Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters #1) - Jaymin Eve Page 0,71

moment those sticky strands across my body tightened and I was yanked up into the sky. He caught me in time and thankfully was strong enough to wrench me free from whatever had caught me in its tendrils.

“Ah,” he said when we landed safely on the ground, his firm grip around my biceps.

“Ah?” I screeched. “Ah?! What the fuck is ah?”

“It’s a sprecker; a spider demon.”

A whatintheholygodsnow?

Shadow was close enough to block out the sky above, so I leaned back to try to see around him. The branches spanned out wide above us, and I thought I caught some movement, but it was gone before I could be sure.

“It almost had me,” I said, trying to get my heart rate under control. “Could my wolf have fought it?”

Shadow was watching me closely, his hands still on me, the heat branding my skin.

“You could have tried to fight,” he said, “but the poison in the droplets on your skin would eventually seep into your blood, rendering you too weak. The sprecker only has to wait you out, and it moves at super speed, climbing and dodging in a way that very few can replicate.”

His expression showed zero concern about this poison currently absorbing into my skin, as his palms cupped my face. Heat slammed into me, the fires of his eyes burning bright as he ran his hands across my cheeks. His touch wasn’t smooth; the skin of his palms roughened in sections. I wasn’t sure how that worked for a god with ever-repairing skin, but it was what it was. The worst part was that every time his touch caught on my skin, my stomach did some fucked-up swirl, heat pooling low in my gut.

Really fucking low.

By the time the fire of his power had cleansed my skin and blood of the sprecker residue, I was breathing heavier than I was comfortable with. He removed his hands, and I was able to think much clearer.

“How are we going to stop it?” I asked, trying to back away because he was still too damn close for my sanity. Like… this was not the time to have a mental breakdown and lick a shadow god, right? That would just be a bad idea, no matter how curious I was about his reaction.

The tree at my back stopped me from getting far, and when Shadow leaned in closer, I almost lost my shit.

“You can let me go now, Sunshine,” he murmured, and that was the point I noticed my hands tangled in his shirt like I’d been the one pulling him closer. Well, fuck.

Wrinkling my nose, I growled and shoved him away. “Debatable about who is holding whom, dude.” When in doubt, deflect and blame everyone but yourself.

“Here it comes,” Shadow said, forgetting me as his attention was once more sky-bound.

A gasp choked in my throat as a grey monstrosity came into sight. It didn’t have the eight legs of a spider, but there were multiple limbs. Way more than eight, although some were very small and useless looking, but at least six of the ones close to its furred head looked strong and capable as it scurried about. And how many eyes did one creature really need?

“It wants you,” Shadow said, the full force of his gaze meeting mine. “I’m fucking shocked, are you?”

I gawked at him. “Did… Did you just use sarcasm?”

He lifted his shoulders in a half-shrug, but we all knew the truth. Shadow Beast had just… joked—sorta—with me, and I’d gotten to witness it. Maybe I’d spread those stories if I ever got back to pack life. Or maybe I’d make up some even scarier ones because joking aside, his badassness had not been underestimated. As he was about to prove.

Bending his powerful legs, he launched up into the tree, and like he was channeling Tarzan, pulled himself up and along each branch. “Can’t you fly?” I shouted up to him.

He paused. “Where’s the fun in chasing them down like that? Nah, I much prefer to go at them with a more even ground.”

Lunatic. He was an actual lunatic.

“Stay there,” he said. “I’ll be back for you to neutralize it.”

Crossing my arms, I rolled my eyes at Inky. “Your master is a fucking crazy beast, you know that, right? You’re friends with someone who likes to chase demons down… for fun!” I shook my head. “We need new friends.”

Shadow landed hard in front of us, the ground shaking at the solid thud. As he straightened to his eight-feet height,