Deserted (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 4)

By the time we’d been in the grotto long enough to recover my energy from the fight—and for Reece to give me a dozen or more orgasms—no part of my essence felt empty or alone. My family remained with me in my heart and memories—a truth I saw clearly now that I’d lost all the layers of my worlds.

I’d held onto those layers with a sort of desperation that shamed me. True power could never be taken away; the layers were a crutch I’d clung to for far too long.

“We need to return to the library,” Reece murmured when we were dozing on the silver sands, warm and content. “But there’s somewhere I want to take you first.”

Lifting my right hand, I pressed it to my chest. ‘I can feel Mera in our bond,’ I said. ‘She’s calm, if a little irritated. We have some time.’

He was up in a flash, and before I knew it, we were out of the grotto. This time, silver sands remained on my body. “Your connection to our child and grotto grows stronger,” Reece noted.

I rubbed a few grains between my fingers and smiled at the silver power filling my well. “This is going to take some getting used to,” I noted.

Reece wrapped his arms around me, red sands rising up to lift us from the ground. “We’ll figure it out together,” he told me, and for once, I let that push all other thoughts aside.

Together was exactly what we needed.

As his sands took us across the deserts, I figured out quickly where we were heading: Rohami.

“Why are we going home?” I asked, lifting my face to breathe in the familiar scent and energy of his land. Even if, technically, he was more closely connected to Delfora, Rohami was his blood.

His hold around me tightened, both of us sailing the breezes as one. ‘I want to renew our bond in the same spot where we originally committed to each other.’

Our bond was already so strong, pulsing between us, but this gesture spoke of a true rebinding of what we’d neglected for years. “Some might think you’re turning into a bit of a softy, desert god,’ I murmured, turning so I could wrap my arms around his neck.

He grumbled out a low laugh. ‘Some might be right.’

Before I could join him in laughter, his mirth faded, to be replaced by a deeper emotion. ‘I prayed for this, you know?’ His tone was serious. ‘Even when I knew you deserved more than me, I couldn’t let you go. You have always been mine.’

Exactly how I’d felt, even when I’d been so angry with him. “You hid it better than me,’ I said with a sad laugh.

Reece shook his head. ‘Love and hate are so close, and it was easy to pretend that the reason for my obsession with you, with your movements, with your life, was because I hated you. But I think we both know the real reason.’

We were quite the pair, already bonded for an eternity… obsessed for an eternity.

And now we got to be happy for an eternity.

‘Let’s never compartmentalize our emotions again,’ I said as the stunning red sands passed below us. ‘We missed out on so much and could have died before we ever got to experience a true bond.’ I reached down and pressed my hand to my stomach to feel the flutter of life. Already our child was developing fast, and for that reason, I would keep all the silver sands I had on me, just in case we needed them in the future.

‘No more talk of dying,’ Reece said, pulling me into him, his lips meeting mine.

By the time I came up for air, we were at his village, and as our sands lowered toward the entrance, I noticed a few changes in the years I’d avoided this place. Including some stock yards with hundreds of butle, brought in from the eastern planes. Those large, bull-like animals came in a range of red and black coats, and with their huge plates of horns on either side of their heads, were always impressive.

Reece brought us closer, and I peered over the side of his sands to see clearer. ‘New gates?’ I asked. The red pillars appeared to be much larger than the old ones, crowning pieces to the red fences that encircled the entire village.

‘Sandstorm tore through our old ones a couple hundred years ago,’ Reece said, zooming over the gates. He was the only one in this city with the permission to do so. “I was away from the Desert Lands at the time, but we got stronger pillars up.”

His words reminded me that there was a stronger pillar in the Delfora too. So, hopefully, we’d never have to worry about the gods rising again.

The guards below saluted Reece, even though only our heads were visible, his sands keeping the rest of our naked forms hidden. “We’ve spent a lot of time naked in this world,” I noted.

He laughed, shaking his head, and damn, if he didn’t look more relaxed than I’d ever seen. “If I had my way, Lale, you would never wear clothing.”

I couldn’t help but laugh too, euphoria bubbling in a way I hadn’t felt since I was a youngling. “Kinda feel the same about you, but I also know we’d never get one thing done.”

He didn’t argue with me, because there was no lie in that statement.

We were now over the first circle of the seven that made up the structure of this village. Each of the first few were filled with stalls and shops and carts, the areas where goods were sold and exchanged and bartered. In some ways, this world was far more primitive than humanity’s, who loved their technology, but Desertlandians were happy in their simpler lives. They never strove for more, content to exist in their bubbles of serenity. Everyone in this world had enough, with no homelessness or poverty, and maybe in the end, that was the sign of an evolved society.

Reece’s family home was near the fifth circle, on the outer perimeter. ‘I always wondered if you would find your own space and leave your parents,” I said as he landed, sands still swirling around us. They remained as we walked up the short path to the stately red front door, which had been hand carved with images of dunes and pamolsa and the Delfora. It was an impressive piece that his mother had commissioned, if I remembered correctly.

‘I’m so rarely here,’ he shrugged, ‘and when I am, I’m alone. It just didn’t seem worth creating my own place.’

I grasped his hand. ‘No more loneliness for you.’

He twisted his palm so our fingers could thread together. “For you either, mate. I know you must be worried about returning to the Honor Meadows now that your territory is so empty, but I promise, we will get through it together.”

I was worried, but not to the level I’d have expected before this moon. “I know the loss will hit me hard once I’m there,” I admitted, “but there’s a new part of my family blooming now. Is it odd that I’m almost relieved?”

He lifted an eyebrow, expression encouraging me to talk the emotions out. “I’m free,” I said simply. “No more power to protect. No more worry of letting my family down by misusing their gifts. I can move forward, and seeing my sister only cemented my belief that I’ll find them again one day.”

Reece nodded. “You will, but no time soon.”

I smiled, needing some levity in this moment. “Definitely not soon.”

We had too much to live for, and even though much of my eternal power was gone, now that I was bonded to Reece, I’d stay in this world as long as I wanted.

And with him, that was forever.