I tried to see around Shadow, to determine where the alpha asshole was, but every time I moved, Shadow was somehow still blocking me completely from sight.
“As easily as I created your kind, it would be just as easy to destroy you,” Shadow rumbled.
Torin’s laughter sounded light, but I’d known him for enough years to know he was far from relaxed. “See, I don’t think that’s strictly true. I’ve been doing some research over this past year, and it turns out that we’re now an important part of the power structure of both this world and… of you. Without shifters, you would not be rocking the current level of energy you’ve grown accustomed to.”
Heat flowed from Shadow with an intensity that told me he was a bee’s dick from losing it completely. “Whom have you been speaking to?” he asked. “There’s no way that knowledge is written anywhere in Earth tomes or scripts.”
Torin chuckled again. “Yeah, see, we have a mutual friend in common. She’s been to your world. She’s been to a lot of worlds, wandering around, and it didn’t take muchpersuasionto convince her to spill some of your secrets.”
Wandering.Dannie was a wanderer. That was what she’d always called herself.
This time, I didn’t bother to take it slow, throwing myself to the side so I could get around Shadow. “If you’ve hurt her, Torin,” I shouted, my voice changing as my wolf got involved, “Iwillkill you.”
Torin’s eyes met mine, and it was the first time we’d really stared at each other since he’d started trying to chase me down. “Come home with me, Mera, and I’ll make sure Dannie comes to no more harm.”
My limbs trembled, and as heat burned through me, I wondered if any of that was from me, or was it all Shadow’s fire? He was all but pressed against my spine.
“You might kiss me against my will,” I spat at Torin. “You might touch and drag and hurt me. You’ve always had more power than me, but the one thing you will never have is me submitting willingly to you. Just ask Shadow here. My independence is the part of me I hold above all else.”
“He kissed you against your will?” Shadow’s words were sharp, each syllable a figurative blade.
I swallowed roughly. “Yeah, he did. Twice. Just before you got to us, so I now owe him a broken nose or two.”
The heat soared around the beast, and I almost gasped as Torin dropped to his knees, screams ringing from him. Jerking my head up to see Shadow’s face, he was staring the alpha down with an impassive stare—flames in his eyes.
Holy. Fuck.
I knew exactly what was happening, having felt this particular power before, and while I would never feel sorry for Torin, I was the one who wanted to break this bastard.
“Shadow,” I said, placing my hand on his burning skin. “It’s fine. I can handle him.”
His chest rumbled, but he didn’t argue as he released Torin. The alpha dragged himself up to his feet, shoulders heaving as he shook off that pain. I waited for his attack, but he decided not to respond in the same manner, choosing a different path.
He held his hands out to me and took a shaky step forward. “Just come home with me, Mera,” he pleaded huskily, “and we can work out our dynamic. I know you’ve always wanted a welcome back into the pack, and now you have it. The alpha’s mate will never fear for her life.”
He had reached into my chest and yanked out my deepest, strongest desire. The wish I’d been making since I’d been a pre-teen. Since I’d lost my father. Since my world in Torma had imploded.
But despite his apparent sincerity, I knew the truth: he would control me for the power boost our bond brought.
“What about Sisily?” I asked with a derisive laugh.
“What about her?” he shot back just as fast. “She obeys her alpha, as all my wolves do, and whatever I decide works best for the three of us is what will happen.”
I lunged forward, prepared to murder this stupid fuck if it was the last thing I did. No one could miss what he’d just implied there, and if he thought he could start his own harem, then he was going to wake up with a blade in his chest. Again.
Torin and I went down in a tangle of limbs, and I shifted in the same instant, the pain almost negligent in my fury. My wolf wasted no time tearing into Torin’s throat, and at first the alpha didn’t fight me—my attack had taken him by surprise, but his survival instincts kicked in moments later as he too partly shifted. It was too late, though, with Shadow wading into the fight, and yanking me up and out of there before Torin could land a single bite.
“You’re a poor match for her,” the beast told the bloodied shifter. “And if you try to touch her again, I will forsake the power you provide to me and wipe your kind from this world.”
Torin spat out some blood as the visible gashes in his throat started to heal—unfortunately, I hadn’t hit anything too important. “You might claim her for now while you track your shadow creatures, but she’s not yours.” Torin showed no fear, and I honestly didn’t know where this bravery was coming from.
Shadow must have had the same thought, as the gold bled back into his eyes. “You have briefly demonstrated the reasons you were chosen as her mate, but it’s too little, too late.”
“Never,” Torin seethed. “If there’s anything else I’ve learned in the past year, it’s that only death is permanent.”
Shadow’s cynical laughter rang out as he turned, with my wolf still in his arms, and stepped toward the library portal. “You’ve put your death out into the universe, mutt. Let’s hope she doesn’t decide to take you up on that challenge.”
“I have your weakness, Shadow Beast,” Torin bellowed after us, finally managing to get to his feet, just as we vanished from sight and Earth was cut off from us.
