Reborn (Shadow Beast Shifter, #3)

by Jaymin Eve

Everyone was telling me all the things. It all felt like bullshit.

Now he had to earn my body, soul, and love. No woman should settle for less than that.

I was alpha-mate to a pack that I wished didn’t exist… and I couldn’t pretend to half-ass this role for much longer.

Just like on a chess board, the queen ruled everything. He’d made a mistake in revoking the rejection because I was the fucking queen here, and I would sacrifice them all to learn my truth.

If there was one thing I hated more than any other, it was the loss of my free will. No one was allowed to dictate what I did with my body. If this was thanks to whoever had stolen my memories, be it the Shadow Beast or someone else, I would be merciless when I found them.

I seriously wanted to throat-punch a motherfucker.

“My father called me ‘Sunny’ because of my hair. Callahan hair,” I murmured, half-caught in the past. Mika shot me a commiserating stare. “He called you ‘Sunny’ for more reason than one. He said you had the power of a burning light inside you. A demon power.”

Sure, we’d just made friends like toddlers in the park, but why did adults have to complicate everything? If you click with someone, be their friend. If they prove they’re not worthy of your friendship, bury their body and start again. It’s simple, really.

I never saw him treat anyone the way he treated you. You’re special, Mera. You changed the beast for the better, and for a powerful being who has spent two thousand years ruling with fear and control, that means something.”

Sometimes a chance was all anyone ever needed.

He was my… everything.

I think the thing he raged about losing was you. You’re the one who can bring him back to us.”

I’d lost a lot in my life, and what Dannie had done to me topped all of that, but I’d been given a second chance. A chance I would not waste. For starters, no more pretending I wasn’t in love with the Shadow Beast. Desperately, desperately in love.

Shadow Beast was anything but weak. He was worthy beyond all others, and it was time that I tracked him down… and made that bastard repair my library. Right after he fucked me silly. No lie, my heart and my vagina fluttered at the very thought.

“Please don’t die,” Gaster said against my shoulder. “Your light makes the world much brighter for us all. I truly missed you.”

holy dick gods in heaven. Someone needed to say a fucking prayer for that bounty.

If what you’ve said is true, you might be the one thing that Shadow could not handle losing. He doesn’t remember why, but he knows deep inside that he’s broken beyond repair. From what I heard, Shadow destroyed worlds for you. He dismantled the Solaris System with a swipe of his power. Literal worlds fallin—”

He said he would let the Shadow Realm fall, if it was a choice between that world and me.” My eyes met Gaster’s. “He said that to me when we were in the realm, but it’s just an expression, right? A super sexy, hot-as-hell expression that made me feel all the things. But no one literally destroys worlds when the person they care about is hurt…”

Since you were taken from him, he has struck a path of destruction through the ten worlds. With enough force that I’m not sure all of them can recover.”

I’m going to be on his ass like a goddamn barnacle until he learns to love me again. If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s wearing people down.”

And all I could think about was Shadow. I’d never ached for another being the way I did for him.

I was a greedy bitch when it came to my beast.

Shadow’s face was a mask of death and destruction. The mask of a being who was about to destroy the world. And I just might let him.

“My beast knew you,” he finally said, his voice a husky rumble. “Even if I didn’t remember, my instinct knew you were mine. Nothing in any world would have gotten through to me except you, Sunshine. I need you to know that.”

“Don’t even try to play. You love me. I knew it from the first time you threw me over your shoulder.”

“You’re the match to my soul, Sunshine,” he rumbled through the power surrounding us. “You are my one. The only being I would destroy worlds for, and I’m afraid I did just that.”

“I cannot change my nature for you tonight,” he warned. I knew what that one sentence meant. I was getting the full ride, pun intended. An experience that was almost certainly going to destroy parts of me, but it was all good.

“Nothing was the same without you. I didn’t know why, but I knew that I was missing something vital to my survival. I searched, and I destroyed. More than just the Solaris System. I stripped myself bare so I could build myself up again and find the fundamental part of my soul that was missing. Only you weren’t there.”

“No, Sunshine,” he repeated. “You belong to me. Your body. Your soul. Your heart. Your orgasms.”

“You sleep naked with me, Sunshine,” he said, his voice deeper than usual. “I want to feel every inch of your skin pressed to mine. I want your scent and mine together. I want nothing between us.”

It took about five of those strokes until I was basically dead. How did he do this to me? Every. Damn. Time.

“I’m starting to understand Len and Lucien’s fascination with humans. My life was an endless night before you came into it, but now there’s fire everywhere I turn. You know how I feel about fire.”

“To answer your eloquent question from before, yes, this shit is very real between us. My beast has claimed you. I have claimed you. You belong to me, Sunshine.” “Until such a time you say I don’t.” We’d played this game before. Shadow’s biceps tensed on either side of my head, and when he lowered himself down, my breath caught in anticipation. “No, Mera,” he murmured. “There’s no such out available to you any longer. You’re mine. End of story or end of life.” I swallowed hard. “My life?” His lips were almost on mine. “No. The life of anyone who attempts to take you from me.”

I’d been kidding myself from the start. There was no walking away from Shadow. Only death would tear us apart, and we were ready to fight it every step of the way.

we walked into his shower. He then proceeded to wash me all over, very, very thoroughly. By the time I was done, I’d forgotten my own name, let alone my friend’s, but Shadow got us back on track.

“I would do a lot of bad shit if it meant I’d never lose this again,” I said, staring into the flickering flames. He chuckled, a dark and broken sound. “Sunshine, I’d make your bad shit look like Sunday School. There are no limits when it comes to protecting what is mine. None at all. I have and would continue to destroy the foundation of existence if it meant one more day with you.”

“You’re my moral compass, Mera,”

“Sunshine, there’s no being in any of the many worlds I’ve traveled who is worthier than you. But I do worry that with our fates so entwined, if I fall, then so will you. I cannot live with that.”

“Don’t encourage this asshole of a vampire who couldn’t sparkle if his damn life depended on it.”

before I could open my mouth again, he reached out and hauled me from my cushion onto his lap. The words died on my lips as I tilted my head back to meet his gaze. “Mine,” he said softly. Dammit, who knew I was such a hussy for that one possessive word? Because I was fairly certain my panties could swim out of here.

“Mine, Sunshine. You belong to none of them, no matter how badly you love the pack life. Do you need a lesson in remembering?” I wanted to moan, but this was not the time or place. “Promises, promises,” I whispered, lifting myself so my lips could reach his. “Always with the promises, beast.”

“Mera’s life is the most valuable life in any of the worlds. I will die for her, as will our pack.”

“You’re my Sunshine, and I protect that with all of my power.”

“What happened to your true mate?”

“She had her memory wiped and ended up in Torma.”

“What?”

“I won’t say it again, Sunshine. You heard me the first time.”

“You consider me to be your tru...

You are my mate. Chosen and true. The bond between us would not exist otherwise and since both of us have two sides to our souls, it’s not even a far leap to understand how we’re bonded.”

His lips twitched. “How’s your ass feeling, Sunshine?” My mouth went dry. “Uh, I mean, I’m all into sexy subject changes, but that one seems like a relatively extreme segue.” His lips curved further. “It’s not as far a segue as you might think because if your smartass mouth doesn’t stop soon, I’m going to test out your ability to enjoy pain with your pleasure.”