Page 73 of Her Feral Beasts

The village is the student-run retail precinct in warehouse three, and we need fingerprint ID that’ll allow us first-year animas access only on Wednesdays. There’s a metal archway manned by four security wolves who pat us down when we exit. Through it, I’m surprised to see a white cobblestoned street lined with colourfully painted two-storey buildings. Theresa explains that the entire thing was made by hand, mostly by those on detention in the seventies when the school was first established.

While the Village was constructed decades ago, one of the tasks students have is maintaining and cleaning it. It’s supposed to replicate the outside world, and teach us how to behave properly in a simulated environment. There’s grocery stores, clothing boutiques, a cinema, cafes, and even a couple of nightclubs that serve alcohol on certain nights to really test the final-year students.

The entire simulated city is run by the students after classes until the bedtime bell, and they even make fake money called animus credits as they work.

It’s a theme park for the likes of me.

There are security beasts and cameras everywhere though, so it just misses the mark for reality, but I don’t mind at all because once Theresa finishes her tour, Minnie, Connor and Sabrina drag me to one of the more feminine clothing stores immediately.

“Slutty,” Sabrina announces to the jaguar owning a pretty black and pink boutique. There’s a crystal chandelier, a pink velvet loveseat and everything. “Lia needs skanky, attention-seeking outfits that scream, ‘fuck me’.Manyof them.”

The jaguar arches an eyebrow at me as I blush. “I’m making someone jealous.”

“Jealous?” Sabrina repeated, outraged.

“More like rock hard and sweating!” Connor cries.

“We want them to regret the day they were born!” Minnie concludes, waving imaginary pompoms.

The jaguar nods in solidarity. “Well, we have plenty of what you need here, girlfriend. Now blue has to be your colour, right?”

I try on multiple outfits with the animas sitting on a little sofa as I shyly walk out. They adjust me, pulling material here, demanding for more skin there, and before I know it, they have me in a new push-up bra and lace thong, drunk on their own laughter.

Thank the Goddess for my crazy stipend.

By the time we leave the village at nine p.m., I’m thoroughly exhausted and carrying so many paper bags that it’s a struggle to get back to our dorm.

“This is going to be amazing,” Minnie giggles. “I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces!”

Stacey giggles back, holding up her own purchases. “Oh, please wear that one that shows your side boob. It’s so sexy. I promise you, by the end of day one, you’ll have a beast hanging off your arm.”

“All of our arms!” Sabrina cheers.

Raquel is the only one who’s squinting at us like we’re mad. “Y-You w-wantthis attention, Lia?” our wolf asks in their serious voice. In the dark, all I can see is Raquel’s extensive facial jewellery glittering, and I find it beautifully mesmerising in my giddy state.

“Uh-huh. I really do,” I say, looping my arm in theirs. “I want revenge and I want it bad. I want to causepain,Raquel. I want tohurtthem.”

Our five nimpins chirp sadly as if they know this will bode trouble for them.

“They’ll be adjusting their erections all day!” Connor squeals. “Imagine the mixed classes all week!”

The guards by our dorm door shush us and, I’m sure, roll their eyes as Sabrina and Stacey shimmy their way through the door.

It turns out that a wardrobe update can do wonders for one’s mentality.

Chapter33

Aurelia

The next few days pass with a sort of routine. It’s almost scary just how easy it is without those three beasts in my vicinity. No heart palpitations for me anymore. No freezing or shivering or neck prickling. No wet panties either.

Even the other males don’t bother me with their longing stares and suggestive questions. There are fewer guards around due to it being the second week, but even that doesn’t bother me. Heck, everything else ischild’s playin the absence of my monsters.

Minnie and I, being nerds and proud of it, go to the library every night after dinner to try and find something to help for my trial. We are accompanied by Stacey, because Raquel, Sabrina and Connor go off with their sneaky links most nights before eleven, when we have to be locked inside our dorms for the night.

In the library, we look up previous cases like mine, where a young woman has been sold for a bride contract to someone from her order. We also look up murder cases.

To my dismay, we find hardly any of the former and a lot of the latter. It seems people like my father are good at avoiding court, likely by paying beasts off or blackmailing them. The murder cases are always interesting, and we spend most of the night gasping over scandalous court testimonies.

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