Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 1)

My afternoon with Torin was enlightening, and honestly, if there hadn’t been many years of fucked-up history between us, I’d have been charmed as hell by the alpha of Torma. He did seem different: mature, calm, and intuitive. He’d done some real growing up since his father’s death had thrust him into the position of alpha, but I was apparently not a forgiving sort of chick, because my burning anger was still an endless pool he’d barely dented.

But I didn’t completely hate the day.

Torin had stayed with me right up until the end of dinner before excusing himself, saying he had pack business to deal with. I just smiled and nodded, not bothering to hold him up. This was a great sign. It meant the meeting was a go, and I just had to wait for Simone’s text. She’d sent one earlier with “on it” and an emoji as the content. No doubt being vague in case either of our phones fell into the wrong hands.

Torin left me in the pack house, which had been empty for most of the day but was now filled with enforcers, who were no doubt here to keep track of me. This new development would make it a touch harder to escape, but I had a lot of experience slipping in and out of this place, and I knew some exits that I was fairly certain none of these meatheads would be aware of. It would be fine, as long as Simone sent the location to me ASAP.

A few minutes before 8:00 p.m., my phone buzzed in my pocket. I wasn’t alone, so I didn’t even react. Instead, I spent another five minutes chatting to everyone who had greeted me like I was a long-lost valued member of this pack. Not the one they’d all tried to break at one point or another.

Luckily, I was an excellent actor because none of my hatred for them made an appearance.

With a phone burning in my pocket, I eventually yawned my way to bed. When I’d said I wanted to go to Torin’s room, I got satisfied grins from some of his sycophants. Easy to see who was on Team Torin. Unfortunately for him, I was on Team Mera, and I’d be doing whatever the fuck was best for me. Gotta love yourselves first, ladies.

Three shifters escorted me to his room, and I noted that almost all of them were male. This wasn’t how it usually worked—females were just as tough as the men and often had positions in security, but Torin was clearly rocking the dick club during his reign.

Probably something Sisily had insisted on. Except… she was MIA, just like Dannie. Some serious shit had gone down in my absence, and I was going to have to work overtime to catch up on all the news.

As soon as I was safely secured in Torin’s room, I ripped the phone out to find four words from Simone. School. Theater. Fifteen minutes. Right, well that was going to take me at least fifteen minutes to sprint to in human form, but if I went as a wolf, I’d get there in half the time.

As I started to plan, I sent a return text to Simone. Be there in ten. Distraction first.

Her reply was instant. Distraction forthcoming.

I paused. Well, that would make this even easier if I didn’t have to figure out both steps of my plan. Simone had more than a few little tricks in her fur, so I’d let her have the shot first.

To prepare, I searched through Torin’s room, finding a small backpack that I used to hold a set of clothing, making sure it was zipped up tight—wolves struggled with zippers. By the time I was prepped, Simone had come through with a distraction, the perimeter alarms blaring in the distance. I knew how the enforcers worked, though, so first I crawled into bed, fully dressed as I pretended to be half-asleep. The door slammed open, and I jerked upright, blinking as I rubbed my eyes against the light. “What’s happening?” I cried, clutching the sheets to my chest, just like a damsel in distress.

The two dudes glanced around, following protocol to maintain the room’s safety. “Stay here, alpha-mate,” said a tall Black man with a serious face. I didn’t know him personally, and I wondered if he was a new member of the pack. Not that I really cared.

He was clearly good at his job, though. Quick and efficient, but since I’d given him no reason to distrust me, he didn’t. “Can I help?” I asked as they turned away.

Someone hand me a fucking Oscar for Best Actress in a Pack.

They both shook their heads. “No, please. It’s our job to keep you safe. It was most probably just animals setting the alarms off.”

Yeah, maybe. Animals sent here by my feisty best friend. She was a freaking keeper, just like Angel was proving to be as well. Two fierce, fearless, badass female friends. That almost made up for me being Torin’s true mate.

I nodded, forcing a smile. “Okay. Well, please keep me updated.”

They saluted as they left, and when the door closed, I shed the nice girl persona, rolling out of bed. The backpack was placed where my wolf could easily grab it, front door opened just a touch, and then I called my beast’s energy to the surface, hoping that my shift would be silent against the chaos outside.

The reshaping of bones was never going to be pleasant, but as more of the magic infused into my soul, it took only a blip in time, and then I was a wolf. In this form, we had laser focus, grabbing the small bag in our mouth and easing out the door. The hallway was empty, as I’d expected. The alpha and his family were always on the most expansive side of the estate, leaving the entrance on the other side to be guarded by their minions.

Once again, their cowardice was going to cost them as I snuck out like a thief in the night. This old house was full of secret entrances, small closets that led to alleys, and a laundry chute I’d used more than once to slip away from assholes chasing me. My smaller stature both in human and wolf form had done me right a couple of times.

No one crossed my path by the time I reached the rarely used laundry room. Of course, when I pushed against the door, it was firmly closed, and as much strength as my wolf had, thumbs and the ability to open doors were not part of them.

Fuck. It would require me to shift back, and then back again, but three shifts in such a short time would exhaust me to the point I’d be fairly useless if a fight broke out.

I wasted a few precious minutes contemplating other options, only to hear shifters returning to this side of the building. The distraction was over and pretty soon, I’d be trapped. Which left me with no other option. My wolf, understanding the plan, didn’t fight the shift, allowing me to slip back into our human skin. I opened the door in a flash, rushing inside and closing it firmly again.

Sucking in a deep breath as I searched for the energy to shift again, I just let go of all control and hoped my wolf would respond, doing at least half the work for me. She didn’t let me down, and when the shift hit again, the pain was worse, but it was over just as fast. I did have to pant on the ground for a minute or so to recover, but there was strength in our body as we pushed up, grabbed the bag, and headed to the wall with the exit. It was one of those old-school metal chutes, rough in places, but I’d used it enough times to know the spots to avoid.

When the fresh air hit, even more energy returned, and I moved quickly toward the creek. The water was my go-to in covering my scent and tracks, and after a few miles along this creekbank, I’d end up on a main road, ready to head straight to the school.

Fuck, I loved when a plan came together.