Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 1)

Before we reached the lair, we were ambushed by Gaster. The goblin was overly enthusiastic by the news that the shadow problem was over for now, and that we had a plan to return them to the realm.

Shadow remained reserved with the goblin, giving short answers… if he answered at all. No one but me pushed the big brute, happy to accept that whatever he said was law. If the goblin knew that Shadow’s sole focus was really getting himself back to the Shadow Realm, to enact revenge on those who had wronged him, some of his enthusiasm might fade.

Or… probably not.

The blind trust they all had in Shadow was astonishing.

When we were about to step through to the lair, I heard my name echo through the room, and when I turned, I gasped at Angel, who was decked out like a fucking warrior. Girl was head-to-toe in what had to be custom-made silver and red armor molded to her body, fixed around the wings, with so many blades on her person, I lost count of the handles sticking out of various places.

“What happened?” I burst out, hurrying toward her. “Did Honor Meadows break out in war?”

She didn’t say a word, just threw her arms around me, hugging me like she thought she’d never see me again. I couldn’t breathe, but I didn’t care because this was one of the best hugs I’d ever had. I sank into her and held on for life, needing the emotional connection that only a female friend could give you. Dudes and sex were great and all, but if you’d never had a ride-or-die bestie, you were missing out on a connection that couldn’t be replicated.

One we needed for survival.

“You were gone,” she said when she pulled away, her voice broken even if her eyes were dry. “I searched the lands and questioned them all, but no one knew what had happened. And our damn bond… It better start maturing because I can’t handle the stress of you wandering around on your own.”

Shadow joined us then, and in an instant, the grieving friend was gone, replaced by a badass warrior. Weapons were in her hands so fast, I couldn’t track the movement, and she didn’t even hesitate to attack him. What I took from this, and appreciated the most, was that Shadow didn’t act like it was a laughable matter to have her as an opponent. He paid her the sort of attention she deserved, treating her like a worthy adversary, as the pair sparred.

Shadow procured a black and smoky blade from thin air, and I wondered briefly if it was Inky, manifested into another form. Usually, it would be close by, but I couldn’t see it anywhere else.

Angel fought with single-minded focus, attacking over and over, never relenting or giving him an inch. She was beyond spectacular, and I honestly didn’t know who I was rooting for by the end. I kind of wanted them both to win, to be honest, but since I half-loved Angel and didn’t hate Shadow today, it was probably best to break it up.

“Guys,” I started, in an attempt to interrupt their intense need to stab holes into each other. “Let’s talk about it over dinner. I’m fine.”

No answer or pause. We were starting to draw a crowd, and I didn’t need this to turn into anything more than it was. Knowing Shadow, he’d want to prove a point when he had all of his minions watching. I had to stop them before it got to that.

With a deep breath, I did the stupidest thing I could think of, but also the one sure action to stop them in their tracks. I leapt between the two of them, just as Angel spun and struck with her massive, super sharp blade. She saw me in the last instance, screaming out a “Noooo,” but it was too late to stop the strike. Hoping I wasn’t about to be sliced into two, I lifted an arm and braced myself for the pain.

Everything after that moved in slow motion, and even though my destruction was closing in, I watched the rest of it go down with an almost detached curiosity. Shadow’s roar deafened everyone in the room, sending most of them to their knees, and when the spark of his power bit into my shoulders, I was jerked out of the way just as the blade sliced by my arm.

“Enough!” Shadow bellowed, not releasing me. His voice lowered dramatically. “I kept her safe, Melalekin.” Only Angel and I could have heard those words. “You have no quarrel with me.”

Her chest heaved, eyes still filled with horror at what she’d almost done. “Next time I won’t be so lenient, Darkor,” she murmured, also very low. This was a conversation between the three of us only. “Remember that.”

Then with one soft look at me, she spun and stormed off.

My breathing was still rapid, the sense I’d been closer to death than ever before hanging over me. Shadow had saved me, and I couldn’t think of anything else. Except maybe… Had I just learned their real names?

It was such an insignificant piece of knowledge, and yet it felt absolutely breathtakingly huge to me. Like I’d been inducted into a club that only a few ever get to experience. I felt quite privileged to have another small piece of the two beings I spent the most time with here.

It took me a moment to notice the heat pouring off Shadow Beast. He was raging, even if no one else knew because his face was impassive. He didn’t release me from his hold, turning to enter the lair. I had no idea why he was still holding me to his chest like he was, but the traitorous part of me that was a tiny bit into him didn’t want to argue about it. It was the sort of possessive hold that messed with my head. Mine and my wolf’s. Both of us wanted to roll over and purr like a damn kitten.

When Shadow reached the barrier to his lair, and just as he started to step through, the lights flickered. I’d never seen that happen before, but it wasn’t immediately alarming… at least not for me.

Shadow paused, his gaze tilting up to search above us. I was gently set on my feet as he slid me in behind him. “The fire has been restored,” he said softly. “Head into the lair.”

“No,” I said, placing my hand against his back. The muscles were firm under my touch—he was tense, and that worried me. “What is happening?”

The flicker of lights must have been a pressing concern for him to react as he was.

“Sunshine, for once in your damn life, listen to me. You need to get away now—”

His words were cut off as the library plunged into darkness. A split second later, Shadow’s fire roared to life around him, the heat all but shooting me back.

He started forward, but he was too late. Whoever had shut off the lights attacked us, two dark figures appearing. Before the beast could murder them where they stood, an arc of dark, glittering powder hit us both, and as I choked on the dust, Shadow dropped to his knees beside me.

Disoriented by whatever was in the powder, I barely even registered that I’d been grabbed, heavy hands lifting and carrying me across the pitch-black library.

“No!” I coughed, more of the dust lodged in my throat. I was fighting against the hold, badly, but it was better than nothing.

“Sunny, stop. It’s me.”

I paused at the familiar voice: Jaxson.

How the fuck was Jaxson here? And what had he done to the library and Shadow? No way could this dumbass shifter have managed to throw one over them without some serious help.

“Let me go, dammit,” I snarled before coughing again. The powder was sticky in my throat, clinging with an intensity.

“We’re rescuing you, you dumb bitch.” This was from Torin, who was apparently here for this fuck-up too.

“Shadow is going to rip you both into a million pieces,” I said, my voice hoarse. “It’s in your best interest to get out of here now and hope he never finds out it was you.”

Jaxson, still carrying me, didn’t slow at all. “We’re going to block the doorway,” he said in a rush. “We’ll be able to keep him out for an indefinite period of time. You’ll be safe.”

“I was never in any danger, you dumb fucking fucks,” I snarled. “Release me now or Shadow will be the least of your worries.”

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.