Page 99 of Psycho Beasts

He rounded on me like he wanted to fight.

I saw red. “Oh, I’m just stating facts. Go back to Clarissa and have fun laughing at me. Didn’t take long for you to show your true colors.”

“True colors, alpha?” Xerxes said and laughed. “You want to talk about true colors?”

He moved quickly past Cobra and lunged at me. The sudden movement surprised me.

My body was sweaty and exhausted from training for hours, and I stumbled backward on shaky legs.

My head slammed against the hallway wall.

The vitriol thrown my way and pain radiating from my skull made me flinch violently.

For a split second, the sharp pain mixed with my sudden fear, brought back memories of someone else lunging at me with a belt.

A loud roar burst through Jax’s chest.

The aggressive sound made me tremble harder, and I closed my eyes while shaking my head, desperate to throw off the pain and orient myself.

Moon goddess, I hadn’t felt so off-balance since I’d been in the shifter realm.

So fucking emotional.

I blamed the torture.

I slowly opened my eyes. Cobra’s jeweled cheek was inches away, his eyes bright with worry.

“Princess,” Ascher pleaded and stepped up next to him.

“I didn’t mean…” Xerxes trailed off in a shaky voice as he suddenly ran down the hall.

There was a loud crash within his room, like he’d thrown something heavy.

A trail of cinnamon lingered in the hall.

Jax’s chest kept rumbling with a roar, and the delicious scents of pine, frost, chestnuts, and lingering cinnamon made my mouth water.

It was all too much.

“No, you don’t get to be mean bastards, then nice. You’ve shown where you stand and how you view me, so don’t act otherwise.” I shoved past the men and ran the other way down the hall toward my room.

Someone said my name, but I didn’t dare look back.

I locked the bedroom door behind me and bent over onto my knees, hyperventilating.

There were four of them and only one of me, and it was overwhelming.

When they were all nice to me, it was amazing.

They were four rocks who produced an overwhelming sensation of comfort and safety.

But when they were mean, it was too fucking much.

Four against one, it was crushing odds.

My heart was being trampled.

The shadow snake sent me visions of love and support, and I cherished its niceness.

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