Page 15 of Shifter Salvation

Without a second thought, I reached out to him, our hands entwining as he gripped me tightly.

“From here on out, Bleu,” he whispered and I could sense his worry as well as his confidence that we’d get through whatever was awaiting us, “you’ll stay at my side. I’ll never lead you astray, and what we’re going to experience will open your insight into how grand and powerful our kind is.” With one final grip of my hand, he whispered, “I love you.”

“As I love you,” I replied and squeezed his hand back, the two of us sharing the flowing emotions of one another as they mixed and blended in our new connection.

Our words matched with our emotions ignited those tiny incantations that swarmed our fingers. It only covered our hands this time, reaching our wrists to ensure we could see the glowing markings. Mine was a mix of blue and orange while Asher’s was red and silver.

Surrounding our joined hands were hovering shadows, which dimmed as quickly as they erupted before the incantations retracted.

“Let’s ride, baby.”

Riding towards our fated destiny.

CHAPTER2

Enemies On Our Tail

“WOW!” I was speechless at the sight of the sunset as drove out of the forestry path we’d taken and now rode upon a single freeway that only made the sunset appear grander.

“Entering autopilot mode,”Sapphire announced, and thank Mother Moon, for I wanted to sit back and allow myself to truly enjoy the sight before me.

My eyes didn’t know where to look first. The view of pinks, oranges, blues, purples, and trickles of red made the sky look like a masterpiece while the sun began its descent — the inviting warmth of orange and darker hues of gold giving a last glowing performance.

I knew the moment the sun was gone, it would be cold as fuck, but we’d clearly be at Nyx’s place before that happened and Juniper would be fine with Axel.

She can keep herself nice and warm, though I’m sure Axel would offer her his coat if he decided to wear one when summoned.

Lifting my face shield as our bikes seemed to slow in unison, I looked to Asher as he lifted his own tinted shield and peered over at me.

“This is why you wanted us to come along this route,” I acknowledged his romantic gesture, which made him rumble with amusement as he suppressed his laughter.

“Seeing you smile like a kid discovering cake for the first time is worth it,” he spoke over the winds while the sound of our engines faded. We moved closer until we were at an arm’s length from one another.

We ended up reaching for each other’s hands, and the two of us held on tightly as we rode our bikes on the road to get a center view of the wonderful sight.

“Asher?” I asked, catching his attention though my eyes still looked forward. “We’ll be able to let them see something like this one day, right?”

He knew whom I was referring to as he returned his eyes to the sunset before us.

“This is an area that I’m not 100% experienced in, but the end game…ya. At the end of all of this madness where we’re perched upon our new seats and secure all those we care about on this side of the world, we’ll most definitely grant them such a rare sight,” he vowed and squeezed my hand. “But that doesn’t mean you have to wait till then to give them a glimpse of the land of the living.”

“What do you mean?” I was intrigued.

“The Shadow Realm thrives on imagination. My parents used to tell me that. That there’s a world of darkness no different from the Fae. It can be manipulated and changed by the power of one’s mind and their motivation to build a world that empowers our kind,” he revealed. “The Fae created their world at a time when everyone thought they were weak. No one was really paying attention to them, thinking all they were was shifter beings with a bit of magic. They didn’t think of them as gods or royals. The world back then simply discarded them as they had us, but what the Fae did differently was build their foundation and hierarchy first before they created their world.”

“Foundation and hierarchy,” I whispered. “So they made the different courts and built their kingdoms before they revealed their growth?”

“Something like that,” Asher confessed. “By the time they introduced the fact that they had four kingdom leaderships and were creating their own rules and world, everything was done and couldn’t be reversed.”

“They basically forced the world to accept them,” I whispered.

“They didn’t want to risk war,” Asher admitted but smirked at his own words. “But that doesn’t mean the world didn’t try.”

“Wait. They actually tried to challenge the Fae?” I inquired.

“The humans, as usual, and a few shifters thought they could stand a chance.” Asher sounded far too amused at the story. “My father said the Shadowborns were perfectly fine with it because that was our ultimate goal as well, but the other wolf shifters, and of course the Mortem Council of Supernaturals were heavily against it. They wanted one rulership. They didn’t need a specific race making a world of their own and having their own rules, hierarchy, and foundations.”

Asher gave me his full attention then and I glanced back at him knowing we were safe on our bikes.

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