Queen (Cats of Felidae Academy #4) - River Ramsey Page 0,5

time she had called her name.

“Yeah, sorry, what did you say?” Ella asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. Axel gave her a worried look.

Avery huffed. “I was saying the coronation is only a couple of weeks away, and you still haven’t even found a gown.”

“I would assume they have something picked out already,” said Ella. She had already been warned by Sterling that once she was officially Empress, her life was going to be even more heavily monitored. She wasn’t even wearing the crown yet, and it already felt heavy on her head.

“Huh,” Avery said thoughtfully. “I guess you’re right. Hopefully it comes in a maternity version. You’re not getting any smaller.”

Ella gave her a look, but before she could respond, something caught her eye further down the hall. It was almost time for the bell to ring, but there was a cluster of students packed in by the side doors leading out onto the campus.

Ella’s heart thundered in her chest as she heard Bishop’s name being whispered. She walked forward, feeling drawn automatically rather than in conscious control of her body.

She pushed her way through the crowd, ignoring the fact that Axel was calling her name. She couldn’t have turned back if she wanted. It was as if some magnetic force was pulling her forward--the same force she had felt in Bishop’s presence ever since he had marked her. The mark itself made the separation even more painful, and she couldn’t help but wonder if he felt it at all. She couldn’t imagine he did, or he at least would’ve called.

When she saw him through a break in the crowd, looking as debonair and calm as ever, time seemed to stand still. No matter how upset she was, or how hurt, her instinctive reaction was always to feel a surge of love and longing when she looked at the tom. It was soon followed by the hurt that had plagued her ever since his absence, not to mention concern.

He didn’t look physically harmed, at least. His uniform was perfectly pressed, and he strode into the Academy like it was just any other day. He didn’t even seem to notice the sea of students parting on either side of him.

When his eyes locked on Ella’s, she froze like stone. He was looking right at her, and walking toward her. Before he could reach her, Axel was by her side even though Avery seemed to have slipped off into the crowd.

“Ella,” Bishop said in a cold but not unpleasant tone, nodding to her like they were just acquaintances rather than mates. “Axel.”

“That better be a shitty beginning to one hell of a speech explaining where the fuck you’ve been this last couple of months,” Axel said, his voice laced with rage. They had always hated each other, and Ella knew they were never more than a stray comment away from another fight, but she had never actually seen Axel look at him that way before. Not even when they were both fighting in their shifted forms.

Bishop’s expression didn’t change. He remained cool and collected, his gaze drifting from Axel to Ella. She felt as exposed as she had the night of the formal, her intimate secrets playing on a speaker for the entire school to hear.

“I was with the search party,” he answered. It seemed like a rehearsed answer, and not one he had put a lot of time into practicing. That was probably the part that hurt the most.

“Bullshit,” Axel growled. “I looked. They said no one had seen you since the night of the formal.”

Ella stared at him in disbelief. He’d gone looking for Bishop? He hadn’t told her anything about that. On the one hand, she was annoyed he had kept it from her, but on the other, knowing he had actually gone out looking for his romantic rival when he was clearly happier without Bishop in the equation was touching. He was full of surprises lately.

Unfortunately, so was Bishop.

“You never even called,” Ella said, her voice nearly too tight to speak. “I didn’t know if you were alright, or if something had happened to you, too.”

Bishop didn’t answer immediately. The other students had gone back to at least pretending like they weren’t listening. Ella knew they’d heard enough, but what did it matter? It was plain enough for anyone to see that he’d abandoned her without a second thought. Admitting as much was just a formality.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said in a tone of