Compelled (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 5)

Shadow calmed when Mera brought the baby to her chest and started to gently rock her. “Anyway, back to Simone. What does this selection ceremony have to do with her? She’s a shifter, right? Surely, there’s no reason to call her back for this event. Does she have to touch the stone again or something?”

Lucien dropped the relaxed pose, leaning forward and pressing his hands against the table. I couldn’t help but notice how much space they took up, big, strong hands, reminding me of a shifter. Vampires were not like those in human lore, refined and sophisticated. Valdor vampires were built like warriors, with the rumbly personality to go with it.

“When I saved Simone,” Lucien started slowly, “there was no option but to use my blood and hope it healed her. I’d never fed a shifter before—or any being for that matter—so I had no idea what would happen. But she was going to die either way, so I had to give it a shot.” His gaze met mine, and I swallowed hard as the memories of his mouth on mine returned. “Turns out shifter and vampire blood are…. compatible.” His voice lowered. “Simone still has my energy within her, mingling with her own. It’s growing stronger as time goes on, and at this point, she can no longer be considered fully shifter.”

I waited for this to blow my damn mind and send me into a crazed state, but it just didn’t freak me out like it should.

Somehow I was adjusting to the new level of crazy better than expected.

“For a while now,” I managed to say, “I’ve felt like my wolf’s energy was being suppressed by this cloud of power inside. Now we know it’s Lucien’s blood.”

Mera looked like she wanted to scream, but when Lucien continued talking, she managed to remain quietly vibrating in her rage. “For now, the vampire blood inside her is a technicality that will allow her in the selection, and since Carter requested it as part of his mate call, the masters were inclined to force the issue. They want him to step up as a new tier one master, bringing more power to Crimson City.”

“Why didn’t you just say no?” Mera snapped. “There must be a right to choose.”

“There is,” Lucien agreed. “And under normal circumstances that would have worked, but they could still decide to punish her for touching the stone, so it’s enter the selection or die.”

Before Mera could explode, Shadow leaned forward. “The vampire blood is weakening your wolf?” he rumbled.

I shrugged. “It feels like she’s wading through jelly to rise up, and I don’t have the same urge to shift as I used to.”

Mera looked absolute horrified. “What if Shadow went there and reminded them that shifters are his and pissing him off is a really bad idea? Not to mention pissing off his mate.” She bared her teeth as the air grew hotter around us.

Shadow was on his feet in the next second, moving around his mate and daughter to stop behind my chair. As I tilted my head back to see what was going on, he wrapped one huge hand around my head and cheek, and I gasped as the burn of his power zipped under my skin. For what felt like an eternity, I couldn’t move, trapped in his hold. The only part of me reacting was my wolf as she surged forward, desperate to frolic in the energy of our creator. Our god.

So freaking weird that he was also my best friends’ mate.

When he finally released me, I shook my head. It took a few second for my scattered thoughts to realign enough for me to notice that a big body stood between Shadow and me. It took another few seconds to figure out who it was: Lucien.

He’d been the one to break the hold.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Shadow roared. “You dare interfere?”

Lucien’s body grew larger to match Shadow’s, and though I couldn’t see his face, I had no doubt he was black-eyed with fangs out as he faced off against his brother. “You don’t handle Simone like that.” A rumbling rasp of words. “Not now. Not ever.”

A fucking feather could have knocked me off my chair. Lucien was defending… me? Against Shadow, his oldest friend. I expected it from Mera, but the vampire would never have challenged Shadow for me before.

Turning toward Mera in the hope she had some information I was missing, I found that she looked as wide-eyed and confused as I felt. It didn’t stop her from springing into action, moving between the two growling, furious alphas.

I heard some scuffs of shoes and chairs moving across the floor and knew the rest of the room was bailing, smart enough to know that a god battle was no place to hang around.

“Mera!” Shadow roared again. “Take our baby and get away from Lucien.”

Shadow’s command had no effect on Mera at all; she stood her ground and glared at him. “You need to take a quick walk and cool off,” she snapped. “I’m doing my best to work around the parts of your beast that are out of control, but hurting my friends is where I draw the line. All of my friends, including Lucien.”

Shadow’s next roar shook the damn walls, but for once, he did as he was told and turned to leave. When he was near the exit, he paused briefly to say, “I can’t stop the vampires. Unless she can rid herself of Lucien’s blood, Simone is as much theirs as she is mine now. It would mean war to pull her from the selection—which we can do. But working out how to fail out of the selection is a better plan to start with.”

