by River Ramsey
Ella’s rescuer moved so quickly that she almost didn’t recognize him. Then he came toe-to-toe with Marissa and she decided maybe she really was hallucinating after all.
“Axel?” Marissa cried in disbelief.
“What the fuck are you doing to her?” Axel snarled, pinning her against the stall. Ella had never seen him use force against a queen, but she’d never seen that wild look in his eyes either. A combination of rage and something else she didn’t even have a word for.
“Get your hands off me,” Marissa spat, shoving hard into his chest. It didn’t move him in the slightest, but he’d already turned his attention to Ella, lowering himself to his knees to grab her.
“Ella,” he cried, sounding genuinely concerned as he took her face between his hands and looked her over. Now she knew she was hallucinating. “Look at me. Hey. Can you breathe?”
She could barely stay upright, let alone answer him, but she was too stunned to do so even if she’d had the voice.
“I can’t believe you’re still wasting your time on this whore,” Marissa cried. “Did you ever even love me?”
The others had retreated to the door, obviously wary of Axel’s outburst. Ella could understand why. She could feel his energy in the air, frigid and chaotic, and it bled through his skin wherever he touched her, leaving hers even more frozen. His hands were still on her shoulders as he turned to Marissa, his gaze darkening with such murderous intent that the other queen took a step back.
“No,” he answered, his voice steady and chilled, yet somehow far more menacing for the element of control that had yet to rein in his wild energy. Ella was no longer sure if her inability to take a full breath was due to almost drowning, or shock. “I didn’t. And if you or any of your harpy bitches lays a finger on her again, you’re gonna find out just how little you fucking mean to me.”
The expression on Marissa’s face was one of total and complete devastation. Ella knew it well. It was the look of someone who’d made the mistake of falling in love with a man who could only ever love a woman for her utility to him, and turn on her just as quickly when she was no longer of use.
If she hadn’t just tried to murder her, Ella might have even pitied her, but they were far beyond that now.
Marissa seemed frozen for a few seconds before she turned her contempt upon Ella once more. She turned and stalked out of the restroom with the others close on her heels, but Ella knew things were far from settled between them. Just because she wasn’t willing to finish it in front of Axel didn’t mean it was over.
“Are you alright?” he asked, his voice rough and demanding as he turned back to her.
Ella pushed away from him, somehow managing to get back on her feet. “Do I look alright?” she spat. The force of her words surprised her, and judging from the look on his face, it surprised him too. “You did this. This is your fault!”
“What the hell are you talking about?” he asked, sounding more confused than angry. Maybe he was just too shocked anyone, let alone her, had the gall to yell at him to respond properly. “That bitch would’ve drowned you if I hadn’t come in.”
“I know that!” she hissed, staggering out of the open stall. She barely caught herself against the sink, her head spinning anew. “You’re the reason she hates me. You couldn’t use her, so you decide I’m your next toy to play with and break, like you haven’t been keeping me on the dusty shelf in the back of your closet our whole lives.”
For a moment, he just stared at her as if she’d lost her mind, and given the fact that she was still speaking, Ella knew there was a chance he was right. She just couldn’t bring herself to stop. Like that day in the hall, once the words were out, they just kept coming, and there was so much she still had to say to him. So many years of bottled up emotions and frustrations all coming to a head, whether she wanted them to or not.
“Ella…”
“No. You’re done talking,” she said, finding her voice as she straightened up even though just standing felt like it took enough effort. “You’ve been harassing me nonstop these last couple of days to talk, so now you’re going to listen.”
He said nothing, even though a familiar glimmer of anger came into his gaze. She didn’t know if he was just humoring her because she’d come seconds away from death for the second time in a matter of weeks, but she wasn’t going to let the opportunity slip away when she finally had enough adrenaline coursing through her veins to tell him how she really felt.
“I spent most of my life in your shadow. Waiting on you, living for you, wanting you,” she said, feeling as if someone else was speaking the words and she was just along for the ride. “You never gave a damn about me then. You treated me the same as every human servant you think isn’t good enough to breathe your air--no, worse. You made it perfectly clear that you hated me. That I never belonged in your perfect world, and everything I touched was less just for coming into contact with me.”
He made no attempt to argue or defend himself. Then again, she was only stating the truth that was as obvious to every member of the Hill family as it was to her.
“Despite all that, you knew how I felt about you. You’ve always known.” Her voice broke from anger rather than the fear she so often felt in his presence. There was no room for it now. Something had woken up inside of her and there was no putting it back to sleep. “You knew and you took pleasure in rubbing Marissa and all your other conquests in my face. You loved every fucking minute of it.”
“And what if I did?” he growled. He hadn’t spoken in so long that she’d almost forgotten what his voice sounded like when it wasn’t full of rage. His condescension was so much worse. “Like you’re any better, dangling yourself in front of me like a toy on a string.”
Her nails dug into her palms so hard she scented blood in the air. Nothing he was saying made any sense, but it fueled the fire in her chest nonetheless. “You’re sick, you know that? I used to think you were just a typical rich, spoiled tom, but there was some part of you buried deep inside that still felt. That was human. Now I know the truth.”
