped inside. As our burning energy increased, it pushed past barriers I hadn’t even known were there. Power flowed from me until my howls echoed through the basement at an almost-deafening decibel. Sam eventually had to drop down and cover her ears with her paws, and while I didn’t want to hurt her, I couldn’t make myself stop.

On instinct, I directed the energy flowing from me toward that wall, and as it hit, a fire sprang to life, intense and bright in the dark room. There had been nothing to burn, but this sort of fire was fueled by my rage, with no need for any other accelerant.

Seemed my father had been right about me all along—I was a demon child.

Eventually, I was able to release the howl, my wolf slumping forward. Sam was there, her head under me, lifting me back to my feet, both of us staring at what I’d created.

Right where the silhouette had been was a swirling… portal, maybe? There was no way to tell what lay on the other side of it, since it was cloudy, but it was definitely not a solid wall any longer. Exhaustion pressed in on me as I stumbled forward, but I forced myself to take another step, scared that this portal might close before I found the energy to step through.

I braced myself when my nose touched the swirl, but there was no pain, just a rush of power across my fur. Turning my head, I nodded at Sam, hoping she’d understand that I was thanking her. She returned my nod with a little yip, and I let out a deep breath before returning to the portal, preparing to cross. Whatever lay beyond was my destiny… The truth that had been stolen from me.

I’d finally found my big break in this investigation, and I was not about to waste it.