Compelled (Shadow Beast Shifters Book 5)

The five other masters in the room talked amongst themselves, and no one asked Lucien to take a seat again. Donovan wasn’t here yet, or Assface or Julietta; it was mostly masters I’d had nothing to do with in the selection.

The conversation died off when Carter appeared, back to wearing his woodsman-hunter outfit from the first time I’d met him. His expression was closed off, and it didn’t change when his eyes lowered to see Lucien’s hand wrapped around mine. “Made your choice, I see.” There was no anger in his tone… If anything, he sounded resigned.

I hated to hurt him, but I had zero regrets about how this had ended up. “I’m sorry, Carter,” I said with a sad smile. “Lucien has been the one for a long time now. We both tried to fight it, believing we were from different races and could never form a true bond. But this selection has only shown us that there’s no fighting a blood call bond. At least we know now that shifters and vampires are compatible. We’re born of the same energy, and I’m excited to see where we can go together.”

Carter didn’t say anything for a long moment, his attention focused on me like Lucien wasn’t even there. “I understand,” he finally said. “The selection wasn’t the best plan, in hindsight. I should have gone with my initial idea. Next time I’ll trust my instincts.”

His smile wasn’t nice, stretching his lips; fangs appeared as his eyes darkened.

Lucien had had enough at that point, sidling in front of me and blocking Carter’s view. “Walk away now,” he warned the other master. “You’re dangerously close to pissing me off, and as a newly mated vampire who hasn’t finished the bonding process yet, you really don’t want to do that.”

His body hulked out before me, and I placed my hand on his back, hoping to calm him. Carter might be annoying, but we had to remember that he’d lost. We could afford to ignore his digs.

Carter just laughed. “You skirted the edge of the rules of the selection,” he told Lucien. “You didn’t win with honor since you never gave me a fair shot. For that, you will pay, but let’s see what the stone says first.”

Lucien’s body was vibrating under my touch, but he didn’t move. We both knew Carter was baiting him, and while I totally understood Lucien’s need to punch that arrogant fuck in the face, I hoped he didn’t waste the energy.

“See you soon, Simone,” he called, and I heard his footsteps as he headed for his throne on the master’s stage.

Why did his See you soon sound like a not-so-vague threat?

“Do not move out of my line of sight,” Lucien warned as he turned to face me.

Other masters were arriving now, including Donovan. The four other remaining selected were also there, which meant this party was about to get started.

“I’m not going anywhere, mate.” I would literally never get tired of saying mate to Lucien. “Let’s get this shit over with.”

He brushed a hand across my cheek and leaned in to press his lips to my forehead. It was a long, lingering touch, and I wasn’t the only one who let out a hushed breath at the gesture. Silence followed the movement, and as he walked to his crimson throne, I stared after him, stunned.

Lucien had claimed me in front of them all in a gesture that could not be missed or misinterpreted. The silence told me that none of them had ever seen him act like this with another female, which had my wolf and his blood roaring inside. The feeling of home settled within me, even as the rest of me soared.

Whether it was fate or not, he chose to be with me when he’d never wanted a mate.

He chose me.

As Lucien sank into his chair, he locked his gaze on me, and I thanked the gods for this life. It took every bit of strength I possessed not to cross to him, lean between his muscled thighs, and…

The heat rose, and I had to cut off all sexy thoughts, or we’d soon be making a scene.

A smirk creased the corners of Lucien’s lips, and I didn’t even have to guess at what he was thinking. We were on the same train of thought today.

I wondered how long we’d be consumed by this fiery passion—hopefully forever.

Donovan stood and cleared his throat, the first to make a sound since Lucien kissed my forehead. “Thank you all for gathering one last time,” he said. “We are down to the final five selected, and Masters Lucien and Carter have decided that they’ll make their decisions after the blessing from the stone and a brief visit to Carter’s compound.”

He called up the first selected then: Lucil. She was not a vampire I’d seen or paid attention to before today, but now that there were only five of us left, I noticed a pattern. The others were all blonde. Not just blonde, but the same long, straight, white-blonde hair. They were all tall with olive skin, too, and could have been sisters in how similar they looked. Was this Carter’s normal type?

When Lucil touched the stone, there was a brief burst of light before she was approved and moved to the right. Donovan called on the others one by one: Jelna, Yal, and Merin. All of them passed their blessing, and it seemed that the glow of the stone was extra bright when I stepped up. Last as usual.

Wiping my hands on my jeans, I tried to ignore my nerves. They were stronger than usual today because I didn’t want to fail. I wanted to claim my master, and if that required a blessing from Katu, then I hoped it wasn’t my day for rejection.

I mean, Lucien was a master and could do whatever he wanted, but if Katu rejected me, it would make it so much harder to establish our relationship as an official one. It might even weaken his enclave, and I couldn’t have that.

Still, I held onto the truth that we had a blood call bond. A true bond.

Katu couldn’t reject that, right?

Reaching out, I noted that there was a white dot to indicate where we should touch. I placed my hand there without another thought. The moment my hand touched, a small prick of pain hit my palm, and there was a huge burst of light. Lucien sat straighter in his chair, and just as I was about to pull my eyes from him to see what had cut my skin, warmth bloomed under my palm on the stone.

Glancing at my hand, I noticed that there was a long trail of blood spurting from underneath. What?

With a gasp, I tried to jerk my hand free, but it wouldn’t move.

The heat surged, reacting against the swirling energy inside of me.

Two opposite forces crashing together.

As I opened my mouth to call for help, I felt the world shift under my feet, like fate was reevaluating my path. The heat pulsed unbearably, and as Lucien raced toward me, the light grew too strong. Too bright.

He couldn’t fight against it, and I had the sense that this might be the last time I saw him. “I love y—” spilled from my lips, cut off when the heat reached its pinnacle.

The force of the explosion tore me to pieces, and everything went dark.