Page 126 of Let Us Prey

The beast inside of me roars in satisfaction now that we have a name. I’ll help our girl work this out the right way first, but after that, this snooty rich girl is going to learn a very serious lesson. Renard and I will find out her game and end it; that is for certain.

“Fitz and I will look into her as well.” I rise from the bed, still holding her as she clings to me. “For now, let me take you to the nest and we can find our broody friend. Some relaxed cuddle time would do you a world of good before tomorrow.”

“Okay, Aubrey,” she whispers. “Thank you for taking care of me.”

As if I could choose to do anything else for my mate.

Don’t Be Shy

Renard

After Dolly sprintedout of Zhenga’s classroom, it feels fitting that I’m the one escorting her on the next date. Whereas the tigers and Flames can be overwhelming, I'm a soothing presence who allows her to spill all the worries she keeps bottled up.

Or, I would be, if my gargoyle wasn’t on a rampage.

Her presence in our nest the other night was wonderful, but once my old friend relayed why she was curled up as if the world was ending, I had to put a leash on my beast. He’s infuriated that our girl was so defeated, even in private, by a false claim that puts her in more danger. If they expel her, she’d be left with going home to those two nut jobs who gave birth to her.

That’s less safe than being here for more reasons than I can count.

I assume her behavior after class was because there are so many intricacies to shifter sexual behavior that no one in her family saw fit to educate her on. The ‘legend of the freaky cocks’—as the lioness so eloquently put it after the film on knotting—isn’t helping her feel less ignorant. I sense she was keeping her distanceas she tried to process everything, but then her idiot friends forced her to focus on other things.

Aubrey thinks I can broach her safety on campus while we’re out without restarting her trauma. I have no idea how I’ll bring up that topic during our outing without making her angry, but I promised I’d try.

That’s a future Renard problem.

My current problem is figuring out what to wear tonight, and how I’ll keep my… issues… under control.

I originally planned to take her toLa Belle Époque, to dine under the stars. However, after recent events, I changed my mind. I’ll save soaking in the moonlight for a time when my inner monster is calmer. He’s been prowling under the surface for weeks, and though I know what happened isn’t Dolly’s fault, I’m having more difficulty controlling him than I ever have in the past.

Our version of Valentine’s this year will have to be a bit… less traditional to soothe the beast.

“Did the Captain drop off my keys?” I yell. Flames is in the bedroom, reading in his chair, but he should be able to hear me from the depths of my closet. Tilting my head, I wait for the huff of irritation and grin when I hear it.

“Two hours ago. They’re on the dresser. Take a chill pill!”

I cover my face with my hands, shaking my head at how ridiculous the dragon sounds when he spouts slang. Fitz is always teaching him that shit, and though it’s funny, he gets touchy when it doesn’t quite land. “I’m not hyper!”

That’s probably not true. I am a little hyper.

His lack of response isn’t unusual—despite how long it took for the grumpy book dragon to let me in, he’s eerily aware of how to deal with my emotional states. I suppose knowing one another for centuries makes things smoother, but our easy companionshipdidn’t take long to form. He calls me out on wanting to take care of people, but the nest he built on Christmas Eve got created because he knew it would make me happy. Gargoyles sleep in groups—similarly to wolves or cats—and unfortunately for me, exile stole that comfort. It made my first few decades at Apex a nightmare.

Aubrey figured it out within a week.

But he won’t be with me tonight, and it makes me nervous.

It’s been a long time since I’ve operated without a wingman, and even longer since my gargoyle has been this agitated. When I’m angry, even the hundreds of years of practice soothing my instincts fall to the wayside.

I walk through the closet, pawing through all of my clothes as I try not to panic. Delores reminds me so much of someone from long ago, and that ended in epic tragedy. What if my stars are aligning the same way? I’ll ruin it for everyone if I scare her off because of my temper and…

“I can hear you freaking out from the bedroom. Why aren’t you dressed yet?” Aubrey appears in the doorway, studying my face before he continues. “Are you brooding?”

I roll my eyes, turning to walk towards the casual wear end of the closet, so I don’t have to face him. “I am not brooding; I’m considering my wardrobe.”

He takes off his glasses, stuffing them in a shirt pocket—a sure sign he’s frustrated and doesn’t know how to address it. He, too, is pacifying his inner animal after the incident, and I know it’s even harder for him to keep his fury under wraps. Flame spewing rage is his Achilles’ heel, and even his squishy toys aren’t helping of late. We’ve gone on far more hunts recently than necessary, but the carnage seems to cool him down for a bit.

Other extracurricular activities would help, as well.

“Rennie, the snacklet likes you. She likes all of us; that’s why she agreed to this weird pentagram dating thing.”

---