Rejected (Shadow Beast Shifters #1) - Jaymin Eve Page 0,91

that separated us. It was probably only half a mile, but he’d cover that in no time.

I lifted my foot, taking a step back, and another, before turning and sprinting away. Heading back for where I’d last seen Shadow.

His alpha command didn’t hold me.

At some point, my ties to Torma had been damaged enough that not even his command could hold me hostage, no doubt leaving Torin confused as hell as he chased after me.

My wolf whined, urging me to reconsider hearing him out, and fuck… I was tempted.

How was it fair that he could reject and break me, over and over, and still, my soul wanted to claim our bond? Didn’t matter, though. I would be stronger than this urge. I would protect both of us.

I felt when he was close, so I changed directions, while still moving toward where I’d left Shadow. At least I hoped it was the right direction—the grekins had dragged me pretty far by the looks of it, those zippy little bastards.

Torin was close, his half-shifted wolf form faster than my broken and bruised human. All I had going for me was pure determination not to end up in his grasp. I had no idea what Torin would do to me if he caught hold, but there was a chance he’d kill me straight-up so as not to deal with the remnants of our bond.

The death of a true mate usually resulted in an irreparable mental break for the other shifter, but Torin probably thought that because he didn’t want this bond, he would recover easier.

Either way, I could not let myself fall into his hands. I had to fight with everything I had, and hopefully, since I was no longer the same shifter who’d been stolen from Torma all those months ago, I’d have a new weapon to best him. Like my Shadow Realm abilities.

Like the shadow creatures… still frozen on my command.

Could I use them to slow Torin down?

“I release you!” I shouted, sending the energy out into the world, hoping I wasn’t too far away to reach them. Now I just had to stay out of Torin’s reach long enough to let those little leprechaun bastards do their worst. Torma might be searching for a new alpha before this day was done.

41

My pace was slowing as Torin’s thudding gait grew closer, and it was only when the high-pitched whistling of the grekins reached my ears that I allowed myself a moment to turn around and assess the situation.

Torin let out a roar when they tangled around his legs, the three going down in a tumble. The new “alpha of alphas” didn’t bother to try to negotiate a truce with them; he just used his partly shifted claws to rip into them before he gracefully leapt back to his feet.

Torin must have been able to see them even at hyper-speed, because his next swipe sent one flying.

Completely enthralled in watching this fight, I’d stupidly stopped trying to escape. The thought that I might see Torin get his ass kicked was too much temptation, but I had many regrets when his furious eyes locked on to mine.

“Don’t move another fucking step,” he warned, about thirty feet away. “Or I’ll turn you over my knee and smack your ass until it’s red and aching.”

I blinked. “Did you seriously threaten to spank me as punishment?” I laughed. “Jokes on you because I’m into that shit, Torin. You’ll have to try harder than that to threaten me.”

That took him by surprise, and he faltered, just long enough for a second round of grekin attack.

“Fuck, ours!” they shouted.

It was my turn to look at the creature because I was starting to understand what it was saying. They thought my name was fuck, or at least that was their new adopted name for me. And they seemed to think I belonged to them.

“Fuck is not yours,” I shot back. “I mean, Mera. My name is Mera.”

“Fuck, ours,” the other shouted, disappearing from sight with a zap.

What in fresh hell was this?

“You and I need to talk,” Torin said, sounding a little less ragey. A grekin zipped at him again, but he just booted it away with one swift kick. Bastard was having no trouble seeing them and I couldn’t figure out why they were always a blur to me.

My wolf rose to the surface, like a sign I should have been using her senses instead of the more restricted human ones that I tended to favor. Whoops, sorry.