Then he was gone, taking much of the tension with him.

Mera and Lucien both returned to their seats, and I tried to calm the pounding in my heart and the restless energy of my wolf. Shadow’s power had kick-started hers, and she wanted to run. I hadn’t shifted in so long, but now was not the time.

A fact my wolf gave zero shits about.

Lurching to my feet, I moved away from the table and chairs and shook out my body. “Are you okay?” Lucien asked, at my side in a beat.

I waved him off, unable to speak as my wolf surged forward. Turning my back, I jerked my shirt off, kicking my shoes aside at the same time. “She’s about to shift,” Mera told him.

She might have said more, but my ears turned off as I lost myself in the change. Within seconds I’d shaken off my human side, feeling at one with my beast for the first time in months. My wolf was above average in size, her black hair shaggier than many wolves, and I never felt cold in the winter, even during the deepest chills.

Tipping my head back, I howled out a loud call of joy. “Shadow stirred her shifter energy,” Mera said, and in my monochromatic vision, it appeared as if she had glowing flames around her. The brightest flame of all was the baby girl in her arms. The child’s eyes met mine and held for many long seconds.

Wolf.

I heard the voice, an echo of power in my head, and I didn’t freak out because why the hell wouldn’t Mera and Shadow’s child be able to talk to and—

Come.

My feet were moving before my brain could catch up, and apparently talking in my head wasn’t the only thing Shadowshine Jr. could do.

Mera must have felt the use of power because she looked down as I curled up at her feet. “Did you do that?” she asked the baby, reaching out to run a finger down her child’s cheek. “We don’t control other beings, little one. Give Simone her free will back.”

Since I was being held against Mera’s legs, I couldn’t really see what was happening, but she must have gotten through to the baby because just as quickly as I’d been called, I was released. Shaking off my fur, I backed up a touch, and when I met my best friend’s eyes, I called my human side and shifted.

Once upon a time my wolf would never have let me go so quickly, but she was still weaker. What Shadow had done was already wearing off. It had been a temporary fix of shifter energy, but Lucien’s vampire blood was strong and unwilling to release me.

Standing there naked and shaking, I dropped my hand to the table to support myself. Mera moved toward me, but I flinched as the child got closer. I saw the hurt on my best friend’s face, but my reaction had been instinctive. This baby was not even a day old, and already she could talk in my mind and force her will on me.

“She only wanted to touch your wolf,” Mera said softly. “Shadow is her father, after all.”

My heart ached at the pain I’d just caused her, and as I straightened and attempted to pull myself together, a warm shirt was slipped over my head. With a jolt, I turned to find Lucien with a huge expanse of golden skin and muscles on view since I was now wearing his shirt.

His body heat engulfed me, while the scent that wafted from the shirt made me dizzy. But there was no time to lose myself. Tearing my eyes from Lucien, I faced Mera. “I’m sorry for flinching, Meers,” I said, taking a step forward and stumbling. My body was exhausted, and if I didn’t rest soon, I’d just pass out where I stood. “My reaction was instinctive. Self-preservation. It’s natural to fear someone as powerful as she is, but you know I’ll always love you and your child. Even if she’s as strong and scary as her father.”

I tried to it make a joke, but it fell flat. Mera, thankfully, was an understanding person. “I’m sorry she did that. I think you just reminded her of a big fluffy puppy, and she wanted to play with you. I promise that we’ll spend a lot of time teaching her power boundaries.”

Lucien, who remained close by—so close I could feel his energy tingling over my skin—said, “She’s very aware and strong for a newborn. I can’t wait to see what she can do when she’s older.”

Mera let out a choked laugh. “Terrible twos are going to be interesting.”

“Understatement of the year,” I managed to say. “But you and Shadow are more than capable of handling whatever your baby or life throws at you.”

The door opened with a bang, and we all turned to see Reece fly through.

“Angel is having her baby,” he barked out. “Or, at least, she is refusing to until you’re all there.”

He waved in a manner that indicated if we didn’t move our asses, we would be swept up in a desert storm.

“So soon, is everything okay?” Lucien asked the desert deity.

Reece nodded in jagged movements. “Yes. Our child is ready.”

Simple as that.

“Looks like you won’t be facing the terrible twos alone,” I whispered to Mera as we headed toward Reece.

All I got in return was her laughter, and when her baby’s unusual eyes met my gaze, I had to laugh too.

Here was hoping that their sense of humor remained true.

They were going to need it.