by River Ramsey
“Wow,” he murmured, letting his gaze travel over her in a way that made her blush all over again.
“Do you flatter all the queens like this?” she teased, letting him help her into the car.
“It’s only flattery if it isn’t true,” he countered.
The drive with Bishop was far more pleasant than the one with Axel had been, though she resented her tendency to compare them. It was night and day, and there was no point. The sooner she could learn to control the intensity of her feelings for Axel, the sooner she could redirect that energy to more suitable pastimes.
He refused to tell Ella where they were going, only that it was a restaurant he was sure she’d love with an incredible view. When they arrived only to walk through the packed restaurant and past the heavenly smells coming from the kitchen, led toward a flight of stairs by the maitre d’, she looked at Bishop in confusion.
“It’s worth the walk,” he said, winking at her before leading her up the stairs.
Ella followed him, hand in hand and trying not to think about how much that simple touch affected her. Hopefully her desperation wasn’t as obvious to him as it felt to her.
She had to ask him tonight. There was no more time for putting it off.
When the door opened and Bishop led them out onto a rooftop decorated with a beautiful latticed arbor that allowed the starlight to shine onto the table set below, she forgot all about the rings and the Academy with all its tangled webs of lies and allegiances.
“Bishop,” she breathed, looking around to realize they were the only ones there. “You did all this for me?”
“It’s a special occasion,” he remarked, leading her over to the table. When he pulled out her chair, her head spun. She felt like she was dreaming, or maybe that she’d already fallen asleep and woken up in a fairy tale.
The man sitting across from her was definitely too perfect to be real.
Before long, they were brought two glasses of champagne and food that smelled just as delicious as whatever she’d caught a whiff of in the kitchen. The staff were attendant, but they quickly dismissed themselves as soon as Ella and Bishop had everything they needed.
“You really get world class service, don’t you?” Ella asked him.
Bishop just grinned, raising his glass. “Nothing but the best for my future Empress. Here’s to the future.”
Ella’s blush grew hotter as she raised her glass to his. She hadn’t missed the way he said his Empress, or the way it made her feel.
If the longevity of her feelings for Axel scared her, it was the haste with which her feelings for Bishop had formed that unnerved her. He was the only male she was sure about giving a ring to, but that meant the stakes were even higher.
She’d brought only the one, keeping it in her pocket in the hopes that she would get up the nerve at some point. The butterflies in her stomach didn’t seem ready to subside anytime soon, unfortunately.
“Is something wrong?” Bishop asked, looking over at her. “You’ve hardly touched your food. If you don’t like it, I can have them bring something else.”
“No,” she said quickly. “No, the food is wonderful. Everything is wonderful.” She looked around to take in the gorgeous scene he’d set for them. “I guess I’m just nervous.”
“Nervous?” he asked casually, as if he couldn’t think of a single reason even though he must have been single-handedly responsible for crushing the heart of every queen who’d come into contact with him and failed to catch his eye. “What about?”
Ella found herself worrying at the shape of the ring in the pocket of her dress. It was never a situation she’d imagined she would be in, considering the fact that human women--and shifters, for that matter--were usually on the other end of the deal.
“It’s just, this whole ring thing,” she confessed, cringing when she realized all the smooth transitions she’d practiced in her head on the drive over were for nothing.
Understanding immediately lit his features. “Is that what you’ve been playing with all night?”
Just when the color had finally left her cheeks.
Ella reluctantly pulled the ring out and set it on the table. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”
She thought back to that night in the forest, and how she’d accidentally confessed to being a virgin. He’d been so accepting, but this was another matter. Maybe he’d changed his mind since they last spoke of it.
Bishop reached across the table to place his hand on hers, and Ella jumped a little at the spark between them. “That makes two of us,” he said, his gaze as warm and comforting as his tone. He stroked the back of her hand and a shiver ran down her spine. His touch unwound her tense muscles and she realized he was just as dangerous as Axel ever had been, even if it was in a far more subtle way.
“For the record, I’d be honored to wear one of these rings whether I’m the only one or not,” he told her without a hint of uncertainty in his voice.
Ella found herself at a loss for breath. “Why?” She couldn’t help but blurt out the question.
He gave her a knowing smile. “In case I haven’t made it clear, I like you, Ella. A lot. I have ever since I saw you at the Unveiling.”
“You mean when you pulled my clumsy ass out of the water the first time?” she asked dryly.
“Before that,” he countered, remaining serious. She realized his hand was still over hers, warm and powerful. She could feel the steady rhythm of his pulse, a stark contrast to the frantic pattering of hers. “Confession time. I was watching you the moment you came in.”
Her eyes widened in shock. “In the lobby?”
He nodded. “I saw you and something just clicked. I knew I had to get closer. To find out who you were.”
“Why didn’t you say anything then?” she asked.
“I planned to, after the ceremony,” he answered. “And then…”
Ella winced. “Yeah. It’s all kind of a blur from the ambulance ride, but I guess there wasn’t much of a chance.”
