Compelled (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 5)

The creatures moved slowly at first, but soon they were sprinting across the golden fields. It was quite a moment, watching them race toward freedom, and even as part of me mourned the loss of my short-lived pack, a larger part rejoiced at their new lives awaiting. The happiness and safety of your pack should be the number one priority of an alpha, something Victor never understood.

“Did the masters ever truly try and free them?” I asked Lucien as we stared across the field. “Because they don’t look like they want to return to Crimson City.”

“I was never here during any of the alleged freeings,” he finally said, and he sounded upset about that. “We got told about their imprisonment, and I didn’t care enough to investigate.”

“They’re important,” I reminded him. “Equally as important as spoiled-ass vampires whose greatest worry is where their next bottle of blood is from.” Lucien didn’t argue, and I hoped from here on, he would give consideration to all the living beings in this world.

In the end, Bowley and the bear-cat were the only two creatures remaining with me. “Time to go free,” I said to the purring beast. “I hope we meet again.”

For a beat, it didn’t appear that it was going to leave, but with one final rumble, it loped away to a far-off pocket of forest.

“What about you, Bowley” I whispered, feeling bereft. Wild creatures deserved to be wild, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t miss this little guy. “You are absolutely welcome to stay with me forever, but if you want to return to your home or family, I will visit.”

Bowley squeaked and rolled down my arm to land on the ground. It uncurled in front of me, and I bent down to brush my fingers over its smooth belly. “Thank you for everything,” I said, understanding its decision. “You saved me, and I’m really going to miss you.”

Bowley curled up into a ball again and zoomed onto my hand for one last cuddle. Then, with a final sigh, it was gone, zipping across the short grasses, heading back to its home.

I tried to push my sadness down. For all my talk of not being a princess with an animal sidekick, I would miss Bowley so damn much. But it was pure selfishness to keep the froden with me when it was wild.

Even if, for a short time, I’d felt like I had a real pack.

“You’re not alone.”

Lucien’s words sliced into my already aching chest, hitting me right in the heart. The heat building behind my eyes was painful as I tried to breathe through the need to break down. The fact that he understood what I was feeling and sought to comfort me was almost my undoing.

“I know,” I managed to say. “And now it’s time to end this bullshit. I’m done with the selection—you both need to choose tonight so life can go back to normal.”

Lucien wrapped an arm around me, and goddamn, this guy was wrecking me.

“You’re right. I will announce my decision tonight, and Carter can either get on board or bow out. He never should have sought a second mate when his first still owns his heart.”

The mention of Carter’s first mate reminded me of his vague words of explaining why his feelings for her weren’t an issue. Words that still sent a slither of unease along my spine. “Carter seemed kind of unhinged today,” I noted. “Do you think the stress of this selection is getting to him? How truly powerful is he? Like, what would happen if he lost himself completely and tried to take the masters on?”

A lot of questions, but they needed to be asked. Never walk into battle and not know what you were up against.

“Carter is much older than me,” Lucien said. “Ancient and untested, to be honest. We’ve left him alone for years, and I doubt many alive have seen his true strength.”

Untested wasn’t great. “He promised me that he would honor my decision in the end,” I told Lucien. “But after today, I have my doubts.”

Lucien’s expression hardened. “That’s why I wanted to give you my blood in the first place. I don’t trust him at all. He has no issues with manipulating your kindness in the hopes of taking advantage. We already know he was trying to use compulsion on you. He would have expected that, being so new to this world, you wouldn’t understand the subtle underhandedness of vampires.”

I snorted. “Dude, there has literally been not one subtle thing about you since I returned to Valdor and this stupid selection. I keep waiting for you to brand your name on my skin and drag me off to your sex cave.”

Lucien didn’t laugh as I’d expected; instead, he appeared to consider that suggestion. “I’ve spent a lot of years around Shadow,” he said with a shrug. “His animalistic nature has rubbed off on me, and team it with my natural possessiveness…”

“I didn’t say I was complaining,” I told him, a little breathless. “I’m still a shifter, born and bred, so deep down, I’ll always crave a primal sort of love. Blow the worlds up and all that jazz.”

He stilled, and I could have kicked myself. The word “love” had slipped out then, and now, I’d no doubt freaked him out. As I went to make a joke to dispel the tension, there was a shout from behind us, and we both turned to find Galco, our security guard friend, hurrying over.

“Master Lucien,” he called again, waving his arm before he picked up speed and reached us in another second. “You need to get back to the chambers. That selected who was killed, her family is there declaring that justice must be served.”

“Hattie’s family?” I asked.

Galco looked at me and nodded. “Yeah, they’re asking for a death sentence for Simone. And for Lucien to have his tier one status stripped.”

“For fuck’s sake,” I muttered. “Every time I step into this godsforsaken world, I get a death sentence handed out to me. You guys are a little kill happy.”

I was half-joking, but Lucien held no amusement. “They won’t touch you,” he rumbled, voice dropping into the octave of a pissed off vampire. “I’ll deal with this. Galco, can you take Simone back to my house? The gate will open for her.”

He turned to leave, but I grabbed onto his arm before he could. “You’re not going without me,” I snapped. “Hattie’s family is not the only shit we need to deal with. We need the selection over.”

His eyes shone as he met my gaze. “You have literally no pull at all with the masters. Storming in there and demanding anything is a surefire way to get yourself killed. We need to approach this politically—”

As soon as he mentioned politically, I had an idea. “We have to bring Shadow in,” I burst out. “I know he said he can’t get too involved, but he still owns part of my being, and that part he has sovereign right over.”

No one owned me, of course, but if I could use my creator against the vamps, I sure as shit was going to do it.

Lucien’s chest rumbled. “He has no right over you,” he bit out. “We don’t need him to defend you; I have my own power here. Trust me to defuse the current situation, and then we can deal with the selected.”

My instincts screamed at me that this was a pivotal moment with Lucien. A moment where our relationship could go either way. And if I didn’t trust him…

“Okay,” I finally said. “One day, though, we will face these battles together. I’m not a queen to cower behind her king. I stand at your side, or I don’t stand with you at all.”

That declaration might have been even stronger than the love one, but I was past hiding my feelings. If he wasn’t all in like me, then it was time to get all out.

I couldn’t do the half-fake bullshit any longer.

Lucien moved in a blur, kissing me hard and fast until my head spun and legs were weak. “Stay safe, Queen Bee,” he murmured, and then he was gone.

Queen Bee. Holy shit, he’d taken my king and queen analogy and run with it.

Maybe I wasn’t the only one trying to win a heart these days.