Page 77 of Psycho Beasts

“She’s not worth it. She’s not what we need,” Xerxes growled low and patted Ascher on his back.

Our golden bond turned gray from the force of Xerxes’ lie.

Sadie was exactly what we needed.

No. She abandoned you.

Fuck her.

The bond in my chest burned with pain and betrayal.

I was fucking over the girl.

She didn’t deserve to be owned by me.

She didn’t deserve to be my kitten.

Jax roared like a wild animal and threw a dresser. It crashed against the wall with a boom, bursting into hundreds of pieces. Ascher mumbled expletives, and Xerxes reassured him that she wasn’t worth it.

Once again, our bond turned gray.

No. Xerxes is right. Forget her.

But for some reason, I couldn’t drag my feet away from the doorway.

I couldn’t stop staring down the long hall as Sadie retreated to her room.

I couldn’t move an inch.

Because even as the connection in my chest strummed with violence, the tiny voice of my shadow snake that lived on Sadie, whispered that I was making a grave mistake. That my kitten was everything to me. That I was nothing without her.

I flung images of death and pain back at it and shut down my connection to it.

It wasn’t on my flesh anyway.

I’d made my decision.

Chapter 15

Sadie

TENSION

I groaned as harsh sunlight streamed through the bay windows and woke me up. The first thing I noticed—the pint of ice cream lying empty across my pillow.

The second thing I noticed—five other females were piled across my arms and legs.

On my one side, Lucinda was wrapped around me in a bear hug.

On the other, Aran was resting her hand across my head like she was trying to comfort me.

Jinx was sprawled in the middle of the bed, lying across Jess, and Jala was lying beside them with her arms linked with Jess’s.

I decided not to dwell on the fact that Jinx’s eyes were wide open and she was muttering something under her breath.

She was the only person not sleeping.

Even Noodle was spread out on his back in her arms, snoring softly.