Page 91 of Her Feral Beasts

“I’ll take it, Gregory,” Sabrina purrs, holding out her hand. Gregory grins at her and goes to take off his shirt before Rylan makes a choked sound.

“Greg, you need to keep your clothes on,” the cheetah says patiently. “Remember we spoke about this yesterday? It’s not polite to sit shirtless in human society, unless you’re at a pool or beach or in the privacy of your own home.”

“Oh, right,” Gregory says slowly, shoving his shirt back down. “Forgot, sorry.”

Theresa nods. “Well done, Gregory. You forgot and took direction from a friendly person. Remember, it’s our job to help our friends make better choices if we can.” She walks towards him with a sticker sheet in her hand and peels off a gold foil star. Gregory puffs his chest out and Theresa slaps it on him good-naturedly. He proudly pecks at it with his nose.

I stare at the hawk for a moment, looking as happy as any kindergartener when Theresa explains, “In Class B, we give out stars to show we appreciate effort. Sometimes the little things count, you know?”

Most of Class B merged with us, but Savage, as demonstrated by the knife episode, must not be quite so ready. I wonder where he is.

“She’s right,” Minnie whispers to me. “Now I want a star too.”

I grin at her because it’s sweet, but also, the guys don’t seem to mind it because they see it as a competition.

“Alright everyone, how are things at the moment?” Everyone mumbles half-hearted positive things. “What’s everyone’s favourite things about the academy?”

Sabrina’s hand shoots up in the air and Theresa throws her a blue sparkly ball marked, ‘$peak3r’.

“I like the village. It has a great selection of clothes.”

The girls all nod in agreement.

“You look lovely,” Theresa says, “but I’m not sure how practical the six-inch heels are.”

Sabrina grins and kicks her heels off to show us. Sure enough, she has two blisters forming at the sides of both feet. “Yeah, it’ll be kitten heels tomorrow.”

“Don’t lick them,” advises a wolf with a bandage on his forehead. “Is not hygienic.”

Rylan nods in approval and gives him a gold star.

A lion raises his hand and Sabrina throws him the ball. “I like that the Hunting Games will start soon. It’s cool we’re allowed to be aggressive.”

“Excellent point,” Rylan says. “What are some other ways we can take out beastly aggression?”

The ball gets chucked around. “The fighting mats!”

“Very important,” Rylan explains. “Once you’ve proven control, you’ll get to practise fighting in your beast forms.”

“Lia,” Theresa calls out to me and I freeze. “What did we do for your anger a little while ago?”

The ball gets thrown into my lap and my face grows hot as Scythe’s eyes land on me. I say begrudgingly, “I punched a pillow like a boxing bag.”

A few of the birds snigger and Minnie and Raquel glare at them.

“It works really well, if you’re in a pinch,” Theresa says. “Now, today we get to talk about appropriate courting among animalia because we’re seeing some inappropriate behaviours.”

I pass a glare in Scythe’s direction because surely the height ofinappropriateis kidnapping. But he’s not looking at me and Xander has his usual sneer on.

“What kinds of things have we been seeing around the academy?” Rylan prompts.

“How about girls wearing skirts so short you can see their ass when they bend over?” Xander says snidely.

I immediately heat up.

Theresa makes a sound of disapproval. “The anima likes to preen, that’s normal. They dress up in fancy clothes, often showing skin to present themselves to their mates. But you’re right, Xander, we do need to be careful about appropriate clothing in public. Showing your buttocks in non-swimming places is definitely indecent. We shouldn’t be nude in public where humans find it offensive.”

I try not to look embarrassed and then decide to take an offensive approach. I raise my hand and Theresa passes the ball back to me. “How about kidnapping and abduction? Those areinappropriatecourting behaviours, aren’t they?”

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