Read Online Beasts and Savages (The Beastly Series Book 1) by Emma Woods - Free Book Online Page A

skirt.  Mom cut the strap and tied the ends tightly around my neck. I held my arms out until they ached while she took in the sides. The boots she picked for me were made of the same white fur and had leather straps that criss-crossed and tied just above my knee. The boot folded over the tie, revealing a band of the suede that lined them.
Completely dressed, I held out my hands. “Well?”      
Mom closed her door to reveal a full length mirror hanging on the back side. “Look for yourself.” 
I stood in front of the mirror and studied the girl reflected back at me.  Her olive skin and loose black hair was striking against the stark white fur.  My bare shoulders and the deep V in the top made me feel self-conscious, but the girl in the mirror looked strong and more covered than I felt.  The fur at the bottom of the halter brushed over my skin, making the line between it and my body fuzzy.  The bottom of the skirt had a jagged edge that followed the outline of individual pelts.  This girl, the girl in the mirror, looked like a fighter. Someone ready to hunt.
“You’re beautiful.” Mom kissed the side of my head. “Once I sew everything into place and pull up your hair, you’ll be stunning.”
“Mom I don’t want to hunt.” I watched the words flow out of the girl in the mirror.  She said them with certainty.  Conviction.  I let her strength envelope me. “I can’t cut out a man’s heart.”
“Lea. Hunting isn’t an option.”
“I remember my change. Lucille remembered her hunt.  She couldn’t live with herself after killing! I can’t do it! I can’t relive something that horrid every day of my life. Please!” My voice had risen so high and loud I was sure the neighbors could hear it.  Tears welled in my eyes.
“Lea!” Mom whispered with a hot tone, “You need to calm down. You will hunt.  It is your duty to society and to this family.” Her eyes flashed anger at the girl in the mirror.
“Mom,” I pleaded. “Please.”
She clamped her fingers over my chin and pulled me so close our noses touched. “You will hunt, but not kill.  Hunting, mating is not the same as killing.  I suspect you can control yourself fairly well during your change?”
“Yes,” I sputtered. 
“That’s what I thought.” She let me go, but held my gaze. “Get the requisition papers from Ms. Dawning on Monday.  We’ll need more than five changes to prepare you.  I’ll request that your hunt be postponed until next October, right before your eighteenth birthday.  It’ll give me time to help you.”
“Help me what? Mom I don’t understand.”
“Until you’re approved for a requisition to hunt later, the less you know the better. If anyone asks you why you want to wait a year to hunt, tell them that you just aren’t ready for the responsibility of a child.”
She opened the door. “Put the costume on the bed and be careful not to pull any of the pins.”
I stared after her dumbfounded.  I had never seen my mother this cool, collected.  The woman who left the room was nothing like my carefree, scatterbrained mother. She was someone I had never met.  Someone I wanted to know.
***
On Monday morning I asked Rally to go to the locker room and wait for me there. I didn’t want her to hear about it through a rumor. Still, I wasn’t brave enough to handle Ms. Dawning and Rally at the same time.
“Ms. Dawning I need to talk to you.”
“What is it Corre?” 
“I need requisition papers; my mom and I talked and we decided it’d be better if I waited until next year to hunt. Next October.” I said everything in one breath, rushing the words.
Ms. Dawning sneered. “I wish I could help you, but I’m afraid I can’t.”
“What do you mean? I have up to six months to put in for a date change.  That’s not until this Friday!” 
“That was correct until recently.  When you received your letter medically clearing you, I received a notice saying that no students who have been medically