Page 71 of Stray
Ella grimaced at the mention of the others. How was she ever going to live this down? How was she ever going to be able to look at her classmates again without feeling complete disgust knowing what they were like under the worst of circumstances?
“I suppose we will have to send her home,” said the doctor.
“No,” Ella blurted out. They were both looking at her. “Please… I…” She trailed off when she realized she had no valid excuse for countering the suggestion. Under normal circumstances, she probably would’ve been desperate enough to want to return to the Hill estate, but she knew all that was waiting for her was Emily’s censure. The fact that she was the future Empress had changed nothing.
If anything, she knew the Matriarch and her young would be even more resentful of her, and for once, they would have a reason.
Mr. Bryant was watching her closely, but she couldn’t bear to meet his gaze. “I’m afraid that won’t work, either,” he finally said, even though he had clearly been on the side of sending her away moments earlier. Did he actually care what she wanted? “She’s already well behind in her coursework as it is, and the school has taken on the obligation of seeing to it that she is fit to claim her position on schedule.”
“Be that as it may, she can’t possibly wait out the heat here,” said the doctor. “The logistical challenges of a first heat surrounded by unmated young toms aside, it could take months. As you said yourself, this is hardly a safe place for a queen in such circumstances.”
“Logistical challenges?” Ella asked worriedly. She wasn’t sure she really wanted to know the answer, but figured knowledge wasn’t going to make her position any worse. And it wasn’t as if she had any dignity left to save.
Mr. Bryant looked away, seeming awkward for the first time since she had met him.
The doctor cleared his throat. “Heats in general are rather… Difficult to deal with, for male and female shifters alike. That’s why all female students entering the Academy are required to undergo the implant before attending. Having young queens and toms in such close proximity is enough to contend with. A first heat as far more intense than any other. Once begun, the symptoms will continue to grow more intense until the heat is either sated, or finally resolves itself. That could take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months, and the process is quite unpleasant for the one suffering through the heat.”
His words filled Ella with a new sense of apprehension. She’d heard other women speak of heat in excited terms before, always in the context of taking a mate. She’d even heard that sometimes queens required more than one tom to get them through a particularly rough heat, but she had never heard it spoken of in such foreboding terms.
“There is another option, I suppose,” the doctor mused.
Mr. Bryant gave him a murderous look that utterly bewildered Ella. At least until she realized what the doctor was getting at.
“She’s the future Empress,” Mr. Bryant snapped. Ella wasn’t sure if he was angry on behalf of her honor, or merely because of the assault on common decency. Considering his profession, the latter seemed more likely. “You can’t be suggesting what I think you are.”
“There’s really no other option, is there?” The doctor asked. “The way I see it, she can either return home until the heat is over, or turn to more traditional methods of easing it. The choice is hers.”
Humiliation settled down on Ella’s shoulders once more. She had imagined that standing before the entire colony buck naked was the most vulnerable she would ever feel, but having two strange men discuss the nature of losing her virginity was on another level entirely.
She thought back to the woods, wondering if her late-night tryst with Bishop was to blame for all of this.
No… If anything, she knew that she had gone further than her common sense would have allowed because of the feelings that had already been stirred up within her.
“When you say traditional options,” she said warily. “What exactly do you mean?”
“Mating, to put it succinctly,” the doctor answered. “Of course, this being a first heat complicates things. It’s very unlikely that being with one male would be enough. There are medical interventions we can do, but that is certainly not what would be the first choice of most young women in your circumstances.”
Ella shivered at the thought. As much as she wanted this to all be over, the idea of resolving her first heat under such clinical circumstances made her nauseous. She hated herself for thinking of Bishop immediately, and even more for thinking of Axel and the man beside her.
At least now she understood why her mind had been drifting in all these new directions lately. It was rare for her to have interest in any male, let alone three of them.
There was one she knew was completely off the table. There was absolutely no way in hell she was going anywhere near Axel. In fact, if she could get through this without him being any the wiser, she figured she should consider it a victory.
Although she had once dreamed of him being her first, she knew he would find a way to twist it and use it against her. He already had enough ammunition as it was.
“I didn’t think that kind of thing was allowed,” she admitted. “Aren’t we least expected to be promised first?”
“That is proper decorum,” Mr. Bryant answered. If Ella didn’t find a way to transfer out of his class after this, she was sure she would just spontaneously combust. There was no way she could possibly look him in the eye again. It had already been difficult enough, knowing he existed in another stratosphere. “However, under such circumstances, exceptions are made. After all, you will be the Empress.”
She gulped. Yes… That coveted title that had turned her world completely upside down.
And to think, there were queens who actually dreamed of this!
“This is a lot,” she said, feeling more disoriented with every moment that passed.
“It’s all right,” Mr. Bryant said, settling his hand on her shoulder once more. This time, his touch was far more calming than anything else. A warmth spread through her at the contact, and when she met his eyes, for the first time, she found his gaze more soothing than intimidating. “You don’t have to decide this very moment.”
“No, but I highly suggest she doesn’t wait too long,” the doctor said, earning a glare from the teacher. “This is certainly a matter the headmaster should be consulted on.”
