by River Ramsey
“Yeah. That must be why she came onto me in the hall, right before your date.”
Bishop rolled his eyes. “So I heard. In front of your ex, right?” he added pointedly. “I’m sure that was just a coincidence.”
This time, the growl made its way through Axel’s gritted teeth in response to the sarcasm. Instead of letting the tiger out, he pushed Bishop up against the wall, his forearm stretched across the other male’s throat. “I swear, if you hurt her, I’ll fucking rip out your lying tongue and feed it to you piece by piece.”
Bishop’s expression didn’t change, save for the hint of a smirk that made Axel want to put him through the wall. “You know, that temper is exactly why you’re not part of Felidae,” he mused. “And I’d be willing to bet it’s also the reason I’m wearing this ring instead of you.”
Axel noticed the silver band on Bishop’s right hand for the first time. He stepped back, letting him go. “Oh, yeah?” he challenged, taking the ring out of his own pocket. “What’s this, then?”
For a split second, Bishop’s eyes widened in surprise, but it disappeared just as swiftly. “I guess she didn’t want it to go to waste, but don’t worry. Your standby services won’t be needed.”
Axel’s fists clenched. He wanted nothing more than to wipe that smug grin off his face. The only thing holding him back wasn’t the fear of suspension or even expulsion, but the knowledge that it would only give Ella another reason to think Bishop was her poor, innocent knight in shining armor.
“Does she know about your little society?” he asked.
“She will soon enough,” Bishop said, straightening his tie. “And if that’s meant to be a threat, I suggest you remember what the consequences are for breaking the faith. Even for rejected initiates.”
Axel’s lips curled back in a snarl. “She’ll see through it, you know. She’s not as naive as she seems,” he finally said, forcing himself to calm down before the beast tore out of him. “You can pretend all you want, but I know she’s nothing more to you than a piece on a chessboard.”
“You’re right,” Bishop said, taking a step toward him. “The queen, in fact.” He came to a stop so he was toe to toe with Axel, his blue eyes blazing in challenge. “And you should know by now what happens to pawns who get in my way.”
Axel snorted. “I’d watch my back if I were you, Bishop. Your mommy’s status can’t protect you forever.”
“We’ll see,” Bishop said nonchalantly, finally taking a step back as if he’d lost interest in continuing to taunt his opponent.
Axel waited until he was out of the room before he put his fist through the wall the way he wanted to do to the other male’s face.
All he could do was hope he was right about Ella and that she’d see through the guy. She certainly wasn’t going to take his word for it, and the more he stood against their relationship, the more he’d push her right into Bishop’s arms.
Chapter 10
Ella
As Ella sat in the passenger’s side of Bishop’s Mercedes, watching the night fall over the rolling mountains, she found her curiosity was getting the best of her. Bishop had refused to tell her where they were going, only that he planned to take her somewhere that was important to him.
She was trying to imagine what romantic escape he might have planned without getting her hopes up. Just because this night was a first for her didn’t mean he’d feel the same way. She was sure he’d had no shortage of queens willing to go to his bed.
The further they drove, the thicker the surrounding woods became. Ella glanced over at Bishop. “You know, there are plenty of horror movies that start out this way.”
Bishop grinned. “We’re almost there, I promise.”
He was telling the truth. It wasn’t long before Ella saw the warm lights from behind a few dozen windows in the mansion at the end of the drive they turned down. Her eyes widened as the structure came fully into view, lit by the hanging lamps above the marble fountain in the center of a circular drive.
“Whoa,” she breathed. “What is this place?”
“It’s called the Felidae House,” he answered. “It’s among the oldest standing structures here. Even older than the Academy.”
“Seriously?” she asked, turning to face him. “Why haven’t I ever heard of it?”
“Because only a few are granted admission,” he answered with a conspiratorial twinkle in his eye.
That certainly seemed a strange place for a romantic evening, but Ella was afraid to assume too much. “I’m not going to be sacrificed, am I?” she asked dryly.
Bishop laughed, coming around for her door. “It’s not that kind of club, but you’re on the right track,” he said, offering his hand to help her out of the car.
“Sounds exclusive and vaguely menacing,” she quipped, following him to the front door. Before they could reach the top step, the door swung open and a young man dressed in a dapper black-and-white suit bowed to them.
“Good evening, Master Meyer. Your Grace,” he said, nodding reverently to Ella.
The address certainly didn’t have the same effect on her as it had when Sterling had used it, but it still caught her by surprise.
Bishop led her into an open room at the foot of a grand staircase. The entire space was lavishly furnished, complete with a hanging crystal chandelier. Ella felt dizzy when she saw just how high up it was mounted.
“This place is incredible,” she murmured.
“I’m glad you like it. Come on, I’d like to introduce you to some people.”
“Okay,” Ella said hesitantly. She couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed, since she’d hoped it would just be the two of them. She didn’t care where he took her, as long as they got the chance to talk and get to know each other better. She told herself that if this club was important to Bishop, it should be important to her, too.
