Page 184 of Her Rabid Beasts

Georgia stands next to Celeste, her face pale and drawn, her nostrils flaring in anger and shock.

“This is highly improper, Lyle,” says the raptor queen, her voice dripping with distaste, even as she tries and fails not to look him up and down. I know then that they heard his claiming of me. “If you sought to hide this from us?—”

“As I’m sure Lady Celeste explained,” Lyle says, his deep voice still hung on his animus, “my regina chose not to disclose her order.”

“And the matter of you hiding your relationship with her,” the wolf queen says evenly. “A bad judgement call. We cannot let this incident go, you understand.”

“There is also the matter of a human murder.” The dragon king’s eyes glimmer as he stares at me, and it suddenly strikesme. I risk a glance at Xander, but the dragon is nowhere to be seen. Only Scythe stands next to Savage, cutting me a look of warning.

This is Xander’s father. They have the same almond-shaped eyes. The same long, silken black hair. The same air of superiority.

“He tried to kill my mate,” I say, trying not to think about the fact that this dragon has seen me naked. That the entire council and my father’s men have all seen my bare body. “It was purely self-defence.”

“We will need to prepare a statement,” Lady Celeste says, nodding. “All will be done according to the proper laws.”

“Laws that do not include Boneweavers,” the feline king says ruefully, eyeing me with interest before flicking his gaze respectfully up to my lion. “This changes everything, Lyle.”

“Mace needs to be held accountable,” Lyle says, his voice simmering with rage. “For psychic attacks on Aurelia. For luring me out with sinister intentions.”

The dragon king chuckles as if this is all a cute joke. “Are you accusing the regent of Serpent Court of knowingly inciting your… mental state? Really, Lyle, I expected better of you.” He waves his bejewelled hand flippantly. “But you can no longer be deputy headmaster of this institution.”

I clench my fists with the sudden and furious urge to break this guy’s nose. Silence hangs heavy between my pack and the council. Through the gathering dark, the school floodlights come on, white beams slicing through the air. The school’s guards are gathered around, watching carefully. Listening to everything.

Ruben, I notice, is conveniently missing.

“I will write up a list of recommendations for what needs to be done,” Celeste says with authority. “For now, Aurelia requires extensive healing, and Lyle needs to be assessed. The legalities will be discussed at length in the morning.”

The wolf queen breaks off from the council group and approaches me with a smile. Her eyes are kind and my intuition tells me that I like her. “Apparently, you are queen of a court of one, Aurelia… Well! I suppose we call you Aurelia Boneweaver now, do we not?” She beams at me.

I flush under her gaze. “I’m not so sure about that, Your Majesty.”

She nods, searching my eyes. “I never thought I’d see the day. I should like to meet with you sometime. We should talk.”

I bow. “Of course, Your Majesty.”

She turns to my wolf. “Savage,” she says, her voice that of an amused mother. “Of course you would be tangled up in this.”

To my surprise, Savage grins and sweeps a gallant bow. “Always, Your Majesty.”

“Well,” she says, addressing Lyle last, “I’ve always said that sometimes all an animus needs is a strong regina to set him straight. Wouldn’t you say, Mr Pardalia?”

Lyle’s lips twitch and I’m never going to let him hear the end of this. “Indeed, Your Majesty.”

The wolf queen smiles sadly and steps back, nodding to someone behind us. “It’s a shame we need to separate you.”

Panic flares as Savage’s grip is yanked out of mine. I whirl around to see Ruben and the massive feline king himself, chaining Savage with obsidian to a metal gurney. I cry out, but Lyle holds onto me and I get one last look at my handsome, wild wolf before a black bag is shoved over his head.

“No!” I cry, trying to wrest free of Lyle’s grip. Something in my heart tears open as Savage is wheeled into a waiting military grade van. “Do something!” I say to Scythe, who has calmly watched the entire thing. A muscle in his jaw feathers before he looks at me.

They slam the door shut with a resounding thud.

“They have a legal warrant for his arrest, Aurelia,” Scythe rasps. “There is nothing we can do.”

“No,” I say again, weakly holding a hand up as if I can stop what’s happening.

I love you. Savage said it as he’d thrown himself in front of me. I hadn’t had the time to say it back. I tunnel my mind through the air toward his. Trying to sense that unhinged, bouncing power. But of course, the obsidian blocks any telepathic communication.

Ruben gets into the driver’s seat, and I suddenly want to tear that beast apart. I stifle a sob as the truck’s engine roars and Savage is taken away.

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