Page 7 of Her Feral Beasts

Dirk spreads shaking hands. “Mr Kharkorous, please, this is my brother’s land we are talking about. Myfamily’sestate.”

“Land that was won under the Old Laws forty years ago,” Scythe says simply. “Land that is now being relieved from you, under the Old Laws.” He pins Dirk with a stare that sets his feathers quaking like the wormfood he is.

“Now, here’s what’s going to happen.” Scythe rasps. “Since you are well aware of the deal I had with your late brother and his subsequent scheming, you will also be aware of what I do to beasts who betray me. Halfeather enterprises and, therefore, this establishment, are now mine.”

I’m directly behind Dirk, but I know he’s gaping. He glances at the others, though they are wise not to speak. “That was not the deal. You cannot—”

I grab the back of his head and slam it onto the table. The table shakes, his friends flinch, and when Halfeather comes back up, he’s gasping. “Please. Oh, Wild Gods, please.”

Leaning down, I whisper into his ear. “We know about your littleschemes, Dirky boy. I’ll send your wives pretty black veils to wear at your funeral. You’re rex to three sweet tweety birds, aren’t you?”

Dirk splutters.

“Thank you, Mr Halfeather.” Scythe stands and puts out his cigarette on the table. He beckons to Eugene with two fingers. The bird hastily flaps into air and settles on Scythe’s arm.

My brother takes Eugene and stalks back up the stairs. But Xander and I remain in place, looking down at the remaining four eagles at the table. I smirk at my dragon-brother and he smirks back, raising a hand where brilliant red flames aggressively spark to life.

We don’t leave until the screaming ends and there are five crispy bodies on the floor.

We head back up the stairs with Xander throwing fireballs behind him, but back inside the shop, he lingers at a rack.

Dragons love sparkly things and I think he’s attracted to a shirt with rhinestones on it.

“Let’s go,”I project into Xander’s mind—a quirk of being a wolf.

“Here.”He throws me a black T-shirt with a horse on the left side of the chest. “You can’t keep walking around half-naked. We have standards, you know.”

I roll my eyes because Xander is currently wearing a T-shirt that he’s ripped the sleeves off. On the front is a splattered white design of his latest favourite European rock band. But I pull on the shirt anyway because Aurelia is nearby and I want to look nice when we finally reunite.

I hate her, and she’s half-mad, but she’s my regina, and my animus is howling at me to look my best for her.

Pulling the T-shirt on, I scratch at the rune on my index finger, a little gift from the Serpent King. Blood deals are dangerous, and our kind don’t like to mix with them, butthisparticular one we all made an exception for.

Aurelia needs to die. She’s a danger to me, my brothers and everything we’ve worked for. And if her dad wants to be the one to do it, then by the Old Laws, he has the right to.

We head out and Xander summons a beach ball-sized molten flame between his hands and tosses the entire thing over his shoulder.

Just as I leap out of the store with a “whoop!” my eye catches on something and I snatch it up before the entire place explodes in a shower of flames and glass.

We catch up to Scythe, who is casually strolling down the pavement, with Eugene unhappily trailing behind him. Ducking my head down in the way of predators, I sneak up to the chicken and pounce, plucking him right off the pavement. He squawks in terror and pecks at my hand, but I hold him safe against my chest and make gentle clucking sounds. He calms down and Scythe turns to look at me expectantly.

Lifting my nose to the summer air, I stalk forwards, scenting what’s on the wind. The breeze is cool, though the air is hot. It smells like roasting eagle, smoke, and food cooking in the cafes across the road.

But something pulls at my blood. Something sweet and ancient calls to me in just the same way as the moon calls to the Earth.

I swear under my breath as me and my cock—notEugene—register our regina’s vanilla cake scent.

“This way,” I gruff to my brothers. “We’re close.” A frown pulls at my brows. “And she’s weak.”

Chapter3

Aurelia

In a panic, I flash into my human form, wildly searching my surroundings. I can’t see them yet and I scramble to my feet. With my shields being back up, I can’t ‘sense’ them in the way a regular regina would sense the mates of her pack.

“Lee-uh,” Savage calls softly.

His voice is like a sweet caress down my naked spine and suddenly I’m as still as a deer, my muscles quivering in anticipation. My anima writhes under my skin, pining for the one who hunts me. The one I’ve already had inside my body.

---