When they came into a vast ballroom filled with men and women dressed in formal eveningwear, she looked down at her clothes. “I’m seriously underdressed.”
“Nonsense,” Bishop said, linking his arm with hers to whisk her into the ballroom. “You look perfect.”
There was music playing, and it didn’t take Ella long to realize it was coming from a live harpist and violinist on a stage in the back of the room. Whatever this place was, its members had spared no expense for the evening.
As Bishop led Ella around the room, introducing her to the elite of Felidae, she found herself wondering if this was just a taste of what her life would be like when she became Empress. The people who had once looked past her like she was invisible when they thought she was nothing more than a stray were now fawning over her, and she wasn’t sure it was an improvement.
After an hour of fake smiles and doing her best not to out herself as being as woefully uncultured as she was, Ella was starting to entertain thoughts of sneaking out a bathroom window.
“What do you think?” Bishop asked, opening the door to reveal a huge suite decorated in the same rich colonial style as the rest of the mansion. At first, she assumed it was a guest room, but then she saw the shelf full of books and a desk that seemed to have been used recently. The desk sat near a large bay window overlooking the forest out back, and there was a messenger bag identical to Bishop’s leaning against the desk chair.
“I don’t understand. Whose room is this?”
“Mine,” he answered, smiling at her confusion. “I don’t stay in the dorms during the Academic year.”
“You live here?” she asked in disbelief.
“Along with most of the other members of Felidae.”
“So what is this place, really?” she asked. “A fraternity? A cult?”
He chuckled. “It’s a bit of both, perhaps. Felidae has been the cornerstone of our species since we first united as a colony. Some say even longer.”
“And you’re part of it,” Ella murmured, mulling over his words. “And your parents?”
“My father,” he answered. “Of course, all members of Felidae
swear allegiance to the Empress, so she presides over certain events.”
“So it is a boys’ club.”
He gave her an apologetic grin. “Old customs, I’m afraid. But as you saw tonight, many of our events are coed.”
“How modern,” Ella said dryly, looking around the room. The evening certainly hadn’t turned out the way she’d planned, but she was curious to learn more about him, and if this was where he spent his time when he wasn’t at school, it seemed like her best chance.
Everything was neat and organized, which was to be expected, given his nature. There was nothing out of place, but the room still had a warm, lived-in feel. “And here I thought the dorms were nice.”
“You could live here, too.”
Ella turned to find him watching her, leaning on the wooden post of the canopy bed. There was a familiar glint in his eyes that made her see the bed in a different light. “Pardon?”
“You could stay with me,” he answered, walking over to take her hand. He looked around the room. “It’s plenty big enough for two.”
Ella stared at him in disbelief, finding herself at a total loss for words. Heat crept into her cheeks as the realization that he was asking her to move in with him sank in. “We barely know each other. And you said this place is only for men.”
“Exceptions are made for our mates,” he answered. The word sent another flutter of excitement and dismay through Ella’s chest.
Bishop seemed to realize what he’d said only then. With an endearingly bashful laugh, he began to backpedal. “Not that we’re there yet. I know that kind of thing takes time, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel connected to you from the moment we met.”
“I feel the same way,” she assured him. “I just…everything has happened so fast.”
“I understand,” he said, caressing her cheek. “Really. Come on, let’s get back to the party.”
Ella felt as if she should say something more, but she nodded and followed him back downstairs. He didn’t seem offended, but his question had taken her off-guard in more ways than one.
They were hardly downstairs for a moment before a group of older queens swept Bishop away for some urgent matter. He looked back, his wine glass still sloshing in his hand. “Sorry. I won’t be long,” he promised.
Ella waved, giving him a mischievous smile. “Take your time.”
It seemed he was as popular in Felidae as he was in the Academy Ella could only assume had been named after it. She made her way over to the refreshments, deciding she could use another glass of wine herself. Her nerves were still frazzled, and while the curious stares she’d elicited from the other dinner guests were much friendlier than the ones she was used to, she still felt like a fish out of water.
“Ella?” The familiar voice sounded strained and alarmed. Ella turned to find Sterling standing a few feet away, dressed to kill in a black tuxedo that matched the hair that was pulled back at the nape of his neck, like usual.
Ella’s heart tumbled in her chest. He was hard enough to resist under normal circumstances, let alone when she wasn’t expecting to see him.
Then again, she realized she probably should have. After all, Sterling was as sophisticated and well-connected as they came.
“Mr. Bryant. I didn’t know you were here,” she said, trying not to sound like the infatuated kit she turned into around him.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, looking her up and down. The incredulity in his tone pierced her even more than his cessation of their lessons had.
“Bishop invited me,” she said, suddenly feeling as out of place as she had from the moment she’d walked in.
The teacher’s gaze hardened and grew cold in response to the name, which confused Ella more than anything else. If ever there were two people she’d imagined would get along, it was Sterling and Bishop. They were both so cultured and chivalrous, but there was no mistaking the spite in those eyes. It burned even deeper than Axel’s hatred.
