Academy Of Beasts VII

By Becca Fanning

Nothing could have prepared me for a traitor.
I thought I knew the world I was thrust into.
I thought I could trust the actions of the men protecting me.
I thought sharing an evening with Ren would let him open up to me.
But I was wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Now what choice do I have? Can anyone blame me for what I'm about to do?
USA Today Bestselling Author Becca Fanning is proud to bring you this Reverse Harem Academy Romance serial, packed with all the action, intrigue and great chemistry you can handle!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gizmo Media
• Release date: Jan 5, 2021

Book preview

Officials."

Chapter 1

There might be a traitor among The Officials.

Dracus sat in his usual spot at the head of the table in the dining room. Normally, we had a delicious spread prepared by Chef Moony on the table. This was no such occasion.

We sat in tense silence. Ren sat closest to Dracus at the end, Jasper on his right, and then Enrique. Theo and I sat on the other side of the table. Every face was tired, some of us for more devious reasons than others…

I tried not making eye contact with Ren, who I had spent a passionate night with… because… It was amazing last night, but I wasn’t sure how I felt about what happened. We hadn’t had sex out of deep affection but from months of sexual tension mixed with charged frustration.

My stomach twisted nervously as Dracus sucked in a quick, steadying breath. He was an expert at building tension.

Thank you, everyone, for coming, he said. I’m afraid that I need to explain some things.

Theo yawned and rubbed his eyes. Dracus, it’s four o’clock in the morning. Couldn’t you have waited for a better time? Like breakfast?

Dracus put his fist down on the table. The table tremored beneath the force. I stiffened, drawing myself up straighter in my seat despite the sleep in my eyes. Theo grimaced and a flash of guilt came over his boyish face.

Got it, Theo muttered.

As I was saying, Dracus began, I need to explain things. After our incident on the Clock Tower, I realized that there were a few things that needed to be said. One, I hoped I wouldn’t have to tell you about, if we’re being completely frank.

Jasper’s eyebrows raised. Enrique leaned forward with an impish smirk.

You’re being frank with us about your secret dealings? Enrique asked.

Call a nurse, Jasper muttered. He’s not feeling well.

Dracus took in our shock with a weary face.

The Officials sent out a spy, he said. "That’s not the secret. I’m sure the rest of the Council worked that out. Apologies, Fiona, as I didn’t explain how we came to find out about your tragic past."

Um, I stalled, unsure of how to deal with anyone talking about my tragic life, I forgive you. Dracus gave a small nod of appreciation.

I’m afraid that something about Fiona’s arrival and her past made me skeptical about the way that The Officials had handled things. I felt as if they brought her to the Academy too quickly without doing their due diligence. It’s odd for such a group of powerful shifters to act so hastily. I dispatched a spy from my kingdom back home to do some investigating on The Officials, Dracus explained. The revelation fell over our group.

Enrique whistled. Never expected that from you.

Dracus looked uncomfortable in his seat, a strange phenomenon given that he was usually the portrait of a rule-follower. Hell, Dracus enjoyed writing new rules and enforcing them. If he broke his own honor code by going against his bosses… My mind wandered.

I had never met The Officials. When I imagined them, I usually pictured towering figures in cloaked robes of black, something akin to what the professors wore at Beast Academy. I liked to think that they held their meetings around a magic cauldron with only a single fire to light up whatever ancient room that they met in.

Your spy. What did they find? I asked, unable to wait. Dracus licked his bottom lip with a nervous movement. There were dark circles beneath his eyes. He hadn’t slept.

She worked for a week on the mission. The Officials are extremely powerful shifters, and thus, it takes an immense amount of energy to track them. Out of the eight members, she found suspicious activity among three of them. She intercepted a note by a magical messenger that held incomprehensible code for one of these three suspects. We couldn’t determine what the note said, but there’s reason to believe that it was coded to conceal a traitor.

A mole or something worse? Ren asked. His sharp eyes drilled into Dracus. I shuddered, thinking of the weight of those icy blue eyes on my body last night.

We’re not sure, Dracus replied.

What’s a magical messenger? I asked Theo, leaning in toward him. He yawned with a comically big gesture.

An enchanted creature that’s magically bound to a shifter, he replied. They’re not popular at all anymore. There are easier ways to send messages.

Exactly, Dracus said with a snap of his fingers. Why send a message when you can communicate through a communication mirror? The Dean has one in his office. It would stand to reason that The Officials are powerful enough individuals that they too should own such devices. The answer is simple: it’s extremely easy to hack into mirror communication streams. The same can’t be said of a small animal trained to deliver to specific individuals.

For a moment, my gaze accidentally met with Ren’s. He paused a beat and then broke away to focus back on Dracus. Okay, message received. We’re not exactly boyfriend and girlfriend suddenly.

If there’s a traitor, then how can we trust any of the missions that the Council gives us? Enrique asked, lacing his fingers together. He caught my stare and winked. My cheeks flamed the tiniest bit, but only because Ren had been rude, and Enrique caught me off guard!

Gathered around the table, the Council boys looked extremely handsome, even with their pensive, worried faces. Not now hormones. This isn’t the place or the time.

We can’t, Dracus said simply with a bitter frown. We can only hope to lay low right now until we have more information to go on. If we confront them about it now, then it could alert the traitor.

The priority needs to be on the three that your spy found to be suspicious, Jasper said. Of course, that will be difficult…

Why? You guys work for them, I said.

"Yes, but they’re fans