Page 75 of Psycho Shifters

Fuck, we were the sluts throwing ourselves at her.

I nodded. Sadie was definitely a princess and not a slut.

She reminded me of a girl I had read about in a bootleg fae book my father had in his study. In the book, a colorful princess defied her evil queen mother and escaped from the fae realm. Sadie’s red eyes reminded me of the flames that called to me. She was a colorful, defiant princess.

Mesmerized by the whispers of flames in the hearth, I almost didn’t hear the soft mewls.

I turned back to the princess, and I watched as the covers began to shake back and forth and the soft cries became different.

The sound was harsh and terrified, but it was barely audible. As if someone was trying to scream, but it was muffled.

Before I knew what I was doing, I found myself leaning over the princess’s bed and gently pulling back the covers.

My heart rate sped up at what I uncovered.

Her red eyes were wide, nose scrunched, and mouth wide open. With her body locked in the fetal position, the princess screamed, or tried to scream.

A soft whooshing noise exhaled through her mouth, like her voice couldn’t make the sound. It was the same raspy noise I’d heard the day she was attacked by the fucking scumbag beta.

I’d wanted to be the one to kill the bastard. Cobra had taken it from me.

“Princess,” I whispered, and shook her shoulder back and forth. My hand engulfed her entire shoulder, and I was struck by how delicate she was.

Her body stayed tense as she silently screamed. It was fucking horrifying.

I shook her desperately, my mind flashing to the interview. Before I’d been embarrassed in front of all the realm and my father, the interviewer had asked the princess how she’d hurt her voice, and Sadie had lied.

A sick sensation spread from my gut through my chest as I thought about the implications of her lie.

The background check on the princess had said she had zero combat experience, which was obviously not true.

Now the flames whispered louder. My chest burned with discomfort, and my horns itched. What if she really didn’t have combat experience? What if something else had happened to her?

“Princess, wake up,” I spoke louder and jostled her harder, desperate to make the heartbreaking screams stop.

“Don’t hurt Lucinda,” she whispered softly and punched me in the gut. Her fist was so tiny I barely felt a sting.

“Princess, it is Ascher. No one is going to hurt you. Wake the fuck up.” I shoved her harder into the bed. Her sightless eyes looked back and forth like she was watching something.

“Fuck you!” Her voice cracked mid word as she pummeled and started kicking me.

“What’s going on?” Jax growled from his bed. “Why do you have her pinned?”

Before I could explain, the princess shrieked, “Let her go!”

Jax slammed me against the brick wall.

Unlike Cobra, I didn’t appreciate being fucking pinned. My horns lengthened on my head, and the fire whispered louder.

“She’s having a fucking nightmare. I’ve been trying to wake her.”

Jax was growling at me like a wild animal.

He let me go, and we both turned toward the princess. Cobra was standing over her and just watching as she shrieked and kicked.

“Do something!” I yelled at Cobra.

Cobra stepped in front of us so we couldn’t get to her. His large pale frame blocked us, and he leaned down toward her.