Page 95 of Her Rabid Beasts

She blinks at it in disbelief for a moment before trying to get up. Quick as a flash, I secure the other cuff to the inside of one of the cast iron scrolls in my headboard.

“I need to know you’re safe here,” I say stiffly. “Otherwise, I won’t be able to leave you.” Otherwise, I won’t be able to stop scenting her.

She gapes up at me, still in a sort of glassy-eyed daze from her orgasm. Her skin glows from our union. Her lips are still swollen from the force of my desire. Her pussy is still full of my cum.

I hate myself for what I’m about to say. What Ihaveto say. This is to keep her safe. From me and from everything else. But I get it out and almost fall to my knees when I see her bubble shatter completely. “Aurelia, we can never do that again.”

I stride away from her, even as my soul bucks and screams and beats against my insides, promising death and destruction.

“Scythe,”I call out into the ether. Three powers of awareness perk their head up.“We need to talk about Aurelia.”

“You called her angel,”comes the reply. There is no malice in his normally icy voice. Only curiosity.

They’d all seen.

I stop in my living room. Then I turn around, pick up one of the black dining chairs and smash it against the top of the ancient wood. It splits the table in two. The two halves crashing into each other like enemies on an old battlefield, both tired from an eternity of fighting.

The vision does not abate any of my agony.

Chapter 39

Xander

Scythe and I are sitting outside the Moonlight Stroll cafe in the student village, smoking some good quality cigars to process our meeting with an unhinged Lyle, when we see something unusual.

Minnie is skipping down the path, pink curls bouncing, ballet flats prancing and completely by herself, no other animas in tow. This cafe is operated by one of Savage’s wolves, who turns a blind eye when we smoke so we come here more often than not. It’s well made, with fairy lights, tiny tea-light holders, and hand-painted wolves running under a full moon along the drywall.

Minnie’s been leaving Aurelia for her own adventures these days. Leaving the Boneweaver girl all alone at night.

My stomach does a weird turn and I take another drag to try and make it go away. Scythe raises a brow when he sees the tigress because she’s clearly dressed for a date in a long, flowing pink dress that shows her shoulders and her makeup is done all extra nice with glittery eyeshadow. My shark brother and I both scan the vicinity to see if anyone is going to join her because an anima wandering around unaccompanied at night is not normal around here. But there’s no one else running to join her as Minnie does a double take when she sees us, takes an obviousbreath, pointedly ignores us, and goes inside to sit down at a two-seater table. She orders an iced tea when the student server comes to ask, then starts swinging her short legs and humming under her breath.

The whole thing sort of looksromantic.

Fifteen minutes pass by and still she sits there alone and tries not to look outside. Her annoyingly positive attitude falters, perhaps for the first time that I’ve been observing her at this academy, and she starts nervously fidgeting with the many silver bangles she wears on both wrists. The dragon in me assesses them for the quality and I know on instinct that they’re pure platinum and white gold. Minnie comes from a wealthy family, according to our research. Her father is state manager for a chain of animalia-owned banks. It makes sense that she’s here on the down-low, considering it was white collar crime that got her in pretty bad trouble in the first place.

“The fires are all out.” Yeti pulls up a chair next to me and sits his large self down. His white hair has a dusting of black ash and he smells like power and soot. I offer him a cigar and he takes it with tattooed fingers. “We collected the ashes in separate boxes.”

“Good,” I say, lighting his cigar with a finger flame. “And the one left is secure?”

His powder-blue eyes dance. Merciless bastard, just like the rest of us. “Yes. She’s out cold.”

Yeti’s plume of smoke adds to ours, and I relish the silvery cloud. Natalia fought to keep her vermin secrets, but with a little dose of her own medicine and Scythe’s ruthless hand, we got a little more information out. It’s lucky Savage is locked in isolation, because he would’ve torn her apart so quickly we wouldn’t have been able to get anything from her.

Yeti mutters some more news under his breath while Scythe and I listen quietly, making small comments as he goes.

Eventually, the tea-light in front of Minnie goes out, the wax all used up. She stares at it with a small frown and it’s not until I see her bottom lip tremble that I sigh and re-light the thing on my power alone. It splutters to life and Minnie flinches in surprise, then stares at it, confused.

Clara, the student-owner of the cafe, brings her a sympathy cupcake, which Minnie tries to decline, but the wolf only smiles and leaves it on the table. The tigress blinks at it a few times before defiantly pushing it away. She sniffs softly.

Yeti has suddenly gone very still next to me.

Silently, he stands, puts out his cigar and strides inside. I’d like to think I have some sort of manners, given my upbringing, but I want to hear this and plan to eavesdrop on the entire thing.

“Bangles,” Yeti greets, pulling out the seat opposite her and seating his large frame.

“Criminal,” greets Minnie says tightly. “What are you doing here? Helping to dispose of someone annoying?”

“I’m done for the day, actually.” He grabs her cupcake and tears into it with his teeth.

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