Page 126 of Her Psycho Beasts

“But you’re not!” Savage exclaims. “It’s perfectly natural!”

Connor gives my wolf a grim smile. “Sometimes your own family sees being different as a threat. I’m lucky I had my grandad, who helped me see that everything would be alright.”

“We have to do the same for Sabrina,” Stacey says firmly. “We have to show her it’ll be alright. I just don’t know how.”

“When the Wild Mother created predators, she also created prey,” Marduk says, holding up a finger and glancing at Scythe. “For every problem she made, she also made a solution.”

“There might be something that can help,” Lyle says, also glancing at Scythe.

I wonder about myself. What kept me going despite everything. What still keeps me going. At first, it had been the memory of my mother. Then I’d gone on just to spite my father. Now, it is, once again, for my mother, but for a different reason that lights up my blood. We all have our reasons for what propels us forward through time and space. Finding that reason and making it a strong one seems to be the key.

I think I know what Scythe’s reason is. His memories tell me what propels him forward day by day. But I do wonder if me entering the picture changed anything for him. If finding his regina has changed him at all.

Sabrina sleeps for a few hours before she wakes up, wiping her eyes and looking dejected around the room. “I don’t want to be here. Why did you bring me here?”

“Sabrina,” Scythe says softly.

She flinches, but turns her face towards him as he pulls up a chair a respectful distance from her. We all watch him in fascination.

“Do you remember two cheetahs who came to help rescue you? Tall and quiet with black hair. Blair and Blade.”

Recognition flashes into her eyes and she nods stiffly. I too remember the two lithe assassins.

“They lost their regina two years ago to a rare type of cancer.”

Sabrina’s brows knit together and she purses her lips like she’s going to cry again.

“Would you like to meet them again?” She blinks at the ceiling for a moment. “Sometimes, when animalia lose their pack, they are paired with others who have also lost their pack.It’s a way for beasts who understand to come together and try and forge bonds for this life. To stave away the sadness and loneliness until we reunite with our mates in the next life.”

“You don’t have to say yes right away,” Lyle says quickly. “You can think about it.”

“There would never be any pressure on you,” I confirm. “It would just be to see what happens.”

“I don’t see how it would work.” Sabrina looks first to me, then to Minnie. “Would you say yes, Min?”

Minnie looks like she’s going to cry and presses a hand over her heart as if feeling the severed bond there. She gives a shaky breath. “I’d give it a shot.”

Sabrina purses her lips together as if she hates this idea, then looks around the room. “You’re not going to let me off myself, are you?” She states it because she already knows the answer.

“No,” everyone says in unison.

“Fuckers.” She clenches her jaw as if she hates us, but I know she doesn’t. She just hates her situation. Hates what life has given her. “Fine.”

We all sigh with relief. And I want to leap into Scythe’s arms and kiss him. Instead, I say a sincere,“Thank you,”into his mind. I expect a nod or a tiny smile or something positive from that, but all I get is a shuttered glance that confuses me.

Scythe wastes no time, and the twins arrive the next day.

Blair and Blade are a little old to be attending Animus Academy, plus Scythe had their criminal records wiped ages ago, but none of the guards do anything when the two cheetahs saunter onto the grounds, flowers and packages in hand.

Minnie, Stacey, and I watch excitedly from the pack dorm windows as Scythe leads the two into the building.

“They’re her type,” Stacey says, grabbing my arm. “Tall with dark hair.”

“Look at them muscles,” Minnie coos. “She’ll love that, right?”

“I beg your pardon?” Yeti asks, affronted.

“They’re both quite handsome,” I say mildly. “Don’t you think, Min?”

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