Page 127 of Her Rabid Beasts

A sudden pain tears my heart anew.

I realise what it is. Because although the pain I experienced at Theo’s death was great, it pales in comparison to the depth of grief I would feel if Savage was killed by my father.

Guilt winds around the aching chambers of my heart. And that isterriblyconfusing.

When I get back to the dorm, the animas and nimpins are in a state.

“Will he report us?” Sabrina asks as Cherry chirps softly in her ear.

I remember the hate in Thomas’ voice as he said my name. The pure disgust on his features. And so it’s with utter surety that I mutter a dark, “Yes.”

Chapter 51

Aurelia

“What do we do? What do we do!” Sabrina paces back and forth between her bed and Raquel’s, rubbing at her arms, while Stacey sits at the little shared desk, fingers moving rapidly over the black keyboard of Titus’ laptop.

Five minutes later, Minnie walks through the door, closing it shut behind her. Her brown eyes dart between us all and we stare right back at her.

“What have you guys done?” she asks in a dark voice that I’mnotused to my best friend using. “I saw you two rush out of the hall.” She nods to Raquel and Stacey. Despite the concealer, I can still see the bluish bags marking my friend’s brown skin. Can see the strain at the edges of her body. The way her nimpin trembles where she sits on her shoulder.

Raquel and Stacey are guiltily standing over Titus’ laptop while I just limply stand there. “We did the right thing,” I say numbly. “The right thing.”

“Well, I’m getting rid of the nudes as we speak,” Stacey says happily, tapping the special hacking device from the laptop and clearly in her element. “I just wiped his drive for good measure. There was mostly porn on it anyway. You’re safe, Min.”

My tigress’ eyes widen in horror as she recognises the laptop.

“I can’t believe you did this,” she says faintly. Her lips are pressed together in a cold, hard line, but her eyes are shiny. I don’t think she knows how to feel, and to be honest, the cold dread at the pit of my stomach coupled with the relief of our job getting done is also confusing me.

“I can’t apologise, Minnie,” I say. Even to me, my voice sounds distant.

Suddenly, Eugene flaps his wings and lets out a loud squawk. We all stare at him as a group.

Five seconds later, heavy-booted feet march up the dorm staircase outside.

“Sh-Shit,” Raquel says nervously. “A-Animus i-incoming.”

I grab Sabrina’s hand and the look of pure terror in her eyes opens the part of me that lies buried beneath my common sense. It gapes wide open, threatening to swallow us both. My anima roars out, wanting to protect my friends, but before I can shift, a loud, heavy knock sounds on the door. A knock that rattles my bones.

We all just stare at it.

To my surprise, Minnie clears her throat and strides to the door. Tossing her pink curls, she opens it.

Four males tower in the doorway.

Yeti stands there with one leopard male, as well as Beak and another hawk animus.

The feline and bird order leaders of the academy.

“Aurelia,” Beak says with exasperation, “what the fuck did you do?” The sheer unhappiness on his handsome face cements the fact that we’re in deep shit. The fact that it’s not Theresa who came to confront us. Or Lyle.

Yeti’s pale eyes are only for Minnie, however, and he frowns at her. “Were you involved in this, Bangles?”

“She wasn’t,” I say quickly. “She had no idea.”

“Involved in what?” Sabrina says, looking at me sharply.

Oops. Some crim I am.

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