Page 129 of Her Rabid Beasts

He gives me a reproachful look, as if I shouldn’t be speaking to him that way. Officially, he is my order leader and I should be giving him some respect.

“Sorry,” I say more softly this time. “I’m just… nervous.”

“You fucking should be, Lia. You’re about to stand trial.”

“Yeah, but it’s not like the other guy, where Savage had to eat him. We just stole a thing.” Or like my shitshow trial with the Council of Beasts.

Beak grabs my arm and spins me to face him. His tanned face saysare you kidding me?“Lia, your father followed the Old Laws too. What would he have done if someone stole from him?”

The words are out of my mouth on autopilot. “He’d kill them.”

Then it hits me. The blood drains from my face as I realise what Sabrina and I have done is theft. We’ve taken the property of a territorial, rabid male. And not just any property. An important item that was a bargaining chip for him.

The dread must show on my face because, satisfied that I’ve now understood, Beak lets my arm go and holds open the door to the anima dorm for me to exit.

Me and my animas are dead silent as we’re marched behind the gathering crowd right into the animus dormitory, the autumn air casting a sudden chill over my skin.

Chapter 52

Aurelia

We walk into the animus recreation room with our heads held high. Why then, does it feel like I’m walking into my execution? The beams of sunlight cutting through the long windows are like slashes through the air, casting spotlights onto the old wooden floorboards. Dust motes swirl above the heads of the gathered crowd as they stare at us with brows raised.

“We did the right thing, girls,”Raquel chants in our heads.“Remember that.”

Titus is already waiting in the centre of the room with his posse of felines and serpents gathered behind him in solidarity. More than a few hiss at us, baring their teeth as we come to stand as a group at the edge of the ring of students. I spot Connor off to the side, looking frazzled, his dark eyes frantic as he pushes through the crowd to get to us.

“Oh my God,” he whispers when he makes it to our small group. “Oh my God.” He reaches for Minnie’s hand and she takes his, her eyes glistening. Connor pulls her towards him and tucks her safe into his side. To his credit, he doesn’t say “I told you so,” but his nimpin, Trumpet, is huddled close to his neck.

I angle myself at the front of our group and Sabrina comes to stand shoulder to shoulder with me as the crowd’s muttering grows louder as more students filter in. Beak is shouting at people behind us, animuses are snarling at each other, and there is a terrible, excited buzz in the air. Henry presses himself into my neck and Cherry does the same with Sabrina; the nimpins chitter at each other as if complaining about us.

Turning around to look at my tigress friend, I say, “I love you, Minnie. No matter what happens today. I don’t regret a single thing.”

Sabrina nods. “Yeah, I agree with that, Min.”

Minnie just stares at us from Connor’s side while Stacey nervously clasps her hands. Raquel stands protectively next to her and nods at me, piercings glinting in the afternoon sun.

“It’ll be fine,” they say firmly.

I turn back around to see Scythe, Xander and Savage walking onto the stage, much in the same way as they did at the last trial. Yeti and Beak come to stand at the edges of the raised platform, looking tense and stern.

Sabrina stiffens next to me because we notice the difference straight away. Savage’s wolf eyes are in bloom, those massive hazel irises taking over, pupils dilated. His overt aggression is obvious, and it makes the many wolves in the audience shift in nervousness and excitement.

“He won’t let anything happen to you,”Raquel says into my mind. “You’ll be fine.”

But that’s exactly what I’m worried about.

And then Xander assumes his position at his lectern, with that joint in his mouth, though he doesn’t gift us with a suit today. Only a black shirt and chinos combo. He touches the phone in his pocket, either to turn the music up or down, I can’t tell.

His voice suddenly appears in my head as he calls the crowd to settle down.“You stupid, stupid girl,”Xander drawls. “You don’t even know who you’ve messed with.”

But I did. I do. I know the type of creature Titus is because I know the type of beast his father is.

The type of beast who would organise the killing of his own brother. His own blood. One of my mother’s mates is dead because of the Clawsons. Now, Titus has hurt my friend. And those transgressions are something I willneverforgive. Not in this lifetime, or all the lifetimes I get. It’s only this that puts steel in my spine. Only this that stops the quiver in my hands.

The audience quietens at Xander’s growled command.

My eyes find Scythe’s and his irises are clear and cold. He shakes his head so infinitesimally that I’m probably the only one who saw it.

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