Page 7 of Stray
She cast a quick glance in the mirror and decided to put on a bit of lip gloss to counteract the unusual paleness of her already fair skin. She hadn’t been feeling well for days, but it was hard to tell what was nerves and what was an illness coming on. After tousling her dark waves and slipping on a pair of short heels, Ella headed downstairs where Emily and two of her adult children had already gathered.
Kyrie and Lyra were both home from the Academy, the former dressed in a sharp black tuxedo and the latter in a flowing white dress that left no room to question that Ella was woefully underdressed.
At least Lyra would attract all the attention with her beautiful blond curls and cherubic looks. Axel was nowhere to be seen, which came as a relief. Ella assumed he had already headed over to the ceremony venue, since he and Marissa were its unofficial guests of honor.
Lyra frowned as Ella came into view, casting a disapproving glance over her dress. “You’re wearingthatold thing?”
Ella looked down, checking to make sure she hadn’t missed any stains or wrinkles when she’d had it cleaned. “It’s my only formal dress.”
“This is ridiculous,” Emily muttered, glancing at the time on her phone. “Lyra, don’t you have something halfway decent she could wear?”
“Me?” Lyra scoffed, clearly insulted. “Like I have anything that would fither.”
Once, Ella might have cringed at such a remark, but they all rolled off as easily as raindrops now. Lyra wasn’t wrong. Ella had a narrow, tapered waist, but it only made her curves more dramatic in comparison. Her “birthing hips” had been a topic of discussion ever since puberty, when more than one queen had taken it upon herself to suggest that she would be a good surrogate for worthier members of the pride. Of course, no one wanted a stray’s genes, but it wasn’t uncommon for more desirable females to outsource their reproductive duties to those more suited to the dangerous task.
“There’s no time for her to change, anyway,” said Kyrie. He gave Ella a glance that registered as almost sympathetic. “We’re going to be late.”
“He’s right,” Emily sighed, casting one last scolding glance at Ella. “Try not to be seen.”
Ella had to fight back a laugh. As if that was ever a danger.
She followed the others out to the car and retreated into her head for the short drive to the outer reaches of the territory. The meeting hall served many purposes within the pride, but she barely recognized it with all the fairy lights hanging from arbors that certainly hadn’t been there the last time she’d passed by.
Kyrie parked the car and Lyra rushed out, scanning the crowds entering the building. She shouted to one of her friends and ran over. The two squealed and embraced, spinning each other around as if it had been years since they’d seen each other rather than a long weekend.
Ella felt a pang of regret that Beatrice couldn’t be there. Her presence made these things tolerable, but a human would never be allowed to partake in such a sacred ceremony. Ella almost wished she had the same privilege, as staying at home with Beatrice would have been much preferable to the evening ahead of her, but she doubted her foolish heart would believe Axel was permanently out of her reach if she didn’t see it for herself.
“Come along,” Emily scolded, calling the young woman after her. “We don’t want to be the last to be seated.”
Heaven forbid that, though Ella. She followed them into the crowded lobby of the meeting house, swallowed up by the swell of the music the string quartet was playing on the far end of the room. The wide open space was meant to serve as a dance hall, but the guests in attendance were more interested in their drinks and light banter than such indulgences.
Ella refused to give in to the temptation to search the room for Axel. She already knew what he would be wearing: a suit fitted to kill and accessorized with a cruel smirk of apathy.
While the main hall was plenty spacious, Ella knew the actual ceremony would be taking place elsewhere. She had never been inside the sacred temple, but she’d heard it described enough times to have some idea of what to expect. There was a pool in the center of the room beneath a specially crafted window in the ceiling, designed to filter the moonlight in at its brightest and purest. When the moon shone on her chosen subject, it would usher in a new era for the entire colony.
Ella knew better than to think anything in her world would change.
“Emily! There you are,” called a pleasant voice. Ella turned around to find Natalia herself walking toward them. Despite the fact that she was about to witness the choosing of her replacement as Empress, the smile on her face was warm and genuine. Ella had only ever seen her from a distance, but she was even more breathtakingly beautiful up close.
With high cheekbones and a perfect Cupid’s bow, Natalia was the epitome of feline beauty. Her once-dark hair had turned white as snow the day of her own Unveiling, as it did with all the chosen. From what Ella had heard, there were also glowing markings that appeared on the candidate’s skin at the moment she was chosen, but they were only visible under the direct light of the moon, an undeniable mark of the bearer’s destiny.
Being moonmarked was something young kits dreamed of from their earliest memories, but not Ella. Her dreams were much simpler than that. A small house in the woods, and work more meaningful than scrubbing dishes and running other people’s errands.
Of course, she harbored one dream far more impractical than any other, but she was determined to take that shameful secret to the grave.
“Natalia. Gorgeous as ever,” Emily crooned, leaning in to kiss the other woman’s cheek. She turned on the charm like a light switch. Ella couldn’t help but envy the ability. It would certainly make her life easier. Maybe then she’d no longer be Marissa’s favorite target.
“And your beautiful daughters,” Natalia said, smiling at both Lyra and Ella.
The disgust on Lyra’s face was immediate. Before Ella had the chance to correct her, Emily was quick to do so.
“That’s Ella, the little stray we took in thirteen years ago,” she clarified. “I’m sure you don’t remember, it’s been so long.”
“Oh,” Natalia said, her eyes widening in recognition as she studied Ella more closely. “Of course, I remember now. And where are your sons?”
Ella hadn’t realized Kyrie has already abandoned them, but it didn’t take long to spot him across the room flirting with a group of girls from another pride.
Emily sighed. “Axel is preparing for the ceremony, I’m sure, and my youngest is over there courting your niece, I’m afraid.”
