Page 24 of Her Vicious Beasts: The Beginning
Xander shakes his head, the single headphone wire he has in swinging. “We can’t. Sav is connected to you because of last night, and he’s pulling us along. We can’t leave you in this form.”
“Perfect,” I mutter. “Just fucking perfect.”
I sit there on the side of the road for a moment, simply seething and panicking and thinking. Everything is going wrongand I’m in way over my head. If I didn’t know any better, my mates were the sort of males who were alphas—high-ranking members of their respective orders. I can’t fathom how I’d ended up with them attached to me.
But it makes sense. So much sense that my anima is screaming that this is right and good and I need to do whatever they ask of me.
But I have more pressing matters to think about. I’ve been promised to Halfeather and there is no negotiating with my father about it. I look back at my phone.
Dad’s fucking Lackey
What is your ring size?
I need to request a formal meeting ASAP. Emergency. PLEASE
I’ve never been allowed access to him directly, so I have to make appointments or beg his lackeys.
A black feeling is pouring through me, dark as smoke. I’m not going to get out of this. The only way is for me to leave.
“Are you actually going to marry that half-cracked egg?” Savage says in disbelief.
I don’t look at them. I can’t.
“Unless I run, I don’t have a choice,” I mutter.
They go quiet because we all know what a heinous crime it is to find your mates and not marry them. It’s been done before, but it’s looked down upon. The exceptions are made for rabid beasts and criminals of the worst sort.
Which three of my mates apparently are. They know this and so do I.
I have to ask them. “What did you do to get into Halfeather’s prison?”
Savage lets out a huff. “You don’t need to know that.”
I clench my teeth and stare at my phone but there’s no three dots suggesting a reply is coming. “Yes, I do.”
“Why don’t you look at us?” Savage asks angrily.
I bite my lip, but I’m also biting back tears and my stomach is a tumble of anxiety.
“Get out of the car, Lia,” Scythe rasps.
The command in his tone angers me, even as goosebumps pucker my arms at the sound of his voice. Defensively I snap. “You can’t tell me what to do.”
Savage retorts, “Get out of the car and talk to us face to face. You’re our regina.”
This is the first time it’s been said out loud and it hits me across the head like a baseball bat in a full swing. “I’m not,” I say through gritted teeth.
“What?”
“You’re mistaken.”
Xander scoffs. “Snake’s a liar now, too. Not surprised.”
My heart aches as I say it. “You’re not understanding,” I say calmly. “Whatever you saw last night was just wishful thinking.”
“Why are you doing this, Lia?” Savage asks. “Why don’t you want to be our regina?”
Every time he says my name, something inside of me dies a little. But I have to convince them. Males like these won’t give their regina up without a bloody battle. So, slowly, though it takes every ounce of discipline within me, I turn around to face them.
