Page 70 of Her Feral Beasts

I throw a pillow at her and she hoots with laughter as she catches it.

“No!” I groan. “I’m still not amatedfemale, am I? Not fucked any of them yet.”

“Don’t know how you’ve avoided it so far,” Minnie says. “They’re pretty sexy, even if they are evil.”

I blush profusely because she’s right on both accounts, and the alleyway moment Savage and I shared still makes me all hot and bothered. But I don’t get to reply when there’s a banging on the bars that have been left unlocked for the three days.

“Let us in!” It’s Sabrina, dramatically clinging to the bars as if she’s in jail herself.

Minnie rolls her eyes. “They’ve come for gossip.”

I sigh, but it’s not just Sabrina who’s standing there with our group of first-year animas. It’s an entire gaggle of girls from second year as well, in their pyjamas, with packets of cookies, chips and lollies clutched to their chests. Their nimpins are excitedly bobbing up and down on their shoulders and chirping. Someone has a hair curler and another a film projector. Connor is here as well, because apparently it might be a little dangerous for him in the animus dorm.

“It’s singles’ night!” Sabrina shouts, wiggling her hips and waving the two bottles of gin in the air as she kicks the cell door open. “It’s time to party. Woohoo!”

“A-Also,” gruffs Raquel, “W-w-we want to know w-what h-happened yesterday.”

They all squint at me as they file in, sitting themselves on every surface in the room. Red plastic cups are tossed to each person, and Connor passes a smuggled joint around.

I take an offered cup as Minnie brings out multiple bags of chips from her wardrobe.

“So, why does the mob boss want to kidnap you?” Stacey asks point blank.

Lying back on my pillow, Sabrina holds out an eye mask and I stay still while she puts them under my eyes. Minnie exchanges an amused look with me because apparently, all it takes is a kidnap attempt to make a person popular.

I tell them the adjusted story, embellishing the part when Minnie faced off with Savage, making it more of an actual fight.

“We start proper fighting classes soon,” Sabrina sighs. “You need to learn to use those eagle claws, Lia. It’s all you’ve got going for you.”

Grimacing at the underhanded gibe, I nod.

“So you have no idea why they want you?” one of the two second-year lionesses in the corner asks. They’re curling each other’s long honey-coloured manes.

“They made some deal with my father,” I say, thinking it’s no harm if I tell them that part. “And he’s…dangerous.”

“Shit,” Sabrina says. “Sounds like my dad, dude.” She holds up her hand in a high-five and I smack her hand with a dark laugh. “When I was in primary school, my dad used to lock me in the cupboard for hours. Used to piss my pants and everything. That’s how I learned to pick locks with a bobby pin. I’d go out to wee and lock myself back in for when he got home after work. Came in handy when I started to steal other things.”

We all gasp in dismay, but the thing is, you put a whole bunch of feral delinquents together in a room and stories like that are commonplace. Feral children often come from feral homes. Not all of us, like Minnie, but some. Sabrina passes around her neon pink vibrator like the ‘speaking ball’ we use in group therapy and everyone gets their chance to tell their fucked-up story.

“My m-mum used to f-feed me these weird b-biscuits made of dog f-food and grass mashed up and f-fried,” Raquel admits. “She p-put salt in them s-so it t-tasted alright. Then we f-finally f-found a commune and we g-got to eat meat. M-most of the time it was raw.” They shrug like they don’t mind it, and then turn to Minnie. “We l-literally k-know nothing a-about you, M-mouse.”

Minnie sighs and accepts the vibrator, tapping it against her chin as she thinks. “Well, I finally got asked out by that girl in third year.”

“What!” I say, getting up on my knees and pointing at her. “This is the first I’m hearing of it!”

“In the p-past!” Raquel shouts. “That l-lion is h-hot, though.”

“They’re having an orgy downstairs,” Sabrina says wistfully. “I wanted to go, but I wanted to hear your goss more.”

I make a face because an orgy sounded like a great distraction right now… if only I was actually able to find someone else enticing other than the three monsters.

Minnie nods. “I’m totally going down there tomorrow. But yeah, well, I got mixed up in a bad crowd as a teenager. My parents weren’t really social and…” She rolls her eyes as if she’s embarrassed by herself. “When thisreallysexy tiger gave me some attention, I fell for him.”

“He was a bad boy, wasn’t he?” Stacey says as she sets up the speakers for the movie.

Minnie nods. “The baddest bad. Maybe even worse than the Slaughter Brothers Pty Ltd. When you got on his bad side, he had an attitude worse than Xander Drakos.”

“Ugh!” one of the lions from second year shouts. “That assholedragonis so fucking hot with those glowing eyes. But he knows it! He refuses to fuckany oneof us, and we’ve all tried! Katrina offered herself to him in a stunning lace playsuit and heignoredher. Imagine!”

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