Page 150 of Her Psycho Beasts

“Wait!” Savage exclaims, before getting out his phone and pressing the record button. “Okay, ready.”

“Some people,” Marduk says conversationally as I slice open Damien’s towel, “would call this a group bonding exercise.”

Chapter 77

Aurelia

For the first time in what feels like months, Minnie, Connor, Stacey, Raquel, Eugene and I have a sleepover in the pack dorms. Our mates are having what Savage called a ‘bonding session’, which likely meant sparring in the gym or something, which left all of us animas and our rooster with a room to ourselves.

Naturally, word has gotten out about my father’s visit. He’d managed to sneak in without most people noticing, but he’d made a dramatic exit, making sure everyone saw him. I don’t tell my friends exactly what he said, because it’s definitely my burden alone to carry, but since Sabrina’s kidnap, they’ve understood the lengths my father will go to.

With our nimpins being confiscated, we take out any maternal energy on Eugene, who stands patiently on a footstool that we use like a dressing step while we clip diamantés in his feathers and paint his toenails.

Now that some distance is between me and the event, I finally manage to tell them about how we found Ghoul underneath my father’s house.

“I’d suspected it since that one night I saw his mask,” I say. “But there were always more pressing matters to worry about, you know?”

“Way too much bad shit has happened lately,” Connor says, selecting another nail polish for Eugene’s left foot. “Andyou’vebeen off with daddy shark a lot lately.”

Scythe couldneverknow that’s what we were calling him these days. But those moments alone with him are something I treasure. Something private that doesn’t feel right to share. My cheeks heat up and Minnie elbows Stacey and they collapse into laughter.

“It’s been h-hectic,” Raquel says, cleaning their piercings in a metal bowl. “I’ve never known a business like the one Mr Kharkorous runs.”

“Yeah, yeah, we know you can’t tell us anything,” Minnie says, rolling her eyes. “Secret squirrel business and whatnot. The main thing is that the big mission was a success.”

“The main thing is that I’ve discovered more than one of my mates is a complete psychopath, and Xander thinksI’mthe problem.”

“Five,” Stacey says, shaking her head in awe. “I honestly don’t know how you do it.”

I shrug. “They can be sweet…sometimes.”

“And the sex!” Connor exclaims. “Oh Goddess, the sex must be amazing!”

We end up falling asleep late into the night in various positions around the room, Minnie and I whispering after everyone else falls asleep.

In the morning, we awake to a shriek.

Because Minnie opens the door to find Yeti, Marduk and Savage fast asleep on the floor directly outside, the three of them curled under fluffy blankets to ‘keep watch’.

Later on Saturday morning, I sniff out Savage’s ancient pine scent and it leads me to the library. When I come upon him, he’s so engrossed in the stack of papers he’s reading that he doesn’t notice me until I’m halfway to him. Eugene, keeping him company, sees me from a mile away, but I press a finger to my lips to keep him quiet.

“What are you reading?” I ask. It’s definitely not the ‘literacy for adult wolves’ exercise book we’ve been working on.

Savage flips the paper over with a snap and looks up at me with wide eyes, like he’s been caught looking at porn. “Nothing.”

I put my hands on my hips and give him a disapproving look before reaching over and tugging out the paper from where he’s trying to cover it with his forearm. Flipping it over, I’m surprised to find that it’s a research paper entitled: ‘Phoenix Tears and Their Contemporary Use in Psychosis: A Metanalysis’.

“You’ve been trying to read this, Savage? I’m impressed.”

His cheeks deepen with colour and it makes me want to smile. I point to the last word in the title. “What does that say?”

“Well, I got the ‘anal’ part, but I don’t know what it has to do with the topic.”

I pull out a chair. “The ‘y’ after it makes it tricky to say.” I coach him through pronouncing the rest of the word and he gets it quickly.

“Do you want some help with this?” I ask softly, gesturing at the other papers in his stack. “Maybe between the two of us, we can cover more ground.”

He scratches his head. “You’d do that?”

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