“You need to leave,” he said suddenly, a hard edge to his tone. He took Ella by the arm and gently but swiftly guided her over to a sequestered part of the room beneath a pillar.
“What?” she cried, trying to ignore the way her heart pattered away at his touch. As if it was romantic rather than a desperate attempt to remove the stray from civilized company. She didn’t want to believe it, but given his current actions and his dismay upon seeing her, it seemed to her that it could hardly be anything else.
“You don’t belong here,” he said firmly.
No cruel insults the girls at school had thrown at her had ever cut her so deeply. He even had Emily beat with a mere four words.
It wasn’t that she had expected anything else. There was no reason for someone like him to treat her kindly. His respect and attention had been a surprise from the very beginning. It was the fact that she’d actually grown to believe he really did see something in her that no one else had. Something she was incapable of seeing in herself.
Now that hope was dashed apart in her chest, and all she wanted to do was follow his command and get as far from the Felidae House as possible.
Before she could respond, Bishop approached them. “Is everything alright?” he asked, his gaze locked on Sterling.
If Ella had thought the teacher’s demeanor icy before, it turned to a deep freeze when the two toms locked stares, neither one blinking. Ella watched them for what felt like an eternity as they both refused to back down in whatever bizarre contest they’d taken up.
“Everything is fine,” Sterling said, his tone polite but dripping with disdain. Even that was beginning to fade as the mask of civility they both wore began to crumble. Ella could feel the tense energy between them, two men powerful in their own right and equally ardent in a rivalry Ella hadn’t even realized existed until that moment.
And here she’d thought Bishop and Axel hated each other.
What on earth had happened between them?
“Well, I wouldn’t want to keep you two from enjoying your evening,” Sterling finally said, casting Ella another somber glance.
“How kind of you,” Bishop said, his hand resting protectively--or perhaps possessively--on Ella’s waist. She found it hard to tell the difference where toms were concerned.
As soon as they were alone, she asked, “What was that about?”
“It’s nothing,” Bishop muttered, throwing back the rest of his drink. She’d never seen him take more than a sip at a time. “Just some bad blood between the families.”
Ella wanted to ask him more, but she could tell he didn’t want to get into it and she was too upset in her own right to bother. What she’d hoped would be a magical evening had turned to ruin in the span of a few seconds.
Humiliation was one thing. She’d been looked down on all her life, and if there was anyone who knew she didn’t belong in a place like this, it was her.
No, the pit that had formed in her stomach, twisting and aching like it was going to rend her in two wasn’t embarrassment. It ran so much deeper than that.
“I’m sorry, but I think I should go,” she said, realizing she was only going to make a fool of herself if she stuck around.
Bishop frowned in concern. “But we just got here.”
“I know. I’m so sorry,” she said hoarsely, feeling her throat tighten the more she tried to keep the tears in her eyes from falling. “I’m just not feeling very well all of a sudden.”
“Of course,” Bishop said, his voice gentle with understanding. “I’ll go pull the car up. Some fresh air might do you good.”
“Thanks,” Ella said, following him out to the patio. As she stared up at the night sky waiting for him to return, she found the moon was nowhere in sight. Maybe Sterling wasn’t the only one who thought she didn’t belong there.
Chapter 11
Axel
Axel had spent most of the night in the woods, trying to run off his aggression and then merely trying to exhaust himself when that failed. He woke under the glare of
sunlight and staggered back to where he’d left his clothes before going back to the dorm.
He planned on getting a couple hours’ sleep in an actual bed before class, but when he heard Ella’s name being whispered in the halway, he was wide awake.
“--dropped her off last night at nine,” a girl was saying to her friends. “I knew Bishop would get tired of her, but that was fast.”
Her friends snickered until they caught sight of Axel and went dead silent. They scattered before he could question them, but it didn’t matter. Part of the reason he’d stayed out so late was not wanting to think about the fact that Bishop was probably in Ella’s room. If she’d come back alone, maybe their night hadn’t gone the way they’d expected after all.
He bypassed the guys’ dorm and headed down the hall to take a shortcut to the stairs that led to the women’s dorms when another tom blocked his path. He was ready to blow through him until he realized it was a teacher.
Mr. Bryant.
“And where might you be off to in such a hurry, Mr. Hill?” the teacher asked in a tone that suggested he already knew.
He was one of the only teachers at the Academy who didn’t seem to care about Axel’s VIP status. For that reason alone, Axel both respected and disliked him.
“Last time I checked, I don’t have your class until three,” said Axel. “Until then, nothing I do is your business.”
The teacher’s eyes narrowed, but other than making a jab at Axel’s poor attendance record, there wasn’t much he could do. Even if he did get sent to the Headmaster’s office for talking back, he’d be out in five minutes, tops.
“Be that as it may, there’s something I wish to discuss with you,” Mr. Bryant said, glancing down the hall as if to make sure they were alone.
Axel had no idea what the hell the other man would want to talk to him about, and if he hadn’t been intent on finding Ella, his curiosity might have been piqued enough to indulge him. “Whatever it is, it’ll have to wait. I’m in the middle of something.”
