Page 90 of Her Feral Beasts

“Let’s hope we never find out,” I mutter darkly. Because hell, what does an animus want with their regina? I cast an eye over to a table full of lions where Yana, our fellow first year anima, is sitting on the lap of her rex, while she feeds him potato chips. His hand is on her thigh, stroking slowly up and down. The other animuses give them jealous looks now and again.

The sudden image of Scythe pulling my skirt up and feasting on my pussy takes me by surprise and I almost fall off my chair.

“And what the fuck happened in Home Economics?” Sabrina hisses. “One second Savage was about to murder Cheston, and then the next second, he’s standing with his tail between his legs at his bench?”

“I don’t even know!” I try to parse what I did. “Cheston ran right towards me and I recognised him from my father’s court. We played together as kids. He was nice to me. I… remembered that and just raised my knife and saidstop.”

“And he just did it?” Minnie levitates a cupcake from the stand at the buffet and it shoots it to our table, where she catches it in one hand. What a useful skill. “Dear Goddess, he obeyed you.” She gives me a significant look because we both know Iregina commandedhim. There was a sort of power to my voice, and it was a completely foreign feeling.

Sabrina swears as she considers this. Any intelligent beast would put two and two together and I can’t help but think Savage’s overt possessiveness over me is starting to look suspicious. I need to have a word with Savage… without actually having a word with him.

We have lunch in relative peace, because my psychos are not in the hall. It’s a heavy weight off my shoulders given everything that’s happened today.

For some reason, Beak decides to approach us from his table of eagles. He’s handsome in a black polo shirt and his hair is in the signature spiky style. Beak’s always been a guy who likes to be well groomed. It’s definitely an eagle thing, but underneath that, he has a devilish sort of charm that turns the anima’s heads. He slides into the empty seat next to me.

“How are you, Aurelia?” Beaks brown eyes are concerned as they take me in, and his arm brushes mine. I scan the hall again, just to reassure myself my mates are not present. As if I’d ever forget what he said to me the day Savage mauled that snake right in front of me.

“They’re not here,” he says quickly.

“You’ve got big balls coming over here, eagle,” Sabrina warns. “The alpha wolf has his eye fixed on her.”

“So does the shark,” Minnie adds. “You need to be careful.”

“It’s alright, I know them.” Beak waves dismissive a hand. “Don’t worry about me. I want to know if you’re okay after everything that happened.”

I stare at him incredulously because what the hell? The sheer audacity that he has to be working for Scythe and now coming up to me? I can’t help but feel alittlebetrayed.

So my voice is a little harsh as I say, “I’m fine. Alive and kicking, obviously. Did you help plan my kidnapping, by the way?” Did he help them with their other murderous exploits?

He grimaces. “No. For the record, I didn’t know about what they had planned.”

I glare at him. “And you’ve been working forhimsince…”

“Yeah.” He says quickly, completely oblivious to my death stare. “But we don’t talk about that. I knew you were a tough one, but you also need to be more careful, Aurelia.” His eyes flick down to my clothes. “But… if you need anything, you only have to ask me, alright?” I raise my brows at him, because why would I need anything from him? “You know,” he says in a low voice.

Minnie is making eyes at her macaroni and cheese while the other girls are avoiding looking at us. Raquel is gaping at him.

There was a time where I would have happily taken him up on his offer, but now? I’d be signing his death warrant. And… well, he’s not really doing it for me since I’ve met my mates. That’s what happens when you scent the other parts of your soul group. No one else quite looks as good ever again.

“Thanks, Beak,” I say stiffly. “I’ll keep that in mind. My uncle told me that you gave him the heads up that day of the fire. It was because of you and him that I got to run. So thanks for that, I suppose.”

Abruptly, his energy changes, and he shoots off his seat. “Anytime, Lia.” He’s back at his table so fast that I don’t even register what’s happened.

“Incoming,” Minnie warns.

I look up to see Savage at the door, joining the buffet lunch by himself, though he hasn’t shown any sign of noticing me. A sudden flash of the vision I had on Friday night beams through me and I almost choke on my pasta salad. The sheer violence in it makes me cold to the core. But there is also a cruelty in it borne of somethingnotSavage. I know the cruelty of parents. Of a father. How it can ruin you and turn you into something you had no intention of being.

* * *

At group therapy, Theresa and Rylan, a cheetah with a lazy smile, make us arrange our plastic chairs into a big circle so we can see each other all at once.

Everyone immediately hates this position because there’s no hiding, and it’s the first time we’ve had therapy with the male beasts. I make sure my legs are squeezed shut against the many eyes scraping down my bare legs and arms and realise that Scythe and Xander are pointedly looking everywhere but me. I shiver in the air-conditioned room and rub my arms.

“Do you want my shirt, Lia?” a hawk whose name I don’t know, says eagerly. Beak gives him a look but the hawk ignores it.

Every animus stares at him. The way they’re all hyper-alert to us animas is really unnerving.

“Uh, that’s nice of you, but no thanks.” I’m trying to be nice, but it’s hard when I’m pretty sure Xander is paying close attention to every minute sound in the room. That’s my current theory anyway.

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