“We have our chance now, and I intend to take it,” he told her, his gaze boring into hers. “Normally, I’d be asking you to wear the ring, but there’s time for that later. For now, it would be my honor to wear that one.”
His words took Ella’s breath away once more and she found herself staring at him like a lovesick idiot. When she finally shook herself out of it, she had the presence of mind to offer him the ring.
He put it on with a triumphant look in his gaze before taking her hand again, and there was something sensual about the cool metal brushing against her skin. “Are you free again tomorrow night?”
She was still reeling from the implication of his words, and what he meant by giving her a ring at a later time. Surely she’d heard him wrong. “Y-yeah. Why?”
“Because I’d like to make some arrangements and take you somewhere special.”
“More special than this?”
Bishop grinned. “Just wait and see.”
Chapter 8
Ella
Getting through the next day of class was torture--for once not because Ella was dreading what was to come, but because she was anticipating it.
She was nervous, of course. The idea of losing her virginity was not something she had imagined she would be doing at the beginning of her first semester at the Academy. Or at all, given the way her dating life before then had been going.
Nonetheless, she was glad it was going to be with Bishop. He refused to give her any further details about what he had planned that evening, but she felt right having chosen him. He made her feel safe, and it wasn’t just because he’d saved her life twice now.
There was something about him that was innately comforting. Something that made him seem so much older than he was, and made her feel as if she’d known him much longer.
Sometimes she wondered if he felt the same way, but she didn’t dare ask him.
Ella was about to consider the day an uneventful success when she saw Axel from across t
he hall. His eyes locked on her immediately, and she recognized the stubborn intent in them.
He knew.
She didn’t know how, since Bishop certainly wouldn’t have told him about the plans, but somehow, he knew. She could see it on his face.
Ella turned and quickly walked down the other hall, determined to get away as quickly as possible. She just didn’t have the energy to deal with him. Especially not right before she was supposed to meet Bishop that night.
“Ella!” he growled, evidently not caring who heard him.
What else was new?
She pretended like she hadn’t heard, but when he grabbed her arm and forced her to face him, she realized it wasn’t going to be that simple.
“Get your hands off me,” she snapped. To her surprise, he let her go, but there was still fury burning in his gaze.
“You went out with Bishop.”
She stared at him, waiting for him to expound on the statement that sounded like an accusation. “So?” she finally asked when he realized he wasn’t going to.
His eyes narrowed in indignation. She could see his old nature rising up. The instant need to verbally flay anyone who dared to defy him, or even question him. He suppressed it, proving he had more willpower than she’d given him credit for.
Or maybe just too much shame to look that desperate in front of the crowd that was already gawking at them.
“He’s an asshole. You realize that, right?”
Ella raised an eyebrow. “You’re one to talk about that.”
He pushed her up against the nearest locker, his hands planted on either side of her as he glowered downward. What had once intimidated her now did nothing but annoy her, namely because it reminded her of how close they’d come to fucking. “At least I’m honest about it. What you see is what you get,” he argued. “Bishop’s a snake in the grass, and no one realizes it until they get bit.”
“Bitten,” said Ella.
He frowned in confusion. “What?”
“People don’t get bit, they get bitten,” she answered, enjoying the anger that flashed in his gaze.
“You know what I fucking mean.”
She planted a hand on his firm chest and gave him a hard enough shove to push him back from her. Everyone in the school already thought she was a slut, and she didn’t need to give their imagination any fuel.
“Who I go out with is really none of your business.”
“Don’t you mean whom?” he quipped, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Ella rolled her eyes but found it hard to resist smiling. She had been on the receiving end of Axel’s razor-sharp wit for most of her life, but now that she actually had the spine to talk back to him, she enjoyed their banter. Not that she would ever let him think that.
“The point remains the same,” she said, adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder. “I like Bishop and you’re just going to have to deal with it. As a matter of fact, I’m going out with him again tonight.”
“The hell you are,” he snarled, his voice deep and rumbling enough that he seemed a split second away from shifting.
A few toms who’d ventured too close backed up to give him space. Ella turned back to Axel. “Calm down before you embarrass us both. Again.”
She expected him to lash out, and his expression made it clear he wanted to, but he simmered down in the end. She could still feel his chaotic energy, surging beneath the surface.
“What’s going on with you?” she asked, trying to hide her concern. “You’ve never had trouble controlling your tiger before.”
His nostrils flared. “It’s nothing,” he muttered, looking away. When he finally looked back, she could tell he was studying her closely. She hated when he did that. Like he was trying to read the thoughts in her mind through her eyes or something.
“You gave him a ring, didn’t you?”
His question took her by surprise. So he really did know. It was a question, but she could tell from the way he asked that he already knew the answer.
“Like I said, it’s none of your business.”
He blew a puff of air through his nose and seemed about to say something else when Ella caught sight of a red blur further down the hall. She recognized Marissa’s cackle immediately as she walked down the hall with her posse-slash-girl-gang.
