Page 46 of Her Feral Beasts

Naturally, I ignore it.

“Are you going to let me go?” I ask defiantly. I’m literally poking the shark. After this, I’m going to ask Theresa for extra therapy.

Willthere be an ‘after this’?

“Go, Aurelia.” Scythe turns his back to me.

Savage growls. “I don’t want to let her go.”

My anima cries out at his words. But I know he doesn’t mean it in a nice way.

“I think we should give her a parting gift,” Xander says. “Come here, snake girl.” He turns around and leads the others into the sitting room. I have no choice but to follow, glaring at the rooster, now standing as far as possible from me on the far bed.

There are some beasts walking in from the other side of the room, making me think that there’s a way for them to get into this room from theoutside.

Trying to hide my surprise at this revelation, I stalk into the room with my head held high. There’s the feline they call Yeti, some wolves and to my great surprise there’s Beak, who’s giving me a deep frown like he disproves.

It hits me then, the way he’s sauntering in here like he’s used to it. Beak iswiththem. He’s a part of their group.

But I don’t have time to confront him about this because Xander is dragging the chained serpent by his chair into the centre of the room. The gag is back on and he screams around it, his dark eyes wide with terror.

Savage aggressively paces back and forth before us, like he’s a hairsbreadth away from killing someone.

“Put him out of his misery, Sav,” Xander says. “We’re done with him anyway, right, Scythe?”

My blood turns cold.

Everyone, including the serpent, looks to Scythe.

He gives a single nod.

From inside the bedroom, the rooster lets out a sound akin to a blood-curdling shriek just as Savage explodes into his wolf form. I only have time to register the midnight monstrosity that is Savage’s wolf before he leaps for the serpent, his jaws wide open, showing massive white canines. The chair crashes to the ground.

“No!” I scream. My hands fly for Henry to cover his eyes.

The man makes wet, choking sounds, but they’re replaced by the sound of Savage’s growling and gnashing as he devours the man’s throat.

Beak strides over to me and prods me towards the entrance. Scythe gives a low warning growl and Beak immediately stops touching me, jerking his head towards the stairs.

“This is what they are, Lia,” Beak hisses. “This is who you’re dealing with. Leave. Now. And don’t ever come back here unless you want to die.”

I withhold a sob as I look back at the two men and the wolf who is raging so bad I don’t even want to look at what he’s made of the man. The other two tall, muscular frames dismiss me as if I’m nothing. My anima cries out a lonely, mournful hymn.

All I can do is run.

Chapter20

Scythe

As our regina flees from us, the great white shark inside of me thrashes around like a rabid creature. In the joy of watching my brother kill, but also, in violent protest.

My regina is running away from me and my birth-given,star-given, right.

And I cannot follow her.

I still can’t believe that I actually touched her bare skin with my own. The velvet soft warmth of it will be etched into my palm for the rest of my Goddess-damned life.

Swallowing that bitter feeling down, I take a seat on the couch as Savage finally stops mauling the serpent’s face and shifts back into his human form. Naked and covered nose to chest in the snake’s blood, he stalks over to the alcohol cabinet where Xander is pouring whiskey.

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