Page 59 of Her Rabid Beasts

A quick check of my new phone tells me it's only one a.m. Henry chirps a question and I pat him on the head.

“I’m alright,” I whisper, “just a…”

A mate dream. It’s a thing unique to serpent mating groups. A part of their psychic power that enables them to see into the pasts of members of their soul group, usually after intimate contact. It allows serpents to create strong, deep personal connections with each other and isn’t spoken about outside the Serpent Court. My father’s people are secretive beasts, and keeping their powers in the dark is a point of pride. I didn’t want to admit it when it happened with Savage’s past memories, but this time, with Lyle’s, it’s hard to ignore.

That primitive terror, that awful horror, was impossible to just push aside. My heart still thrashes in my chest from the traumatising vision of all those shredded bodies.

I wonder if the others know I have these dreams, or if they too have them because of me. Wiping a fine layer of sweat off my forehead, I push my covers back and head to the balcony to open the doors. Fresh, cool air caresses my skin as I open one of them, and I breathe in the nighttime stillness like it’s a balm that will soothe the old wounds of my past. And the visions of Lyle’s past.

My eldest mate lives with a terrible history fraught with horrors. And if my suspicions are correct, they all do.Weall do. But this vision of Lyle’s past…only leads to more questions. I would never have guessed that he grew up in an illegal wildlife reserve. That his mother was forced to give birth in beast form, with her litter being tortured until they forgot how to shift into a human. It was unthinkable. How after all that, did Lyle end up here?

Staring out at the quiet academy grounds, a prickle on the back of my neck demands my attention. I scan the hunting games field and the eucalypts that border it on three sides, employing my eagle eyes to see better through the dark. If there is a threat out there, I want to be able to see it straight away. If there is a chance my father breached the academy’s security and is physically coming to get me, I need to know straight away. I can sense my shields around the school well enough, but I don’t get good visuals from them.

At least four pairs of academy guards always patrol the night, but they’re usually not visible as they stick close to the buildings or to the perimeter of the academy.

But then I see the cause of my unease.

There is one guard who stands on the concrete path before the anima dorm, the red cherry flame of a cigarette glowing through the dark. He’s looking up at the building. Looking right up at me.

My heart leaps as I look down at his utterly still form. He’s tall, broad-shouldered and dressed from top to toe in all black,just like the other guards. An automatic weapon rests in his arms, just like the others.

Except he is not like the others at all.

The only thing different that I can see is a slight red gleam coming from his eye area, probably a reflection of the cigarette in the shades they all wear in the daytime. Perhaps he’s a raptor and can see through them at night?

As I watch, he seems to fade into the shadows. And then he really does; the shadows beneath him rise up, swallowing him whole, that red gleam the only thing remaining visible. Between one blink and the next, he’s gone entirely. As if he was never there.

I rub my eyes. Then rub them again. A shiver creeps over my skin, biting and cold. Tiredness suddenly weighs my body down. Now, nothing at all stands beneath the anima dorm. It’s likely my tired mind, seeing things where there are none.

I check my protections again and remind myself that if people were to breach the school’s natural protections, I would know about it. All my energy is going into defending the school and that is the entire point. I couldn’t simply have stayed down in that cavern without… resources.

The food is working to help me. But I will definitely need more.

I tumble back into bed, and within seconds, I’m asleep.

The next morning, I wake up, cosy and deliciously warm, wrapped up in my blankets. My neck is wet.

My eyes fly open, thinking that Henry has shat on my neck in the night.

The scent of ancient forests and fresh grass strokes my nose.

Those are not blankets keeping me warm, but a heavy, muscular arm and torso curled around my back.

“Wakey wakey, regina.” Between his kisses along my neck, Savage’s morning voice is a deep purr in my ear.

I sit bolt upright.

The first thing I see is that the double doors leading to the balcony are open, letting cool morning air billow in. There are no signs of breaking and entering.

“They were open,” Savage says.

Did the schoollethim in? Because those doors were definitely locked when I closed them last night.

I stare down at Savage, lying fully naked in my bed. He smiles lazily at me, stretching his body. My eyes find the curve of those tanned abdominals and I can’t look away.

“You’re a deep sleeper, regina.” He reaches out to trail a finger down my arm.

I gather my shit together.

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