Page 12 of Kings
Kyrie’s back hit the wall and the next moment, Axel saw the shift in his eyes from defensiveness to anger.
“You fucking traitor,” Axel snarled, lunging. This time, his brother was ready and they went tumbling to the floor.
He wasn’t surprised or even that hurt by Ella’s actions. Hell, it was flattering. He knew she was only doing it to get under his skin, and that meant he was still deep under hers. Kyrie, on the other hand...he knew better.
Axel landed a punch before Kyrie kneed him in the gut. It only sent him back for an instant and when he caught himself on all fours, he felt the shift coming over him. As furious as he was, especially now that he and Ella had bonded in some form, he didn’t want tokillhis brother, and he knew that was exactly what would happen the moment the beast took over.
Ella’s scream told him the shift had happened before he could even register being in the tiger’s body. Axel saw the look on his brother’s face and knew if he didn’t get the fuck outnow,it was going to be a blood bath.
It took all his willpower to turn and run, blowing past the door he’d left open in his wake. He kept running full force until he was deeply shrouded in the forest and then kept running after that. If he slowed down or gave his tiger any time to think, there was a damn good chance he’d lose control entirely.
He didn’t know what had come over him lately, but he knew it had to do with Ella.
It was always Ella.
Fucking Ella.
Chapter 8
Ella
Ella shifted the moment she reached the doorstep and tore into the forest after Axel. As quick as her cat was, it was no match for the speed of the massive tiger.
Everything had happened so fast and she hadn’t even had time to process any of it. She just knew she had to find him. As furious as she still was, and as satisfying as it had been to turn the tables on him for once, she couldn’t help it. It was instinct, something deeper than her emotions or all their petty conflicts. Deeper even than the scars he’d left on her heart, that only he could ever heal.
The more she ran, the further her human mind drifted from her body. She felt another change coming over her, but it made no sense. She wasn’t sure she could shift back into her human form even if she wanted to, yet she felt the familiar pull of being drawn into transformation. Into becoming.
Becomingwhatwas the pressing question.
She pushed it aside the moment she caught a glimpse of fiery fur up ahead. She knew she had only caught up to him because his path must have already looped around, but she didn’t care.
Axel!she cried telepathically.
The thunderous sound of his paws on the forest floor ceased for a moment, and when Ella heard the furious snarl that followed, it seemed to shake through every cell in her body. She pushed aside the fear making her fur stand on end and continued forward until she saw the beast, his muscles rigid as he crouched, ready to lunge.
She realized how absurd the scene would look to anyone who might have seen it. A scrap of black fur not much larger than a kitten facing down a giant, snarling tiger whose eyes were glowing with possessive rage. She kept moving nonetheless, ignoring his growl of protest as he sprang back, as if afraid of what he wanted to do to her.
She knew it would take nothing more than a sweep of his paw, as big as her entire body, to end her, but she walked up to him and the tiger startled, sinking back to a sitting position. His tail lashed as he looked down at her in dismay.
Ella seized on the opportunity and rubbed her cheek against his sturdy leg. He went stiff, trembling with raw power contained by necessity, as the small cat wound around his leg.
Have you lost your fucking mind?he growled to her.
I’m not the one who turned into a tiger in the middle of the kitchen.
He blew a puff of air through his nose that ruffled her fur. Ella was still human enough to resent the purr building in her chest. She’d hoped there would be no real consequences of marking him, but her feline side seemed to think they were mates now and didn’t see the size difference as a deadly issue.
Axel finally shifted back and Ella followed suit. If she had to, it would be easier to get away from him as a cat, but she knew deep down he wasn’t going to hurt her, as pissed off as he was.
His eyes were still blazing with indignation as he kneeled in front of her. She resisted the instinctive urge to look over his naked body and folded her arms over her chest to cover hers at least somewhat.
“I could’ve killed you.”
“No, you couldn’t,” she answered with certainty that surprised even her.
Axel didn’t seem to know how to answer. He looked away with a grunt of irritation. “So are you really into my brother, or did you just do that to get at me?”
“The latter,” she admitted. “Did it work?”
