Page 168 of Her Rabid Beasts

Savage snarls softly in my face, not moving a muscle to yield me to his brother. “It was my right, regina,” he whispers.

I snarl softly back. “And you did enough. Two weeks was enough. I ended it.”

He angles his head as if considering this, eyes never leaving mine. Then, to my surprise, he takes my hand and kisses it. “I’m not happy, regina. But if that is your wish…”

“It is,” I say firmly.

He kisses my hand again and straightens, the anger fading away and leaving only his normal, wild self behind. “Then that is all I need to hear.”

Xander snorts, very much like a real dragon, and shakes his head where he’s leaning against the windows, smoking a fresh hand-rolled joint. Savage steps aside, leaving me with a direct path to Scythe.

I approach the Great White with sure, confident steps as we regard each other. He sits on that couch not only like he owns the entire school, but like he owns his own emotions, too. He’s the picture not of restraint—or control, like Lyle—but cold, cold death.

“It was enough, Scythe,” I say slowly. “You did enough to her.”

“Why do you think we did what we did, Aurelia?”

“Because that is what men like you do.”

The corner of his mouth twitches. “And who are ‘men like me’?”

“Men who hurt and torture and maim without thought.”

Xander snorts again. “I assure you, we think quite deeply about it.”

Scythe blinks slowly, like he’s considering my response. Then he licks his lips. “And did you consider the consequences of your actions?”

Well, no. So I say, “I considered the consequences of myinaction.”

A minute tilting of the head tells me he’s surprised by my response. “You thought we would kill her.”

I wince at the memory of her condition. “I thought you would let that go on for too long. It was already too long. It’s not humane.”

“We have a protocol for how we extract information.”

A chill passes down my spine at the directness of this conversation. At the matter-of-factness about how Scythe speaks about torture.

He continues in that cold, matter-of-fact tone, “What do you think will happen now that you’ve released her?”

I swallow. She’s safe now. I told Ghoul to drop her somewhere close to her home. But…

Xander snaps. “She’ll go straight to Mace Naga to run her fucking mouth. That’s the answer you’re looking for ex-serpentprincess.”

I shoot him a glare.

Scythe stands and I’m not prepared for the way his dominance washes over me as he comes to stand close, his mating mark glowing on the side of his neck. I can’t help but glance at it and I know he notices. I meet him eye to eye.

“Next time,” he says, his voice a terrifying, quiet rasp that I might hear in my nightmares. “If you have an issue with the way I run my business, you come tome.”

I blink up at him, my heart hammering, my veins burning, my mind whirring in mild panic.

“Do you understand me, Aurelia?”

Dangerous. So fucking dangerous. And yet, he’s right. Ishouldhave considered everything before I released an enemy. Natalia threatened my friends. Threatened everything.

I swallow down my instinctual panic and attempt to meet that terrifying gaze. “I understand, Scythe.”

“Now go back to your TV.”

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