Academy Of Beasts XXV: Shifter Romance

By Becca Fanning

Chaos.
Madness.
I don't need to see the blood: I can taste the copper in the air.
I don't need to see the fire: it lashes at my skin and leaves red welts.
I don't need to hear the screams: the eyes of the dead scream in silence.
...
What I need is to be back with my people, and there's one man and his army in my way. He sees me, his grin spreading from cheek to cheek as he closes in for the kill.
But he doesn't know what I'm truly capable of.
No matter what happens next, none of us will be the same again!
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

Fanning

Chapter 1

Traveling through the portal from Dante’s compound in the mountains to just outside the Academy was no joy ride. At first, the power of teleportation prickled on my skin, like a strong wind that wanted to blow me over. As we traveled, faster and faster, the wind whipped and clawed at me, and I felt like I was falling.

I flailed my warms, trying to keep myself oriented. Around me, the Shifters and Slayers who were being transported to the Academy were struggling, too. I heard cries, grunts, cussing.

A moment later, the portal spat us out onto the ground a short distance away from the Academy walls.

I hit the ground hard, falling directly on my left shoulder. A sharp pain shot through my chest and into my back.

A moment later, Berrion crashed down next to me, landing like a bag of bones. He grunted and pushed himself up. All around me, Shifters fell to the ground with yelps and cries.

Smooth form, Berrion sniffed.

Easy on the finish, I added, and he chuckled.

It was a bad time to be making jokes. But it was comic relief, and it helped ease the tension and nerves that were bundled together in my stomach, making me feel like I was going to throw up.

You’d think Dante would work on something a little better for us, Berrion said.

He can’t build better portals; the magic is unstable.

I had a rough ride up to the compound when I’d traveled from the Academy the first time. It had been surprising, then. Now it was just uncomfortable.

I don’t think he cares much anyway. Berrion had the right idea about how important we were to Dante. He’d come to realize it from the start, which was why Berrion was helping me at all. He regretted turning against the Shifters.

Are you ready? Berrion asked me again.

He’d asked just before we’d left.

I nodded. Ready as I’ll ever be.

He nodded curtly, and we turned toward the Academy.

This is it, I said. This is where we figure out what we’re capable of.

The Shifter and Slayers spread out and started climbing the walls. I didn’t know if it put us at an advantage to have to face the fight on home turf or if it turned us into sitting ducks—it depended on what Dracus had managed with the fighters on campus.

I watched as the Shifters and Slayers started climbing the walls. My mouth dropped when I saw how simple it was. The walls around the Academy was nothing but a farce. We’d thought we were safe in there, with the high walls and the Council patrolling, and later, with the Sentries stationed on top of the wall.

It was how it had been from the start, and I’d thought there was a reason.

Turned out, it was all an illusion.

When we’d come to the Academy to scope it out, we’d used secret tunnels. That wasn’t happening at all, now.

They climbed the walls like monkeys, grabbing onto rocks that jutted out and pushing toes into indentations.

There were hundreds of them, climbing up to infiltrate the place I’d come to call home.

Come, Berrion said and led me to the secret staircase we’d used before. Maybe he’d seen my face. Or maybe he knew that I didn’t have what it took to climb a wall that way. I was good, but I wasn’t that good. You’re going to have to take care of business up there. I hope you’re wearing your party pants.

I shook my head at how he said it, and we climbed the stairs. My stomach twisted in a knot of nerves, and fear brushed over my skin in waves. My throat tightened, and I felt sick. This was the calm before the storm. In just a few steps, all hell was going to break loose.

I hope you’re ready, I said into the bond, hoping that someone could hear me on the inside.

There was no response.

When we stepped onto the wall, the war had already started. Shifters were stationed along the top of the walls, fighting off the first that managed to climb to the top. Around me, everyone was fighting. Fists flew, bodies danced around each other. A Shifter kicked a Slayer off the wall, and the guy went down with a terrified scream. Just a little further, a Slayer had a Shifter down on his knees, arm wrapped around his throat, trying to squeeze the life out of him. Or maybe he was trying to force him to shift.

I wanted to help. I wanted to do something – anything. But I was here for one reason, and one reason only – to stop the betraying shifters from shifting so that we had a chance to win.

I didn’t recognize any of the shifters that fought on the wall. I couldn’t tell who was who – which were shifters that belonged to us, and which were the traitors.

How the hell was I supposed to reach them with my magic if I couldn’t tell them apart? Somehow, I had thought the whole thing would be more structured so that I would know who was who.

But this fighting wasn’t organized. A war wouldn’t be.

Fiona!

Someone was calling me. I spun around, looking in the direction from where I’d heard my name called, but I couldn’t see who was calling me. When I looked back, Berrion was gone. I spotted him a short distance away, fighting another shifter. I watched as he shifted into wolf form.

I’d never seen his