The Anubis wolf head was the most foreign part of him, turning him into a being so god-like that it was hard not to just stare at him in awe. My eyes traced down his bare chest, his ink still visible even under the extra hair, not to mention the abs, and… holy dick gods in heaven. Someone needed to say a fucking prayer for that bounty.

“You shouldn’t be strolling around here with your weapon just flapping in the book breezes,” I managed to say, trying desperately not to let breathlessness creep into my voice.

This was a serious situation, with a beast ready to rip my head from my body. It was certainly not the time to be cockmerised, no matter how impressive the specimen in question, or how long I’d been without him.

Shadow tilted his head again, and the way he moved was so animalistic. Just as Gaster had told me… Shadow was more beast than anything else right now.

Inky drifted closer to me again, and I wondered if it was communicating with Shadow or not. Was the beast able to form coherent thoughts, or was it all rage and instinct?

“Any help would be greatly appreciated, buddy,” I said to Inky, my skin prickling as Shadow moved closer to me. His energy was electric, and I wasn’t so stupid that I didn’t recognize the grave danger I was in here. It wasn’t the first time I’d been near death around the Shadow Beast, but it was the first time he could not be communicated or reasoned with.

Right?

Was I making a mistake in assuming that just because his eyes were flaming pools of bloodlust and his claws were mini samurai swords that his brain was not still fully functional? Even when the wolf took over, a part of me remained Mera. Remained my human self.

Unless Dannie had done something else to affect him, the real Shadow was still there, just buried under a shit ton of anger and power.

“You probably don’t remember me right now,” I started in a soft whisper, “but we’re friends. Great friends. I’m most definitely in the top six beings you trust, and considering how long you’ve lived and how many beings you know, that is really quite the fucking achievement.”

Nerves had me babbling, but that had always been a way to get through to him in the past, so I went with it.

“You kidnapped me,” I continued, “which, by the way, you’re not allowed to do with any other shifter. I’m far too jealous and possessive for you to drag another in here by their hair. Nope. I might even beast out myself and put bleach in their shampoo at a high enough strength that their hair would fall out. Not all of it, just… like half of it. I’m not a total monster.”