Page 2 of Feral
“No,” she said, a bit too quickly. “Not at all.”
“Good. Then I expect you an hour early tomorrow to make up for the missed session,” he said, glancing at his watch.
“Yes, sir.” She wasn’t going to complain about extra time with him, even if that provided her with twice the opportunity to make a fool of herself.
Again.
“How are you doing?” he asked, growing all the more serious. He was the only tom who’d ever looked at her with such genuine concern, other than Bishop. She still wasn’t sure what to do with that sincerity, but it was flattering, to say the least.
If only she could get that other look out of her head--the one he’d given her when the heat first came on. When their bodies had been so close, just shy of touching, and his hand had rested on the small of her back...
In the brief time that had elapsed since that fateful moment, Ella had convinced herself she was just imagining things. It was easier that way.
And yet, as she stood near him once more, one of those three silver rings burned a hole in her pocket. Her instincts were far from rational, and the longing to offer one to him had been present ever since Natalia and Tessa had informed her of the ritual.
Now that would be the greatest social faux pas of all. The idea was absurd, and yet, it became clear to Ella in that moment that her feelings had only grown stronger.
“I’m doing fine,” she answered. “Thank you for asking.”
“It didn’t seem like it yesterday.”
There was no hint of guile or censure in his tone. The man’s social graces were perfect, but he was brutally honest all the same.
“Marissa and I have a complicated past,” she said, choosing her words carefully. The last thing her reputation needed was being seen as the wimp who ran to her professor because she was being bullied by another queen. “Nothing I can’t handle.”
“Marissa?” He raised an eyebrow. “I was referring to Mr. Hill.”
Ella’s cheeks immediately grew red hot at the memory of Sterling walking in while Axel had her pressed up against the bathroom wall, his thigh pushed between her legs. “Oh. That.”
“Let me guess. You and he have a complicated past as well.”
Ella gulped. “You could say that.”
“Far be it from me to intrude on student affairs,” he said with an edge to his tone she’d never heard before. If she didn’t know better, she’d think it was jealousy, but that was even more absurd than the idea that he might be attracted to her. “But I feel it’s my duty to warn you there are going to be eyes on everything you do from now on. Take careful consideration in how you spend your time, and more importantly, with whom you spend it.”
His words made Ella want to crawl under a rock, even though she knew she wouldn’t have felt the same way if they’d come from Natalia or any of her other teachers. It was the fact that she wanted Sterling to want her that made it so difficult to know he’d seen her in such an uncharacteristic display of recklessness.
“It was a mistake,” she said firmly. “And it won’t happen again.”
A strange look came over his face and he seemed to be thinking of saying something more, but changed his mind at the last moment. “Enjoy the rest of your afternoon.”
“You, too, Mr. Bryant.”
Ella turned and headed toward her next class before she could melt onto the tile. That was one encounter she’d been dreading down. Now she just had to find a way to make it through the school day without running into Axel, and she would consider the day a success.
Chapter 2
Ella
The day was halfway over, and by some miracle, Ella had managed to avoid Axel. He’d stopped texting and calling eventually, which was a double-edged sword. On one hand, she was relieved, but on the other…
Taking a walk was always a risk on campus, but Ella found herself in desperate need of fresh air. She was also less than eager to return to her dorm room before the lunch rush was over. The cafeteria was even less appealing.
She walked the winding track that led all the way around campus. It was strange to see it from a new point of view. She’d spent so many years gazing at the castle-like structure on her way home from the market, and now she almost wished she was back out there.
There was freedom in anonymity. In invisibility. For so long, she’d lamented that she was just wasting her life, but now that it was all planned out for her by the moon itself, she couldn’t help but feel trapped.
She couldn’t even blame it all on Marissa and her harpies. They were just part of the problem. The real root of the issue was that Ella had never belonged to her pride, or the world of shifters as a whole. It was a cosmic joke that she was expected to lead them, and with the way things were going, she was pretty sureshewas the punchline.
