Page 12 of Come Out & Prey (Apex Academy Capers #1)

Today’s classes were an absolute shitshow. Springtime is the worst time of year to be a professor in this place because once the ruts and heat cycles begin, the spoiled idiots here are a lost cause. At least, the underclassmen are, and that’s what I’m stuck teaching.

Many upperclassmen do their exchange semesters during this season, so the poor schmucks at our sister schools end up dealing with their lack of control. But here? The rich, pampered kids who have barely emerged start feeling things we haven’t properly instructed them on and it’s a goddamn nightmare. My childhood was no picnic, but at least my asshole father had people teach me how my fucking body worked after the emergence ceremony.

The ceremony is a whole different story, since it’s why I’m here teaching these numbskulls instead of ruling my ambush as I should be.

“Feeeeeelix,” a low sultry voice calling for me as I stomp across campus to the staff village where my miniature ambush lives. “Are you coming out tonight, baby?”

I don’t stop. The owner of that voice is not someone I want to be around, given my mood. She’s obviously hoping for a repeat of our occasional mutual frustration relief and it’s not going to happen. I'm sure she'll be decked out in some skimpy designer nonsense designed to barely cover her curves if I turn around. She’s extremely attractive, and she knows it; however, my poor judgment in bedding her in the past resulted in this behavior. I don’t feel self-destructive enough to encourage this today.

“Get lost, Zhenga,” I snarl over my shoulder.

Maybe that will deter her, but it’s doubtful.

Zhenga Leonidas is the eldest daughter of the famed Leonidas pride. Behavior like this is exactly why her mother had her sent to Apex and outside of trying to land one of the bigger fish in the staff pond, she’s never even tried to wriggle out of her sentence here. I think unless she finds a catch to claim her, she’s content to stay out of her family’s reach and live it up on the weekends.

“Aw, baby, don’t be like that! A bunch of us are going to party in town and we’d love for you to join us, Felix. You have the best moves of anyone here,” she coos as she catches up with me.

Snorting at her lack of subtlety, I feel my cock practically jump back inside of my body. There are plenty of connected shifters working at Apex—cast out kings, alphas, betas, rajs, rexes—I’m not the only one she’s taken a ride on. I don’t give a flying fuck how promiscuous she is, but I care that she’s an opportunist seeking to land a powerful husband to please her mother. That kind of desperation eventually leads to poking holes in condoms and faking birth control. Cubs are something I’m not remotely interested in and I sure as hell don’t want them with her.

Plus, our families pushed Zhenga and her sisters at Fitz and me from the time we were young.

The Leonidas pride is the second largest clan of cat shifters in the world, and they own majority stakes in every major sports league for preds. They’re not as feared or powerful as the Khans, though. Marrying one of us would merge our wealth and influence enough to alter the balance of the Council forever. Unfortunately for the Leonidas lioness, her daughters grew too comfortable living the famous socialite life and anyone with half a brain refused to let their heirs tie themselves to them. Zhenga’s older sister went completely off-the-rails while they were partying in Ibiza and crashed in a tunnel a few years before my exile. She died on impact and Z got sent here until she learned her lesson.

By the time they banished me from my home, she’d settled into this place like the reigning queen of the staff. You’d think my status would discourage her, but it seems to make her even more determined to land me. I made the mistake of getting with her in a few very drunken hook-ups when I first arrived, and I’ve been paying for it ever since. Nobody was shocked because I made a poor decision that resulted in me being sent here. Both Fitz and Chess threaten to punch me in balls every time she speaks to me in front of them, but that’s because Chess is usually stuck prying her off of me.

I’m such a fucking asshole I can’t even clean up my own messes.

“Zhenga, I’ve told you a thousand times and I’ll keep saying it until you get it through your thick skull.” I come to a stop at the entrance to the staff housing, whirling around to look at her with the full force of the Raj in my eyes. “I do not want a repeat performance of the idiotic choices I made when I was soaked in booze twenty-four hours a day when I arrived at this hellhole. Not here on campus, and definitely not at some sticky floored, techno blasting college club where staff pretend we aren’t geriatric compared to the intended patrons.”

Letting out an angry rumble, the lioness stalks closer to me, getting in my face as she glares. That she can hold my gaze for even a small amount of time when I’m pushing my Raj influence onto her confirms she should be the heir to the Leonidas pride rather than her spineless cousin. But even the amount of power that gives her eventually falters as I continue to press her. When she finally ducks her head, I give her a grin full of fangs before turning my back on her to walk away.

