Shadow rumbled, sounding pissed off. At first I thought it was my comment about bitching, but then he said, “Mera’s life is the most valuable life in any of the worlds. I will die for her, as will our pack.”

Simone looked relieved by this, and I could understand why. Shadow was scary and intimidating at the best of times, but when he was like this, he literally sent shivers down my spine.

With one more hug for them both, I followed them into the white hallway, waving as they were led to Earth by my beast.

“They’re going to be okay, right?” I asked Shadow when he returned to me, sans two shifters. “With those assholes in Torma? What if they get hurt there?”

Shadow’s smile was darkly evil. “Torin is about to learn a lesson about touching my wolves without permission. If he oversteps at all, he will suffer. Rest assured, Sunshine, your friends are safe.”

I hugged myself into his side, holding on as tightly as I could. “Thank you. For everything. For you.”

It was a weird thing to say, but I just felt this overwhelming gratitude to know Shadow. To have him in my life. To share parts of him that no one else did. My need to express that burst from me, but he handled it smoothly.

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

Swoon again. My mate had moves today.

As we strolled along the white hall, my eyes were drawn to the doorways. “Are my shadow creatures still here?” I asked, slowing. “The ones I pulled to Earth?”

“They are,” he said, “safe from my mother’s wrath.”

A terrible thought occurred to me and I had to ask it. “Can we use their energy in this fight?”

Shadow’s eyes darkened to a deep, burning ember, and I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to like his response. But then again, what else was new?

28

“We can use their energy,” Shadow said, “as it has the potential to power our own in the fight. But… wouldn’t that go against everything you stand for? Do you think you’ll be able to handle the fallout of what might occur if their energy is used up?”

Fallout if their energy is used up…

I knew what that meant, and since I’d intimately felt the death of many creatures when I’d been bonded to them, I knew I’d react very badly to it happening again. But we were talking about the end of the worlds here.

“I don’t think we have a choice. Dannie is so much stronger than any being we’ve ever faced, right?” This question was more relevant to him since he was a few thousand years old and immensely powerful. My history was with the Torma, who were basically worms on the totem pole of power.