Ella wasn’t sure where the petty urge rising up within her came from, but she wasn’t in any mood to deny it. Not after she’d promised herself she would get Marissa back for what she’d done to all her clothes, and finally saw an opportunity to do it.
She turned back to Axel and grabbed his face in both hands, pulling him in for another searing kiss. He got over his shock quickly enough, his arms wrapping around her as he returned the kiss with equal fervor.
As Ella dug her fingers into Axel’s hair and let his tongue delve into her mouth, she found it a bit too easy to get into the act. When she stopped to breathe and opened her eyes to find Marissa and her friends stopped in the middle of the hall, staring in disbelief along with everyone else, it was all worth it.
The look of humiliation and anger on Marissa’s face might once have inspired pity in Ella, but not now. Now she knew that whatever love Marissa had for Axel, it could only be as deep and selfless as she was, which was hardly at all. He was just another thing she wanted and didn’t think anyone else should be able to have.
Especially not someone as undeserving as a stray.
Well, she hadn’t shown any mercy when she’d destroyed nearly every item Ella had to her name, and two could play at that game.
Axel finally turned to see what she was staring at, and the recognition in his gaze as he realized why she’d kissed him came closer to making her feel like shit than Marissa’s shock ever could.
The other queen turned and stalked off the way she’d come, her friends chasing behind her. The other students mostly went back to what they’d been doing, though Ella could tell from their nervous glances that she was the subject of their whispers.
They already thought she was a slut. A filthy stray who’d open her legs to any tom who showed her a scrap of attention. Why the hell should she bother correcting them? Any attempt she made just blew up in her face anyway, and it felt good to push the caring away. To shut it down, just like everything else that would keep her from surviving in the ruthless jungle that was Felidae Academy.
“You never would’ve done something like that before,” Axel murmured. He didn’t sound hurt, but there was something pensive in his tone that gave her pause. Something uncharacteristic.
“I’ve changed,” she told him, shrugging it off. She reached into her pocket and took out a ring. His eyes widened in shock again as she placed it in his palm. “Consider it a loan. I’m mating with Bishop tonight, and if that’s not enough to get me out of heat, you can be my backup.”
He stared at her for a few seconds, as if waiting for her to say she was joking. “You’re serious.”
“Take it or leave it,” she said, shrugging. “I’m sure I can find someone else if you don’t want it.”
His jaw clenched in frustration, but he made no attempt to hand the ring back. Instead, he just stared at her like she’d lost her mind.
Satisfied, Ella turned on her heels and walked back to the dorms to prepare for the night ahead.
Chapter 9
Axel
Axel wasn’t sure how long he’d been in the gym, other than the fact that it had been enough time to burst two punching bags and chase everyone else out. Not that he’d said anything to the other toms using the weight bench, but they had enough self-preservation instinct to know a tiger on the verge of shifting when they saw one.
He hated that Ella was right. He had been out of control lately, and finding out her plan to sleep with Bishop had almost been enough to push him over the edge. He’d gone out for a run in his cat form, but when he realized that was only serving to fuel his rage and make his mind numb to anything but instinct, he circled back and decided to try a more human means of
taking out his aggression.
Surprisingly, pretending like the punching bag was Bishop wasn’t helping all that much. It felt good, though, so he kept going.
He sensed he wasn’t alone and even before he recognized the other male’s scent, he could tell it was Bishop from the way he bristled instinctively. When he turned, the young tom was standing in the doorway watching him with a smug, self-satisfied expression as if he knew exactly why Axel was there.
And Axel could think of no reason he’d come other than to torment him, since he certainly wasn’t dressed for a workout.
“I heard you were having a temper tantrum, but destroying school property? That’s a bit much, even for you,” he said, looking at the discarded bags pushed up against the wall behind Axel.
Axel felt the growl building in his throat and knew if he didn’t contain the beast, he was going to end up pouncing on Bishop and tearing out his throat. Not that he would particularly have regretted that, but he knew it would only prove Ella’s point.
Axel took off his boxing gloves and left them on the ground as he walked over to Bishop. The other tom tensed up, as if ready to defend himself.
“You know she only picked you to get under my skin, right?” he asked, deciding to let the pretenses drop. He’d never been a fan of them. Especially not when it came to someone whose existence was nothing but a nuisance to him.
Bishop seemed unmoved, his arms folded as he leaned back against the wall. “Is that so?”
“She’s known you for a few months,” Axel continued. “She’s been in love with me for years. You really think you can compete with that?”
“Given the fact that it took me months to get to second base and you haven’t even managed in years, I’d say that’s a distinction in my favor,” Bishop countered without missing a beat.
Rage swelled up within Axel’s chest and he almost lost it at the thought of Bishop--anyone, for that matter, but especially him--touching Ella. The only thing holding him back was the realization that Bishop didn’t know about them.
