Academy Of Beasts XXIII: Shifter Romance

By Becca Fanning

I know what has to be done. Maybe I've known it all along, in some way.
The men around me, the men who protect me, the men who love me...they won't understand.
They won't accept that it comes down to me, that I'm the only one who can save us.
No matter the cost.
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: Mar 23, 2021

Book preview

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Chapter 1

They were here. All of them. I could feel the power dancing in the air, although I couldn’t see it yet. The magic danced on my skin, crackled in the air around me, and made it hard to breathe.

The Council all stood together. Including Priscilla. We were on the front lines, and we were going to end this once and for all. Dante had come to fuck shit up. And we were going to stop him from succeeding.

We watched the Academy walls in anticipation. Anxiety washed through me, but I pushed it away. There was no time to be scared. The time to be scared had come and gone – the days leading up to this had been for stressing about what was going to happen. Now, it would be do or die.

And I wasn’t planning on dying.

Here we go, Theo said next to me.

All in, Enrique said on my other side.

Today, they pay, Ren said on the far end of the line.

The Slayers crawled over the walls like ants, their bodies clad in black, their faces twisted in horrific sneers and grimaces.

Behind us, the students stood together, ready to fight with us. I could feel their panic, their fear. This wasn’t a drill. Training helped, but it wasn’t everything, and they were all scared they weren’t going to make it. But I had faith in them. I had watched them train and I knew what they were capable of.

Were we going to die? I had no idea. I hoped to the Gods that we wouldn’t. But I couldn’t say for sure. All I knew was that we weren’t going to roll over and show our bellies. We were going to do what we came here to do.

I glanced to my right, where the witches had huddled together to fight Dante, take him on so that his magic couldn’t do anything. But they were gone.

I frowned and looked at Dracus. Where are they?

Who? he asked.

The witches.

There’s no time for jokes, Fiona.

I’m not joking! I cried out.

This was all wrong. The witches had promised.

There was no time to worry about the rest of it. The Slayers attacked, and it was time for us to stand up and fight for what we believed in. I screamed, digging deep and yanking my magic to the forefront. I wasn’t sure if I should use my magic to protect the Council from Dante since the witches weren’t taking care of him, or if I should use my magic to protect the students who were so terrified, or if I should fight the Slayers with my magic. I had no idea which way to go.

Again, there was no time to think about it. The Slayers were on us and they were thirsty for blood.

The first blow came, they had weapons with them, and Ren cried out. When I spun around to look at him, he had blood spurting from his neck as his heart beat faster and faster and he sank to the ground.

No! I shouted. This was all wrong. We were supposed to win. It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

The students jumped headlong into the fray and I had to admit, it was brave of them after how scared they were. The Council was already fighting, too. I stood shocked, rooted to the ground after our first man had fallen before anything else had happened. The rest of them were fighting. But when Dracus turned and saw Ren’s body on the ground, dead or about to be, he lost his focus.

A Slayer grabbed him by the next. Time to die, little prince, he said.

I ran toward them. Dracus started shifting.

Don’t shift! I shouted, trying to warn Dracus not to do the one thing they Slayers wanted from the shifters. I threw my magic at him, trying to reach him before he was more dragon than human, but it was too late. Scales stretched over his skin, his eyes blazed a deep purple and smoke curled from his elongated nose and mouth.

He lifted a claw, but the Slayer was stronger, more skilled at this. Before Dracus could do anything, the Slayer slashed at him with a knife and Dracus let out the strangest roaring yelp I’d ever heard. He tried to fight, but the Slayer opened its mouth and started breathing in, as if he was going to inhale Dracus completely.

Before my eyes, I saw the Slayer’s eyes change, his skin turn into scales, his body growing, becoming grotesque. He turned into a dragon, dropping Dracus’s lifeless human body to the ground.

He had taken Dracus’s power; he had become a dragon. This was how the Slayers did it. Somehow, I’d thought it would be different. Somehow, I’d thought it wasn’t going to be this way.

Somehow, I’d thought we were going to win.

I spun around and saw the destruction all around me. Dead students lay scattered like lost coins, lifeless eyes staring up at me, pleading for help that would be far too late. The Council Boys were all lost, dead or bleeding out. I saw Theo and ran to him. He mouthed silent words at me from a throat that was half ripped out. I shoved all my healing power into him, but it wasn’t enough. None of it was enough.

Fiona, don’t, Priscilla said, and I realized she was right next to me, her voice small, her cheeks wet with tears. Her hair had caught fire and it was singed, at least half of it missing. She lay at an awkward angle. It would be kinder to let us go. The wailing sounds of people dying rose up,