Page 10 of Her Psycho Beasts

“He’s not here,” I reassure her. “Titus. And a few tigers have left with him.”

The guards had told me that in the chaos of Fredrick Ulman’s death and subsequent escape of the serpent students, the Clawson tigers dragged a flaccid Titus into one of the departing trucks. His face had been streaming with blood. Apparently, both his upper and lower jaws had been broken, but no one was sure how. I need to question the guards.

“I really need a shower,” she says, plucking at her borrowed clothes with disgust as we reach the trick floor.

“Let’s do that,” I say, following her into the bedroom and appraising the beds as we pass them.

But she pauses on the threshold of the bathroom, staring at her fingernails and saying quietly, “I just need a little time alone.”

My heart plummets.

“I…” Around my claimed regina, I seem to struggle for words. Especially when she pierces my heart with that observant gaze. And it’s so quiet up here. Finally, a moment of peace. Just for us. I look at her beautiful face, the glistening of her lashes, the wildpower that writhes within her even now. She killed for me. And not just killed, but destroyed something that had haunted me for ten long years. Even if she hadn’t been my regina, I would have claimed her anyway for that. I know I have to tell her the truth of things. “I…can’t.”

“Can’t what?” She blinks up at me in confusion.

I swallow. “Leave you. Now. Not ever.”

A smile twitches her lips, and it blinds me for a moment. “It’s just the next room, Lyle.”

My name on her lips sinks into my bones. I gently cup her cheek in one hand. It makes her face look so small. So vulnerable. “I know, angel.”

She softens into my touch then. Perhaps at the tone of my voice or the slightly wild look that is no doubt claiming my features.

“Alright then.”

Relief is a torrential downpour through my chest.

Chapter 5

Aurelia

My world is simultaneously growing bigger and smaller. While my insides churn with something new and expansive, I feel so small standing at the middle of the three sinks in my mates’ massive bathroom.

Lyle fills a bowl with soap and warm water for Henry to soak in while I riffle through my toiletries, pulling out the medical tape I’d been using to hold my bandages in place.

Everyone knows about my wounds, so there’s no point in hiding them anymore.

And now everyone knows about my biggest secret, too.

My hands tremble as I set the tape next to the waterproof bandaging and grip the edge of the black marbled counter before the floor falls from under me.

I’ve kept this secret my entire life. I’ve held onto it so tightly that it had slipped right out of my fingers.

No, it had fuckingexplodedlike a pipe bomb. And my ears are still ringing from the aftershock. I can’t help but feel vulnerable. Torn open. As if I’d spilled my insides out for everyone in the world to poke and prod at.

Everything is going to be different now, and the dangerous world I’ve been living in has suddenly gotten a whole lot more lethal. Not only for me, but for those I love.

First Savage, then Sabrina.

Who will be next?

The bathroom walls press in on me.

“Hey, it’s alright.” Lyle’s voice is whisper soft as he presses himself against my back, a reminder that I have a wall of solid muscle protecting me. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, feeling his towering strength and letting it ground my flailing senses. It doesn’t stop the gigantic poisonous feeling trawling in my stomach, making tears burn through my eyes and stream down my cheeks. I’ve not done this right. Not at all. In the history of fuck-ups, this is right up there.

Lyle brushes his lips along the skin under my ear, and instantly, a warmth tries to push the poison away.

I let out a strangled sob as it all hits me.

---