Page 40 of Her Feral Beasts

If it gets found out, I’m literally done for. I’ll be hunted down and kept as property. My worst nightmare.

All I want is a life of freedom to live as I please. Is that too much to ask for? The thing is, no one from the council or from the underworld beast groups would care.

Minnie is now sniffing my sheets and nodding like she’s recognising his scent. “Yeah, it’s definitely him. And…” She looks at me meaningfully. “It was his scent I smelled in detention.”

Shit. I plonk down on my bed and groan into my hands. “Minnie, you’re a regular Sherlock Holmes!”

Minnie throws herself on top of me, sending us both crashing to the bed. “Oh my God, I’m so excited, Lia. We need to make a plan! He probably went through my stuff to see if I was a threat to him or something! It’s so cute!”

She’s a complete mess and I’m a complete mess because my animaisactually excited by this, and soon enough, we’re laughing and breathless like teenage girls.

“Fuck, Minnie. No, it’s not like that. I can’t even tell you the trouble I’m in.”

She sits up off my bed and pushes a pink curl off her face. “Is it about that old eagle you married? Does it have something to do with that?” Then she gasps and points outside our window. “Didhekill Halfeather? He killed the guards as well, I think. Wowsers, Lia! He’s going to land himself in real prison if he’s not careful.”

My stomach churns as I realise that Savage must have killed the guards outside to get in here. Because of me.

I’m also a little alarmed by how little Minnie’s bothered by the murdering and stalking as she merely straightens her side of the room, giving me a commentary as she does it. Her altar is untouched, with not a wrinkle in the purple material or any shift in the bronze Wild Goddess statue. I say nothing during her Sherlock Holmes-ing, but she seems content that she’s right and takes my silence as confirmation.

This is what happens when you bunk with a nerd. If the positions were reversed, I might have put just as many things together.

I don’t have the headspace to come up with an opposing argument, so I just sit on my bed and watch her.

Minnie gives a satisfied nod to her drawers before she and Gertie head to the bathroom for a shower.

Henry and I are left to stare at the teddy bear. I can’t help but bring it up to my nose and inhale. It’s fresh yet alluring, and as much as I know that it signals danger, my anima keens, low and satisfied. Henry chitters in amusement, immediately rubbing himself on it and leaning against it as if allocating himself as protector of the thing.

Minnie and I get ready for bed in a sort of post-shock silence. That night, I sleep surrounded by Savage’s scent and it’s the best sleep I’ve had in over a week.

Chapter18

Aurelia

We wake up tofourguards at our dorm entrance but no one makes a comment about it, with us first-year girls just sticking a little closer together than the day before. Even Sabrina doesn’t have anything sassy to say.

But me? As we go down to breakfast, I’mseething.

Not only did he mess up Minnie’s things, but Savage killed two people to get into my room. Needlessly. For no good reason other than to mess up my room and leave me a teddy bear. Two innocent people with families—mothers, brothers, just doing their job—are now dead.

That thoughtless waste of life, that sheer disregard for the innocent, makes my blood simmer. I didn’thatehim before, but I sure do now.

Everyone is a little jittery because of the murders, and I get the feeling the staff and other guards are trying to downplay the entire thing because there are fewer guards around than before. Minnie says that our first day has more guards around in case of teething and posturing issues, but subsequently, we won’t have as many around to make it as much like a normal environment as possible. Looks like Lyle doesn’t think the murders should change anything.

Of course, when the three of them finally arrive, they enter the dining room like they own the place. Today, they get to wear normal clothes. Savage wears a black T-shirt and track pants, Scythe seems to enjoy his business shirt and slacks, and Xander is wearing a red and black band T-shirt with black shorts. I suppose he runs hot.

I determinedly cut and shovel my bacon and waffles while Minnie makes eyes at me. “What are we gonna do?”

The fact that she’s usingwemakes me fall in love with Minnie even more. But I don’t want her caught up in this. These males are far too dangerous, and the game my anima wants to play is going to be dangerous in the worst way.

I desperately want to get out of here, and in the back of my mind, I’m cataloguing what I need to do to run. If my mates are stuck here, I won’t have to worry about them in the outside world and will have a clear path to leave the state. So maybe Lyle came in useful after all.

As the three of them sit down with their meals (Scythedoeshave a meal today) I want to let him know I’m not intimidated. Like he knows that I’m staring at him, Savage looks up from his slice of rare steak. My eyes are narrowed as they meet his hazel ones. The bastard quirks a brow and maybe it’s the regina in me, but it makes my blood boil. He thinks he can just go through my things and I’lllethim? He thinks I’ll let him touchMinnie’sthings? No one has that right over us.

And then, like a volleyball shot through the air, a thought lands into my head in the sound of Savage’s arrogant growl.

“Did you like my present, princess?”

His nickname for me strikes me speechless as I hear it like a soft caress to the inside of my head.

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