Reclaimed (Shadow Beast Shifters, #2)

by Jaymin Eve

Before she could answer, I got to my feet, drawing their attention. “I think I’ll take you up on that offer of freshening up,” I said saltily. “There’s a lot of bullshit in the air, and I think a bit landed on me.”

He. Let. Me. Go. All so he could go back to playing happily married family with the ice queen, discussing their plans.

“You see flaws… I see character. No one is perfect, and if they’re pretending to be, it’s only to hide a fuck-ton of damage. No one deserves to exist like that, and in the end, it will drive them a little cray cray. So, for me, it’s all about embracing the quirks that make up Mera. Got me?”

“Because. Little wolf. You belong to me.”

“We are irrevocably linked, Mera Callahan,” he rumbled against my skin. “A bond built in fire and shadows.” Fuck. This was everything I’d wanted to hear, but at the same time it wasn’t. He still owned me, and I was still the possession. And he still had a true mate.

“Never. We don’t kiss any who are not our true mate…. anywhere. I’ve had more sex than you’ll know in ten lifetimes, but never have I used my mouth to fuck a pussy like I did yours. Never have I tasted such sweetness, and I’m starting to think you put a fucking spell on me because I can’t even remember my life before you came into it.”

He’d never had his mouth on a woman. Except me.

“You’re lucky I have somewhere to be, or I would tie your naked ass to my bed and make you come a thousand times on my face.”

“You are going to be the death of me, Sunshine,” he said through gritted teeth. His power froze me, and I was lifted from the water. “Don’t ever touch yourself like that again.” Now I was completely fucking locked in by his hypnotic voice. “Your orgasms belong to me.” I would have writhed if he wasn’t holding me still. “Mine, Sunshine.” “Shadow,” I choked out. “If I’m yours, then fucking prove it.”

“Correct, baby,” he whispered, and fuck me, if that endearment didn’t tether my pussy to him just a little more.

Since my father’s death, I hadn’t been able to trust new people, but Angel had blown through those barriers, and now I couldn’t imagine my life without her. This friendship might be the true love story here.

I could never settle for the mistress position, while someone else held his heart and soul. I deserved better.

I’m so honored that you’re part of my life. That we are bonded. Midnight swelled larger and did a jiggling move with lots of sparks of its synapses. The honor is mine.

“I love you too, Mera. You’re the friend I never even knew I was missing in my life. You’re my ride or die, and I will bury every body for you.” She was mixing Earth sayings like a pro there, and as a laugh of pure joy escaped me, I wondered why I even gave a fuck about Shadow. This shit right here was what life was all about, and I was one lucky bitch to have it.

Shadow growled. “No one touches Mera. Ever. If her death is required, then this world will continue to fall. It’s as simple as that.” Well, fuck. It was hard to hate someone who was willing to sacrifice worlds for me.

Being a bigger person sucked. The end.

This was what had to take its place, my destiny as protector of the shadow creatures. Protector. Guardian. Mother.

I was the reckoning the royals had never seen coming.

“You were born to change this world,” my friend said with conviction. “It was that odd energy I felt about you from the start. It’s creation energy. Mist born.” She shook her head, like she couldn’t believe it. “If I hadn’t thought it impossible, as no one has been to this world for thousands of years, I would have seen it immediately.”

Shadow’s brutality tempered with just enough gentleness apparently did it for me, and I would forever compare other men to him. No doubt always finding them wanting.

“Your pussy is the best fucking thing I’ve ever felt or tasted.” Shadow growled. “And it belongs to me.”

“Our demons match, Sunshine,”

just before I was unconscious, I could have sworn I felt lips press to mine. “Our souls match, Sunshine.”

Because souls matching was so much more than our demons matching. It was the building of true mates, and one thing I knew for certain was Shadow and I might have sexual compatibility, but our true mates were other beings. Fate was fucked sometimes.

Ixana scowled. Did she not like me interrupting her little bonding time with Shadow? Tough shit, cupcake.

Shadow’s pull was the strongest of all, and I’d tried ignoring it, hating him, even fucking him, but nothing had changed that feeling deep in my body. Our demons matched. Our souls matched. It was an absolute truth that was set to destroy me any day.

Words were all well and good, but it was actions that said everything.

“Mine,” he rumbled softly. My heart lurched. “Until such a time I say she’s not, Mera Callahan belongs to me.”

why didn’t you kiss anyone before me?” He released a deep breath. “For some reason, it was the one thing I held on to, until…” Me. “Why?” I breathed. Shadow was tense, his shoulders hardening under my ass. “You know why, Sunshine.” Now I was tense, but I did know why. Our demons matched. Our souls matched. We were more than just a random hookup. We’d been more the first moment I’d touched the Shadow Realm and drawn him into my world.

I felt the whoosh of energy coat me as well, my own flames that matched his, rising across my body. Angel grinned broadly. “You look like an immortal goddess,” she said, her eyes locked on me. “It’s the most powerful form I’ve ever seen you take.”

“You can’t escape me for long, Sunshine.” “I don’t want to, Shadow.” Shadowshine. We were going to rock that couple name… if we ever sorted our shit out.

From the ashes, the phoenix will rise. Dannie was a freaking phoenix,

“You’re the original creature, Mainey? How? The literal Mother of Creatures?” They knew her as Mainey. I knew her as Dannie.

“You are what I am, which is a creature born of the Nexus.”

“You can call yourself Mother Junior of the Creatures. You and I are born of pure creation.”

You have a true dual soul, and one day these two sides will collide in a spectacular manner. You’ll be reborn into the Supreme Being with the power to rule both worlds.”

there was something about seeing the man you loved lose his shit like this.

“You’d burn The Concordes down for me?” I swallowed roughly. “I’d burn the entire world down for you, Sunshine.”

Death was not good enough for Ixana. She needed to suffer for an eternity.

I’d have to do what I did best: wing it. What could possibly go wrong?

I felt a moment of satisfaction that he still chose me. I mean, sure, his mate was a complete psychopath with delusions of grandeur, but… technically, I’d still won the beast. Score.

“We need to talk, Sunshine,” he told me. I nodded, my head spinning. “Yes, talk. Yes.” His laugh was a low, deep rumble. “Flustered Sunshine is one of my favorites.”

Just call me “Crazy Creature Lady” because I was ready to have a dozen or more of them in my life. My new pack.