Academy Of Beasts XII: Shifter Romance

By Becca Fanning

The enemy is becoming more bold.
We expected them to operate in the shadows, but to so blatantly attack us out in the open hinted at a darker purpose.
I still needed information, and I would do whatever it took to get it. But be careful when you seek the truth: sometimes you wish you'd left it buried...
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 22, 2021

Book preview

Fanning

Chapter 1

Darkness everywhere. It surrounded me. I was almost drowning in it, but I wasn’t fighting it. The darkness didn’t bother me as much as it should have.

Why should it bother me? My mind felt like it was an old sponge. I couldn’t remember anything. I struggled to think, and I couldn’t think of anything. All I could do was focus on what I felt. The weightlessness that the darkness afforded me. The break I had. From… what? What was I getting a break from? What was I escaping?

I couldn’t think. I could only feel. And for the first time in a long time, I felt nothing. No pressure, no power, no frustration.

Nothing at all.

I had no one to please, and no one I could disappoint.

Fiona, someone called. A voice in the distance. A voice that I knew.

I frowned, I couldn’t figure out who was calling me. But the voice was urgent.

Fiona.

Theo. It was Theo’s voice. I would recognize that voice anywhere. Caring with a lilt of laughter at the end. Although, this time, he wasn’t laughing. He sounded worried.

Had I missed something? Had I done something wrong? Had I disappointed Dracus again?

Everything crashed down on me: Dracus, the Manor, the Council Boys, the Academy. Priscilla missing, the Slayers, the Officials.

The moment I thought it, pain shot through my body. Sharp pain in my ribs and my palms burned as if they were raw. I cried out, swimming through the darkness, suddenly uncomfortable in it. I didn’t want to be here anymore. I wanted to go back. Back to…

The Academy wasn’t home. I had no home. Not since my parents had been killed – my adopted parents, who I had only recently learned they were. Not since the quaint home in the quiet suburb where I had grown up had been burned to the ground.

I had no home. I had no family.

But I had friends. And they were waiting for me.

I fluttered my eyes open, not realizing where I was for a moment. White ceilings, white walls. The pinching smell of disinfectant.

And then it all fell into place. I was in the clinic.

A flash of déjà vu overcame me. I had woken up right here, in this bed a few months ago. When I had first come to the clinic. After I was rescued from the fire. With Greta and Theo around my bed, although I hadn’t known either of them, then.

How are you feeling? Greta said, her face appearing in my line of vision; her hair pulled back in a tight bun as usual and her outfit crisp. I turned my head, searching for Theo. He was right there, a foot away, looking at me with a concerned face.

Bear shifters to wake me up, I said with a smile. My eyes lingered on Theo, and his concern melted away to offer me a grin. Gods, I loved his grin. Something about it was unsettling, as always, pushing me off-kilter. And something about it was like coming home.

Greta laughed. You remember your first visit here, do you? Well, that’s a good sign. Any pain?

I nodded.

Where?

Everywhere, I said. And nowhere. It didn’t make sense. I knew that. But that was how I felt. Everything hurt, but if I had to tell you where specifically, I couldn’t say.

You’ve had a rough one, Greta said. It will get better. You are in good shape, and that helps you a lot.

I nodded. I wasn’t hooked up to any machines, which was also a good sign.

What happened? I asked, looking at Theo.

He frowned, the concern returning. You don’t remember?

I looked at him, racking my mind. What was I forgetting? Something niggled at the back of my mind, something was tugging at my memory, trying to push it all closer so that I could reach it. But I just couldn’t quite grasp it.

Slowly, I started shaking my head. But then it all came back, slamming into my skull like a physical force. Like a blast. Ha!

The Explosion.

The last piece of the puzzle.

My stomach dropped and I felt sick. Oh, my God, Priscilla, I said.

What are you talking about? Theo asked.

Tears welled in my eyes. I couldn’t lose another person I cared about. Not so soon. Not ever, in fact. But definitely not now. If I had to find out now that I’d lost my best friend, after waking up in the hospital just like before, it would be too much for me to handle. I already had so much to deal with.

She’s dead, isn’t she? I asked in a whisper.

Theo was still frowning, but he shook his head.

She’s fine, he said.

I blinked at him. Really?

He nodded. What makes you think she wouldn’t be?

I was looking for her when the explosion happened. She was nowhere to be found. And after Daniel…

Theo’s face softened. A lot has happened. But Priscilla is okay. Everyone is okay, actually. They did a headcount after the explosion and no one was killed. Everyone is fine and accounted for, including Priscilla.

Relief washed through me like a wave in the ocean, and I fell back onto the pillow. The tension I hadn’t realized I’d been feeling was draining out of me.

Gods, I don’t think I can handle much more of this. A thought occurred to me. If no one was killed, then what was the point of the explosion? Why bother at all?

Theo opened his mouth to say something, but Greta interrupted before he had a chance. She had been fussing around the bed with medicine bottles and charts the whole time we’d been talking.

That’s enough for today, she said. "You need to rest, Fiona. And Theo, I’m sure you have