I spring to my feet like a kangaroo, and Zookeeper Rick jumps back in surprise. I grab his shoulders and shake him like a tree. “She’s back!” There’s nothing else left to do except run out the door of the wildlife centre at the back of the Academy. “I’ll come for a feed later!” I shout over my shoulder.
I sprint around the buildings at the side of the school to the front, where I scan the sky for a sign of her. She likes to do a lap of the grounds every time she returns from somewhere so she can check everything is safe. She’s amazing like that.
Finally, I spot her in eagle form, massive wings spread out as she glides along the academy wall. I jump in the air and wave both arms at her. “Regina!”
Everyone needs to know she’s back.“Lyle!”I shout into our group chat.“Where are you? Our regina’s back!”
“Coming,”he says quickly, probably stuck in a class.
I don’t even care where Scythe and Xander are, all I know is that I’m sprinting across the field to the wedge-tailed eagle now touching down on the grass. She gives a sharp cry, and it makes my legs pump faster.
Aurelia shifts into human form, and it’s always so fun to see her human face pop out and her beak shrink away, except now she’s smilingandcrying, which is very confusing.
Now I’m smiling and crying too. “Regina!” I shout again.
She tests her legs, moving forward slowly before she starts running towards me, but I’m faster and barrelling into her. I scoop her up, and she laughs and sobs as I spin her around in the air. Her breasts bounce in my face, and I quickly release her so I can kiss her mouth a hundred times.
“I love you,”I say.“I missed you, and everything is always shit without you.”Suddenly I remember some things and hold her out at arm’s length to check her body. “Is your vagina okay?” I widen my eyes as I look at her pussy area. I drop to my knees to take a better look. That bastard was in there a rudely long time.
“Savage!” Lyle’s angry voice flies across the field. “That’s a private activity!”
I kiss those sore lips anyway. “I’m going to carry you now because you’ve been through the wars.” To Lyle, I privately say.“Her pussy is sore, dammit! You don’t know anything!”
Lyle growls as he reaches us, tugging at the tie at his neck. “Regina, are you alright?” He reaches for her, and I let them kiss while I scowl.
My regina sighs, wiping at her cheeks as she inhales Lyle’s scent. “Not really.”
“Good girl for being so honest,” Lyle says. “Now, take my jacket and let’s get you inside.”
We carefully put Aurelia inside Lyle’s suit jacket, and I try not to look at her red-rimmed eyes or the dark circles, or listen to the growling of her belly.“She’s not injured,”I tell Lyle.“But she’s hungry.”
“I’m going to ask her if she wants a medical exam later on, but it’s not the right time. I’ll wash her hair first. I think she’s dehydrated.”
“I’m going to find Henry.”Xander’s voice is strained in my head, and I don’t know why.“She’ll want to know everything, but don’t overwhelm her, Savage.”
“I won’t!” I cry. But I’ve said it out loud, and Aurelia smiles weakly at me where she’s being carried like a bride in Lyle’s arms.
“Are you guys talking about me?” she says softly.
“Only good things,” I reassure her. “Everyone keeps telling me off for some reason. LikeI’mthe problem, you know?”
“Where’s that dragon-sized worm?”I ask the group chat. “What if he comes after her right away?”
“He won’t,”Scythe says.“Aurelia made sure of that.”
I look at my regina again, but her eyes are on her fingers where she clutches them together. The backs of my eyes burn like a basilisk’s, and I want to kill the fuckers that caused this. Instead, we get Aurelia upstairs and take care of her.
She is teary when we bathe her, so we sit her in the bathtub. Her hardworking legs are a bit weak today, and Xander sends his power into them, making her sigh and close her lids. Little tears slip out from under her eyes, and Scythe, who puts himself on the other side of Xander, kisses them away. I’m pretty sure he’s collecting them for himself, but he’s looking bright from his trip to the ocean, but all our faces are hard with worry.
I know my regina is so tired because she hasn’t asked about Yeti and the Devi pack yet, and everyone jumps when she starts sleeping in the tub. Lyle quickly washes her hair, and we rinse her and get her right out to dry. She can barely stand up, and Lyle has to levitate her so we can dry all her parts and then put her pyjamas on.
“You need to drink water, regina,” Scythe says as we tuck her into bed. “Otherwise I’m arranging for an IV.”
She grumbles in a cutesy way while I carefully rub moisturiser into her forehead but when Lyle presses the straw up to her lips, she drinks the whole thing down. “Tired,” she whispers.
“Food and loving,” I say, tucking myself in next to her. “And then you’ll be bouncing up and down again.”
She nods tiredly as Xander hurries out to get proper food from the kitchens.
