Page 15 of Rejected By the Shifter King

His gaze snapped towards the voice, and this time complete recognition struck: same dark hair, but longer this time; same eyes, too, but brighter - because of tears.

Crying?

The mere thought made him growl, and the sheen in her gaze agitated him. The urge to hold her throbbed inside of him, and he was already unconsciously starting to shift when he saw her badly trembling lips began to move. "Please t-tell me it's y-you?"

Her voice contained a wealth of fear. Worry.Yearning.But the most incredible thing about all of it...everything, each and every one of those sensations was for him.

She was afraidforhim. Worriedforhim. Yearnedforhim.

All of those...even if he was no longer man nor Fae but something monstrously, irreparably different.

****

AT FIRST,she thought she was imagining things. Maybe even losing her mind, with the way she was hearing words that hadn't really been spoken.

STAR.

But when she heard it again—-

STAR.

Oh my God. She was finally being true to her name. She was shining. Or rather, she hadThe Shining—-

A hoarse, rough bark of laughter interrupted her thoughts, and then—-

Sorry...to disappoint. But it's...just...me.

The voice was deep - so much deeper than what she remembered - and a strangely, gravelly rustiness to it that didn't quite feel human.

But even so.

Even so.

Despite all these changes, that voice was something she would never mistake for anyone else—-

Her eyes started to blur even as her gaze flew up to frantically confirm what she believed, what she knew and her heart was absolutely convinced of.

Even with the curved horns, the razor-sharp fangs and claws...even afterfeelingthe bestial and almost heathen-like power which simmered underneath all the fur -a beast in every way, shethought dizzily...

The voice alone told her, and those lavender-colored eyes...

Those eyes were all she needed to know it was him.

"Lysander?" Estrella's voice came out in an incredulous whisper, and her body started shaking uncontrollably in stunned relief as the beast before her slowly lowered its head in a nod.

It really was him.

Her prince.

Her husband.

Her Lysander.

****

IT WAS HARD TO KEEPstill as Lysander felt her green eyes run over him with seemingly desperate need. She was not quite in shock, but she wasn't completely alright either, and the urge to comfort her was as instinctive and basic as the need to breathe.

Star.