“Lie to yourself all you want, Felix, but you’ll be back. Even if you won’t give me your giant cock again, you need someone who will fight you without reservation in the ring. You can’t get rid of me that easily, you coward!”

I grit my teeth as I storm across my yard and slam into the house. She’s not wrong and I hate myself for it. It takes a moment for me to calm down long enough to realize Fitz is here and when I do; I thank the fucking stars for it. He’s not as good at calming me as Chess is, but few people are as good at soothing beasts as my twin’s consort.

However, the scent of my twin and the devotion he has to our small ambush always makes my tiger preen with approval. For a shifter born to rule, it’s difficult to be shoved into a situation without a clan of their people to care for—in fact, if Fitz and Chess hadn’t left with me, I might not have survived the first few months here.

Those two are my actual family and always will be. As much as I’d like to return home triumphantly so I can take back my rightful title and execute the traitorous assholes who suggested he banish me, I realize it wouldn’t fix me. The betrayal of my consort, my parents, and the few younger siblings who hadn’t died in the ambush trials before we left won’t heal until I’m ready to forgive myself. I chose my happiness over that of my people and have been disgusted with myself ever since.

That’s how I ended up staying so sauced I fucked Zhenga a couple of times in the first few months we lived here, by the way.

“Did thirsty Z catch you on the way in, bro?” Fitz gives me an amused look as he bumps my shoulder until I follow him to the couch.

Once I join him, he rubs his cheek on mine, then lays his head on my shoulder like he has since we were kids. He knows I need it—after my disastrous affair with the lioness, I’ve denied myself physical contact with anyone not in my little family or fighting me in the ring. It kills me, but Chess and Fitz do their best to help my tiger get what it needs, so I don’t go on a fucking rampage.

Neither of them thinks I should be punishing myself for what happened, but I can’t seem to let it go. The throne at Bloodstone will always drip with the blood of both the guilty and the innocent, but Fitz and I always planned to change some of the more barbaric bullshit our great-great-great-grandparents instituted.

We were waiting for me to inherit the crown so we could get rid of things like the ambush trials, the emergence ceremony, and the punishment hunts. Those things impacted all three of us as cubs, including Chess, and we wanted better for our people. Our tigers are bloodthirsty and occasionally cruel, but the generations before us devolved into savagery and it needs to change.

But it never will now that we’re stuck here for the rest of our lives and that’s why I deserve to suffer.

“Yes, she did.” I rub my cheek on the top of his head, wanting to replace the scent of the lioness with my twin’s spicy juniper berry and ginger smell that’s laced with hints of vetiver and sandalwood I know is from Chess. “Did you defile Aubrey’s library again, Fitzy?”

He grins against my shoulder, shrugging a little. “It’s the most private place on campus.”

Groaning, I flop my head back on the couch. “Unlike our fucking house? One of these times, I’m going to let that grumpy bastard crisp you simply because you ask for it.”

“I don’t beeeelieeeeve you,” Fitz sing-songs. “But you need to have more fun, bro. Taunting Aubrey and fucking Chessie are my guilty pleasures, but you don’t have the luxury of either. You can’t rely on beating the snot out of Pred Games contenders and staff members forever. This Fall, you need to find a playmate who isn’t a psycho stalker.”

I snort, rolling my head back and forth. “Absolutely not, Fitz. Idiots like me are the crown jewels of cock in this place. We only draw the psychos because they want to use us as a ticket out.”

“Maybe a different pond? Chess and I saw this hot little number in the courtyard today and she damn near made his dick explode on Aubrey’s precious windows in the sci-fi section.” Fitz bobs his brows, completely unashamed of their antics in public or lusting after an incoming student.

“Fitz, that dragon will stomp you into the mud if you don’t quit messing with his lair. You know what happened to that wolf alpha the year after we got here. He dared to mess with the book system and Aubrey turned him into a pile of charcoal before mailing his ashes to his former pack with a dragon turd.”

My brother throws his head back and howls with laughter. “Fuck, I forgot about that. It might have been the funniest shit I’ve ever seen—old, stodgy scaly pants was so proud of himself. Rightly so, to be honest, because I would have paid good money to see the look on that fucker’s face when his prodigal son arrived as sooty dragon shit in a paper bag.”

I arch a brow at him as if to say, ‘that’s what I’m trying to tell you’.

“Don’t worry, Felix. Aubrey loves me and I gave him a little project that should keep him busy for a while. Knowing how much he loves to research things, I figure I’ve got a couple weeks before he notices Chess and I have been sneaking in again.”

