Page 33 of Feral
“This is gonna be so much fun,” Avery squealed once they’d signed in. “What should we do first? The spa is open until midnight, and there’s a buffet.”
“Sounds awesome. You should go check it out,” Ella told her. “I’ll take our stuff up to the room.”
“You aren’t coming?” Avery asked, frowning.
Ella hesitated. She hated to give in to her desire to retreat and isolate herself so early on the trip, but her most recent encounter with Sterling had shaken her more than she wanted to admit. At least, that was what she assumed was the cause of the nausea and general feeling of unwellness that had plagued her for most of the ride.
“I’m not feeling very well,” she confessed. “I’m just going to go to bed early so I’ll be up for the slopes tomorrow.”
“I’ll come with you,” said Avery.
Ella was touched by the offer. It was easy to see how excited Avery was about the trip, and she’d talked about nothing else for the last few days leading up to it. The last thing Ella wanted was to ruin it for her. “Please, go have fun,” she pleaded, giving her friend a hug. “We’ll do everything tomorrow. Promise.”
Avery watched her worriedly, frowning. “If you’re sure…”
“I’m positive,” Ella said, taking her bag from her. She definitely hadn’t packed light.
“Text me if you need anything,” Avery called, already walking over to join the others.
“I will,” Ella said, waving to her as she waited for the elevator.
Their room was on the very top floor, which came as a relief. There didn’t seem to be many others occupying the same level, and she could only assume it was because the teachers wanted to keep her as far from the others as possible.
She’d been given permission to go on the trip, but that didn’t mean anyone had forgotten her current “condition.”
The room was huge, easily big enough for four, and the balcony view was as breathtaking as she’d pictured. Ella was too exhausted to give it proper appreciation, so she slipped out of her shoes, crawled under the covers of one of the two queen beds, and tried to get some sleep.
It didn’t take long before she was dreaming, and the man who occupied her fantasies so often was just as prominent in her dreams. Her subconscious mind kept replaying her awkward encounter with Sterling on the bus, remixing it with every other moment that had left her cringing in his presence. As if she didn’t have enough to be embarrassed of in the waking world.
Ella awoke from a particularly unpleasant dream in a cold sweat. She stared up at the vaulted ceiling and its wooden beams, taking a moment to remember where she was.
The room was empty and as far as she could tell, Avery hadn’t come back yet. Either she had chosen to stay out late, or Ella hadn’t managed to get as much sleep as she’d hoped.
She climbed out of bed and walked out onto the balcony, hoping the cool air would help quell the feverishness that had come over her. She’d assumed the room was just hot, but when the feeling persisted outside in the chilled winter air, she began to wonder if it was something worse.
Ella looked down at her hands and realized her skin was flushed. She felt none of the telltale arousal that had plagued her when she’d first gone into heat, but there was too much angst burrowed in the pit of her stomach to feel anything of the sort anyway.
Could the suppressants be failing already? She went back into the room and searched through her bag. She’d brought an extra pack just in case, and took two with a bottle of water from the mini fridge for good measure.
Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Ella turned on the television and tried to focus on anything other than the ever-intensifying burn underneath her skin. She’d changed into a thin nightgown, but even that felt like a thick wool sweater.
Halfway through an hour-long game show she had no interest in and was barely able to pay attention to, she realized the suppressants were doing nothing.
“Shit,” she muttered, trying to stave off a fresh wave of panic. She was going into heat, and this time, it seemed nothing would stop it.
The doctor had insisted the suppressants would work. Why was this happening?
Not that the why mattered. She knew there was nothing she could do other than swallow her pride and find the dorm mother, hoping desperately that the older queen would have an idea as to how to proceed.
In the back of her mind, she couldn’t help but fear she knew exactly what had triggered the heat. Sterling’s presence, as distressing and inexplicable as it was, had flipped a switch inside her. They’d barely interacted, but a single glance from him seemed to be enough to unravel all her reason and resistance to the primal instincts that had her longing to fall into his arms.
Ella knew she had no other options, so she got dressed hastily and headed out into the hall to find the dorm mother’s room. The women were housed on separate floors, while the men had the bottom two, so at least she wouldn’t have to worry about running into any unruly toms. Though considering how agitation had replaced the arousal she’d felt before, she wouldn’t have minded having something to claw.
She’d barely made it halfway down the hall when she saw the man standing on the other end of it and froze.
Sterling. Was he everywhere?
When Ella locked eyes with him and felt the surge of heat beneath her skin, stronger than ever, she lost all traces of doubt that it was him who’d triggered it. The first time, and now. As much as she so obviously repelled him, it seemed that her very nature had placed him at its center.
