Page 22 of Her Vicious Beasts: The Beginning (Her Vicious Beasts)

Aurelia

H e sighs, as if irritated by me. “I’m not here to hurt you, Aurelia. But if you don’t get out of your car, I’m going to tear it to shreds, piece by piece.”

Shit.

I have no choice here. I slap my palm to my forehead and swear out loud at my well-laid plans falling apart.

Has he heard about the fire? Has it made the news?

I haven’t yet had the chance to check if it made it into Animalia Today.

Halfeather was wealthy enough that his death has every right to be on the news.

I look back at the lion, who is glaring at me as if I’m wasting his time. Shit, Aurelia, we can do this. Predator, remember? That’s what you are. And we can’t let him hurt Maisy.

Slowly, I unlock my car door and push it open. Trying not to tremble, and very aware a six-foot-something ridiculous tall lion is watching my every move, I step out.

The first thing I do is look behind my car, where I find the bloodied bodies of the five serpents.

One has a broken neck, but the other four have been disembowelled with long, bloody slashes.

I quickly look back at the lion, who has walked two silent steps closer to me since my brief look away from him.

I jump a little and take a step back, looking down at his hands where, no doubt, claws had been just a minute ago.

He’s killed five of my father’s hunting snakes in less than a minute.

I meet his eye and say darkly, “My father will kill you for that.”

The corner of his lip quirks, but he does not smile. “Oh, quite a few people try regularly. I rather enjoy sending them back corpses.”

Something about his arrogant tone angers me, and I narrow my eyes at him. “Who do you think you are? You can’t just come in my motel and?—”

“ Your motel?” He raises an elegant male brow.

I cross my arms and he nods to the buildings behind me. “Incidentally, this is one of my motels.”

I only just manage to stop my jaw from dropping. “What the fuck?”

“Language, Miss Aquinas,” he chides.

I stare at him. He’s talking to me like a high school teacher. Who the hell does he think he is?

He must see the crazed look on my face because he says drolly, “My name is Lyle Pardalia. I’m Deputy Headmaster of Animus Academy.”

Oh shit. He’s come here to retrieve me. They sent the Deputy Headmaster of the prison school himself ?

“You’re not safe here.” He looks at my car with a slight curl to the lip, as if he finds it distasteful.

“I know that,” I say through gritted teeth, taking great offence. “That’s why I was leaving before you interrupted me.”

He levels me with a very unimpressed look that has me instantly raging. “You cannot be running around as you are.”

Running around?!

“Aurelia.” He says my name as if he’s reading from a very long, particularly boring shopping list. “Let me help you.”

I take a deep breath to calm myself. “How did you find me?”

He leans against Maisy, regarding me like a particularly uninteresting specimen. “Your phone is trackable.”

The feeling of pure idiocy that spins through me makes me want to hurl. I can’t believe I’ve been so stupid! Beasts have been hunting each other for hundreds of years and technology has just helped us be more efficient at it.

“Why are you here?”

He looks at his fingernails where blood has crusted around the edges. “Some problematic beasts are after you and you are no longer safe in the wider world.”

I frown at him. I know that already. They are a bunch of psychos. But to hear that they were actually hunting me is a bleak confirmation that makes my stomach curl into a knot. Did I really think I could out run them ?

He sighs as if he’s explaining something to a stupid person. “You need to come to the Academy where we can keep you safe.”

Why does every male around think they own me? I bristle where I stand, meeting him gaze for gaze. I’m not going to another place where a man thinks he can control me. “That place is for criminals and feral shifters. I don’t belong there.”

“I don’t care, Aurelia. We need you where we can keep an eye on you while we work to hunt the others. You will be safe there. You can still get your education, we offer a range of healing courses for shifters. That’s what you would like to pursue as a career, is it not? Healing?”

He knows a lot more about me than I like. And who’s we ? The Council? Of course they’d have a hand in this now they think I’ve killed Halfeather. Fuck.

I frown in annoyance at my clenched hands.

This male is planning out my life as if I don’t have a say in it.

But I do have some say. On one hand, I’d be safe from my father at the school—students are off bounds to everyone, including court royalty.

There’d also be others at the college and means of boosting my power.

I also wouldn’t have to worry about paying for tuition.

Everything at the Academy is Council-funded.

I raise my head and look at this lion—knowing full well they’ve sent the Deputy Headmaster of the Academy for ferals after me because I’m in big bloody trouble. I’ve never been in trouble for anything before and it’s a foreign, gnawing feeling.

But if I go there and they rope up my mates, we’ll all be stuck together in one school and I’ll be forced to interact with them.

No, there is no way I’m going. I glance at my duffel, still dishevelled in the passenger seat, thinking about how I’m going to make an exit.

Lions have a strong instinct to chase, like other predators.

If I simply ran , he would more than happily chase me down for days.

Glancing up at the sky, I see that it’s a clear day, practically cloudless. I can do this.

I set my jaw and uncross my arms as if I’ve given in. “Fine.”

“Good.” He straightens so smoothly he might have been made from water and turns on his heel, heading to my passenger door to grab my bags, I guess.

“My car is waiting around the corner,” he says, pulling a phone out of his pocket. “I’ll let the driver know.”

I glower at him, darting back into my car through the driver’s side and snatching up my bag before he can open the door.

He frowns at me through the windscreen and I shake my head, yanking my bag up and thinking rapidly about what I can carry. Cash. That’s all I can manage. The phone is a big loss, but that can’t be helped. I shove the wad into my mouth, tearing up as I look around at my beautiful Maisy.

Goodbye for now, old girl .

Lyle is striding down the driveway towards the road, expecting me to follow like an obedient student under his control.

Joke’s on him because I run in the opposite direction, my wad of cash in my mouth.

Lyle lets out a shout as my sneakers pound on the gravel.

I take one jump, shifting into my eagle form, my clothes and shoes falling off around me.

I frantically beat my wings and Lyle gives a fairly distinct, “Fuck!” That just proves what an asshole he is for telling me not to cuss.

I ascend into the sky, Lyle’s dress shoes rapidly crunching on the gravel after me.

I’ve guessed right, he’s not the type of beast to fully shift in public, not that it matters—I’m in line with the roof of the motel now and I’ve found a solid beat with my wings.

I’ve also overestimated the size of my beak and the cash slips sideways.

I scramble to catch it, trying hard not to lose my wing balance.

It’s no use. The cash tumbles out of my beak and I watch it fall straight towards the motel parking lot, where Lyle Pardalia catches it in one broad, tanned hand. He looks back up and there’s a truly terrifying expression on his handsome face as he scowls up at me.

Swearing in five different ways, I leave it all behind me and concentrate on beating my wings to get my freedom.