Page 27 of Her Rabid Beasts

I grunt a yes, becauseobviouslythat’s what I’m gonna do. With more fairy bread for dessert.

Look at us. Collaborating. Our regina will be so happy.

Chapter 13

Aurelia’s Anima

Another day, another time; I cannot tell how long I’ve been hidden in the dark. My sister-pack has just finished their heats, and my tigress-sister returns to me.

By the smell, she brings more food, and it makes my stomach roil. Although power dwindles day by day, in this form, their food is no good for me, so I snub them, only accepting the small morsels I now allow my wolf to feed me by his hand alone.

But today my tigress-sister is unsettled. I open one eye to focus on her. Her own hatchling—yellow, like a ripe banana—sits on her shoulder and lets out a sharp sound. Immediately, the only other of our pack in our nest, my wolf-anim, gets onto their human feet, their green hatchling also making a sharp noise.

I open both my eyes now, as my tigress presses a hand to her head and scrunches her face.

My own hatchling squeaks in alarm. Then all the hatchlings screech in unison.

My tigress-sister rubs at her soft, round stomach, the thin covering over it shifting a little.

Then she doubles over, crumpling in on herself.

I smell the blood before I see it. My head snaps up in alarm. Red seeps through her shirt. Four lines, shallow, but long and jagged.

Burn. Burn. Burn.

They couldn’t get to me, so they’ve come for her. I’ve been so tired they’ve finally found a breach in my defence.

“Oh my God!” my tigress-sister shrieks. “Raquel! It hurts! It hurts!”

But a wolf can do nothing in this situation.

The human in me screams and my head is full of her agony, my heart is pounding and searing as venomous pain scorches my insides.

Keep them safe. Keep them safe. Keep them safe. At all costs.

I jump to my paws, a volcano erupting from deep inside the cage at the base of my body.

The roar of pure rage I let out shakes the very foundation of the cavern itself.

Chapter 14

Lyle

I’m sitting with Titus as he plays a game on his laptop. He seems to enjoy car racing and his fingers are deft across the keyboard. Muscle memory from years of playing computer games and PlayStation as a teenager, kicks in and he swears in annoyance under his breath.

He’s not a particularly cheerful tiger, more the serious, brooding type that lends to rabidity, but he is making excellent progress.

I’m smirking at my new therapy technique and the fact that he’ll be able to join gen pop within days, when something rattles the cavern walls.

Titus’ fingers freeze on the keyboard as we both register what it is.

From far away, the sound of a female lioness’ roar shakes my very bones. The mating mark on the right side of my neck sears my skin like a new brand. The fact that I’m hearing it here means that there is a push of significant power behind it.

I’m on my feet before Titus has even registered it, locking his door and stalking into the elevator.

We are at the end of the three-day heat lockdown, with Savage, Scythe and Xander all locked up in separate obsidiancages down below, at their own request. Because there are still a few hours left before the protections lift at sundown, I’m the only one striding across the grounds to the anima dorm.

Christine chatters excitedly as I unlock the dorm early, the steel doors sliding up and disappearing into the ceiling.

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