“And that is?” he challenged, taking a menacing step toward her.
A day ago--hell, even an hour ago--she would have backed up. It was an intimidation tactic, and it would have been successful, but not now. Instead, she took a step forward and relished the disbelief on his smug, perfect, ugly, beautiful face.
“You’re empty,” she answered, her voice quivering from all the years it had been trapped inside her throat. Now that it was free, she was too afraid of it to be afraid of him. “I should’ve known that day at your father’s funeral, it wasn’t just an act. It wasn’t just you trying to be cool and pretend like you don’t care about anyone but yourself. It was just you showing the world who you really are. There’s nothing inside of you that loves or hurts or feels, nothing that’s human.”
Heat flared within his gaze and for a split second, she was sure he was going to hit her. It was a day of firsts, and why should he be any exception? She wasn’t afraid of the physical force, even though she probably should have been. All she could feel was sadness as the final flicker of hope for him died in her chest like a smothered flame.
Instead, he grabbed her arm with equal force and pulled her against his chest, crushing his lips against hers. Ella’s body froze at first, but the moment she gave up fighting him, she realized she was returning it with equal passion. Equal hatred. The kiss was more of a blow than any first could have been, and she wanted to kill him as much as she wanted to continue it. When he pushed her back up against the wall, the breath rushed from her lungs and he claimed her lips again before she could catch it.
He hands closed around her wrists and pinned them to the wall on either side of her, leaving indentations that would be bruises by morning. Heat flared in her core, anger melding with far more dangerous emotions as her lips parted to receive his lashing tongue. The moment it dipped back into his mouth, she took his bottom lip between her teeth and bit hard enough to draw blood, ho
t and salty on her tongue.
An animalistic snarl tore from his throat and he pushed even harder into the wall as his knee slipped between her open thighs.
It was all happening too fast, the energy between them too frenetic to slow down. The momentum was carrying them both away, and while Ella knew the final destination could only be mutual destruction, she couldn’t bring herself to stop.
The door opened and the sight of the very male who’d first ignited her heat brought it to a grinding halt.
“Mr. Bryant,” she gasped, wrenching her wrists from Axel’s grasp. He turned to face the teacher who was still standing in the doorway in shock, but he still had Ella’s body trapped between his and the wall.
“Some students came and told me there was a fight going on,” Sterling said, his keen gaze darting from Ella’s to Axel’s, sizing the other male up in an instant. All softness in his demeanor disappeared, and while Ella wanted to tell him it wasn’t what it looked like, for reasons beyond her ability to understand, it was clear he already knew the truth. “Ella, are you alright? Did he hurt you?”
He was talking to her, but his gaze remained fixed on Axel. The electricity in the air was so charged now that the overhead lights dimmed and flickered.
They were going to shift, both of them, at any moment. She could feel it.
“Does it look like I’m hurting her?” Axel challenged with a self-satisfied smirk.
Ella managed to push him away, but she knew it was only because he’d allowed it. That infuriated her more than anything. She tucked a strand of damp hair behind her ear and caught enough of a glance in the mirror over the sink to know her mascara was running and she looked about as rough as she felt.
“I’m fine,” she said, hugging herself against the chill that was almost unbearable, now that she didn’t have the chaotic heat of Axel’s muscular body pressed against hers to warm it.
“You’re not fine,” Axel growled, turning back to her. “That bitch almost killed you.”
“Who?” Sterling demanded, his eyes narrowing. There was murder in them, but Ella wasn’t sure if she should be relieved it was no longer directed at Axel, or more afraid of the prospect of them being on the same side.
“No one,” Ella said before Axel could say another word. She gave him a filthy look, and hoped it spoke for itself. “It was just a stupid catfight. It’s handled.”
Axel was staring at her, indecisive. She could tell he was trying to decide whether to call her bluff.
Sterling frowned, as if he clearly didn’t believe her. “It doesn’t look handled,” he said, glancing over her disheveled appearance.
“I’m fine,” she insisted, wiping the smeared makeup off her cheek with a paper towel. “I just need to get back to the dorm so I can shower and change.”
“You need to go to the infirmary,” Axel argued.
Ella shot him another seething glare that actually seemed to take him off guard. “I’m fine.”
The last thing she needed was to become the reason Queen Marissa was expelled from school, and it was a pipe dream to think someone as well-connected as she was would ever face any real consequences for what she’d done. Her father would simply wave his magic money wand and all would be forgotten.
Except for Ella’s role in it. That, she’d be paying the price for indefinitely.
She walked past Sterling and Axel before either of them could stop her and hurried down the hall, ignoring every bewildered glance she received in the process. She was cold, wet and utterly humiliated, but what else was new?
This time, however, was different. She hadn’t been the one to start the war, and she wasn’t willing to let someone else fight it on her behalf, but she was done rolling over and playing dead.
If Axel and his mother and everyone else in the pride wanted to treat her like a mangy stray, then fine. She was done fighting it. She was done trying to prove them wrong.
It was time for them all to remember that even a housecat had claws.
The End.
Continued in Book 2, Feral, out soon exclusively on Amazon!
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