Page 45 of Her Rabid Beasts

Piggy.The nickname resounds in my head. Titus is not like Savage, I realise. Not by a long shot.

“No bacon and eggs today?” I ask tentatively as we get to the end of the line to pour our coffees.

Minnie pats her little stomach self-consciously. “Not today. But Iknow”—she rolls her eyes—“we need regular catch ups for sure. Were you at the trial yesterday? Holy shit, Lia.”

She’s changing the subject as we reach our regular table and I tear my eyes off my wellness check of her and her canary-yellow nimpin, Gertie, to find Scythe and Xander already seated at their usual table at the back of the hall. Beak, Yeti, and some others are there too—I almost drop my bamboo knife as I notice the anima sitting in Savage’s seat, opposite Scythe.

Everyone remembers Sarah from our first day when Xander had set her hair on fire for sitting in his lap uninvited. But clearly she’s back at her usual antics. She leans over the table, her red push-up bra working overtime. She preens, running red nails through her now shoulder length brown hair as glossy pink lips quickly move, talking at a fast pace.

Stacey elbows me hard at the same time Henry gives my cheek a sharp peck.

“Ow!” I squeal.

More than a few animuses turn to stare, including Beak, who frowns at me. Yet another beast I need to avoid, apparently.

But my eyes quickly find that beautiful brunette anima again. A sizzle of energy shoots through the air and I turn to see Savage stalking to his table from behind me, his eyes not on me but on Sarah. He tears into a massive piece of raw ribeye as he passes our table. That sizzle usually happens when he’s telepathically talking to someone.

Sarah hastily gets up and saunters to her third-year table, where her friends lean in to whisper at her, no doubt wanting all the goss.

It would be easy to fall in love with Savage, I realise. Way too easy.

“Sorry, Lia,” Stacey says quickly, patting my shoulder in apology. “But you were breaking your fork.”

I swear softly as I pull out a splinter from my finger and proceed to eat my first croissant with my hands. I can’t be showing obvious disdain for other animas approaching Scythe and Xander. The other animuses will start to get suspicious.

Sabrina leans across the table to hiss at Minnie, “We want the deets about Titus.”

“Spill, cub,” Raquel commands.

“There’s not much to say,” Minnie sighs. “We’ve just been reunited, you know?”

As Minnie cuts into her lone grapefruit, the rest of us exchange dark looks.

“What’s he like in bed?” Sabrina asks, narrow-eyed as she aggressively cuts her toast and scrambled eggs. “I hope he reciprocates.”

Minnie chokes on her coffee and Raquel slaps her on the back.

“He’s fine. A bit enthusiastic about group stuff, I guess.”

“That’s great,” Stacey says, although she doesn’t sound so sure. “Good start.”

“Does he eat you out?” Sabrina presses. “You can tell a lot about a male by how he eats you out.”

“Um. Well, he’s a good kisser.” Minnie’s cheeks are progressively turning pink under her brown skin and I just know there are animuses at the neighbouring tables listening in.

“So hedoesn’teat you out?” Sabrina’s fork hangs in mid-air. A bit off scrambled egg falls off it.

“Can we stop with the eating out talk?” Minnie hisses, her voice high. “Titus is… He’s…”

“It was love at first sight,” I explain to the table, swooping in to save my friend. “They’ve known each other for a while.”

Stacey and Sabrina give me googly eyes, as if to indicate that none of this is good news.

“As l-long as he t-treats you w-well, Min,” Raquel says quietly. “That’s a-all we want t-to know.”

Minnie nods firmly as she cuts into her grapefruit. “I love him.”

My tigress is tight-lipped, even through morning group counselling and then cooking class. It makes my chest fill with unease at the way she’s answering our questions, but I convince myself she just wants to keep things private.

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