That makes my entire body go tense.

“You’re my brother, so I’m going to ask as your family, not your Raj. Is this more bullshit you’re looking into because you want to help me fight the exile? You know I’ve asked you nicely to stop it.” He shrugs and gives me a wink that does not fill me with confidence. I rub a hand over my face, letting out a heavy sigh as I look at the ceiling. “Fitz, if anyone from Bloodstone finds out, you’ll get all of us killed!”

“Meh, we’ll be fine.” Fitz rubs his cheek on me again, completely unconcerned with the thought of our entire ambush’s wrath coming down on us. He’s always been the perfect representation of everything my father wanted me to be—outside of his feelings for Chess. My twin is morally flexible, unflinching at the prospect of danger, and a total psycho in battle; he’s a Khan, through and through. “The dipshit sitting in your chair wouldn’t last two minutes in the ring with either of us, even if he is our kin.”

He’s not wrong about that, either.

“But we’re here and this is our life now, Fitz. Nothing can undo some things.”

His growl is soft, but full of meaning. “Every single person who sided with our father and brother, the bitch who broke you, and the rest of the family members who did nothing will suffer at my hands for stealing what is yours, Felix. If they thought I was crazy when I was headed for the Pred Games, they have no idea what I’m capable of when I’m playing for vengeance. Blood will fill the halls and stain the tiles of that palace when I’m through.”

I want to revel in the sincerity of my twin, but I know better than to give myself even a moment of peace. I don’t deserve it, and even the smallest amount of mercy might lead to more. We can’t take on our entire family and all of their allies—I’m fully aware of that. Fitz just needs something to believe in because he doesn’t let anyone but Chess and me in, despite being one of the most social people I know. We’re all stuck in this place because of me and I can’t take away the one thing he’s holding onto.

“You didn’t let me tell you about the girl.”

I smile to myself. When Fitz pouts, he’s calm. “She must be something pretty fucking special if Chess looked up from your crotch to notice her.”

Fitz barks a laugh, looking up at me with sparkling eyes. “Fuck yeah, she was. Stacked like a brick house, curves you can hang onto, eyes like the summer sky, and long blond hair you wanna wrap around your fist like a leash. Chessie said he wants to fuck her; can you believe it?”

Holy fuck.

“He did? Are you okay with that?” I ask curiously. Fitz can be possessive, but since his consort has never shown an ounce of interest in anyone but my brother, I have no baseline for this.

“And she’s unemerged ,” he breathes like it’s a prayer.

“Fitz…” I warn, looking at him with a dark glare. “We both know how dangerous that is. Let her figure out how stupid it would be to come here without ditching that attribute on her own. Neither you nor Chess need to be within five hundred feet of an unemerged rich brat, no matter how fucking hot she is.”

“Relax, bro. Neither of us laid a finger on her, but looking at her made me hard enough to cut the fucking window glass.”

He winks, and I roll my eyes. That had to be fun for Chess to deal with. Luckily for him, shifters heal quickly and Fitz might be rough, but he treats his consort like he’s the prince instead of us. “You didn’t answer me.”

“Ugh, Felix, you’re like a dog with a bone instead of a tiger.” He grumbles and socks my thigh before continuing. “I told Chess I’d fucking love to make kitty sandwiches with whatever animal that girl turns out to be. I couldn’t get a bead on it in the library, but then my lovely pin-up girl showed up in the gym during my afternoon workout. She joined a group of bobbleheaded twits babbling about being DTF at college parties and I got too distracted to suss it out. I’d guess she’s from one of the Council lines after seeing her friends.”

DTF? What in the hell does… oh.

That makes me feel positively ancient and I glare at my trend hopping twin for making me feel every single one of my thirty-six years with one off-hand phrase. “So what? I’m sure they’re hoping to snag a rich asshole for a mate before they even have to waste their time on studying next year.”

“Stop thinking about that salty lioness. I feel you tensing up,” Fitz says as he rumbles next to me. “My point was that this sweet treat didn’t seem comfortable with their mouthy shit. She might hold out for something real, if you can believe it. She obviously didn’t know her friends are emerged; they were lying to her.”

I squint at him. Does this actually bother him? Did playboy Fitz Khan’s heart grow two sizes today? Pursing my lips, I suppress a grin. “I feel you want more from this girl than a simple fuck fest.”

Fitz snorts and shakes his head. “Never, bro. Chess is the only permanent figure in this dick’s future, but I’ll happily swizzle about when I get the chance.”

We’ll see about that, little brother. We’ll see.