Page 25

Felix

This is the day I’ve been dreading for the past week.

Apex requires me to put the students in the ring to test their base fighting skill set and control over their shifts, so that I can develop my plans for all incoming freshmen accordingly. Henrietta implemented that rule shortly after I arrived because I started my lessons with Bloodstone style free-for-alls.

Unfortunately, these pampered fools couldn’t hack it and it flooded the infirmary with near fatal injuries. My hand got slapped and the ‘Khan test’ was born. I despise having to coddle my students almost as much as I do having a preventative rule named after me.

Somewhere, my father is probably laughing his furry ass off every time one of the ambush gets sent here and the materials for guardians arrive. They highlighted the goddamn rule in the section about Shifter Basics like a Vegas billboard.

Letting out a deep, long-suffering sigh, I watch the first section of freshman tromp through the grass in completely ridiculous attire. I warned them we would be out here and this would be a physical activity, yet many of the females wore designer bullshit and heels. Likewise, their male counterparts are clad in expensive preppy shit that’s going to get absolutely wrecked in the ring.

What about physical activity said ‘ditch your uniforms, but don’t wear gym clothes?’ Fucking ridiculous.

“This is torture, Professor. My vintage heels are getting ruined!”

Tension spirals up my spine at the whiny, high-pitched voice of a random member of Delores’ bully club. I still can’t tell them apart—which I know is by design—so I refer to them by their colors in my head. Out loud, I usually find the name of a random dog character since they’re all canines. My tiger enjoys their twisted expressions of distaste when I do it and I know the one student I can’t help but focus on does as well.

“Perhaps when your professor advises there will be physical activity, you’ll make better choices in the future,” I reply as I trudge toward the round ring. “Regardless, that’s a ‘you’ problem, Muttley.”

“Such an asshole,” one of her compatriots mutters in a tone meant to be heard by everyone, including me.

My tiger rears his head, demanding I show her the penalty for insulting a Khan, especially the rightful Raj. I squeeze my hands into fists, letting the claw tips cut my palms to distract me. I could get away with killing Council heirs—my family is too powerful to make enemies and those rich dipshits need us to take their rotten apples—but the amount of red tape and paperwork involved makes my dick shrivel.

Instead of letting the bitchy little shits get to me, I stomp into the middle of the ring, looking at everyone as they pile into the stone bleachers like the king I am. “Welcome to the Khan Ambush Training Ring, losers. In class I’m the last word, but in this ring, I am your king.”

That gets their attention and more than a few uncomfortable looks. I can see the need to correct me crawling over some of the more entitled students, especially the bully group. When my eyes land on the one student I truly want to test, she jerks her chin up and gives me a level stare. Unsurprisingly, she’s the only fucking person dressed for the occasion.

Of course, the curves and skin displayed in the tight sports bra, leggings with peek-a-boo panels and matching shoes don’t help with my inability to keep my damn eyes off her. It’ll be worse when she’s fighting, given that she wrapped her hands in matching colored tape, I’d bet my throne this ensemble is courtesy of my meddling twin.

I’m giving that fucker a piece of my mind tonight.

“Today, we will focus on sparring in humanoid forms. I can’t trust most of you to can fight after your shift, plus there are some that will require special locations, such as the lake, to show me their animals. This lesson doubles as a test of what physical abilities you have—both innate and trained—so I can make an individual plan for each one of you for your tenure at Apex. That plan will be adjusted if your progress speeds up or slows for any reason.”

“I know kung-fu,” the same smart mouthed gold bow girl blurts out. “My Daddy hired a master panda to come train me.”

I arch a brow, refraining from commenting that she wants us to believe a… kung-fu panda has trained her. Once I keep from laughing at the stupidity, I give her an unimpressed look. “Be that as it may, I will pair you up with another student to assess your skills. I have a female professor with fighting experience coming to assist because it’s well known that I make no exceptions for gender in my tests.”

That’s when Zhenga rolls up and I almost lose my shit again. Her fighting gear is just as skimpy as the girl in the back row, but unlike Barbie, I want nothing to do with touching her exposed skin. The lioness is gorgeous and built like a brick house—I just have no interest in her. The males in my class, however, look like they’re about to jizz all over themselves.

Better put a stop to that before Z does—she’s not very subtle, either.

“Get your shit together,” I roar at the boys, making googly eyes at her. “This is Professor Zhenga, and she teaches… well, you’ll find that out next semester depending on what your family has told you about our biology. Her other skill set is being a top competitor in the female Pred Games. She will gladly chop your cock off and feed it to the sharks in the lake if you get fresh with her.”

Zhenga’s laugh is sultry and I notice Barbie making a sour face as she listens. “Felix is correct. If they have not forced you to control your baser instincts in your cushy home lives, you will learn to behave at Apex. There are many places you will get away with acting like spoiled twats, but this ring isn’t one of them.”

Her words cause a buzz of conversations in the stands, and I roll my eyes. I’m sure they’re all contemplating calling their parents or fucking lawyers, but it won’t help them. This is a required program and if they don’t complete it, their asses get booted from the Academy. No parent will want their darlings labeled as drop-outs from the premier pred school in the country. Each one of them will find that out eventually, but not right now.

“Enough!” I reach down and tug my shirt off, tossing it aside as I back away from the lioness. “We will demonstrate first, then call on pairs of you until we’re done.”

That almost gets a purr out of Zhenga and she mutters something about the last time we got naked together that makes me shoot her a dirty look. It earns me a pout, but she drops into position anyway, nodding when she’s ready to begin. “At your word, Raj.”

Her words draw another gasp out of the crowd and I roll my eyes. “Only the basics, Z. No shifting, no funny business. This is not a staff event.”

“As long as I get to wrestle with you, I’m game,” she replies tauntingly. Before I can correct her on her bullshit again, she darts forward with the speed of her animal.

I’ve fought Zhenga enough times to know her strength is in her speed and willingness to play dirty. She’s aiming for my knees, so I allow her to get close before I pivot out of her path. Her forward momentum works against her and she can’t stop quickly enough to veer off her path. With a wink at the crowd, I dance backwards as she charges past. I wait for her to wheel around, springing forward to knock her off balance. Once she’s on the ground, I use my body weight to pin her in place.

Normally, she’d fight her way free, but that would entail much more violence than I’ve asked her to display. She purrs as she looks up at me, clearly enjoying her position under me despite my repeated warnings.

My ears catch a tiny growl in the air and when I lift my eyes to find it, I’m surprised to see Barbie sitting so rigidly you’d think she was about to lift off. Her fists are clenched on her lap and a dark expression is playing about her features.

Is she… jealous?

The thought makes my tiger rumble in pleasure, and Zhenga gives me a sultry smile. Blinking, I give her a stern look, lifting off her body to dust myself off. I could have shown them more captive positions, but I’m not interested in giving her the wrong idea if Barbie’s ire arouses my beast more.

Which it shouldn’t, but fuck me if it’s not.

I can feel the weight of her stare as Zhenga rises from the ground and tilts her head at my students.

“I allowed Felix to pin me so you might see how a fight should end—domination. When we fight with no limits, there is more blood, more ferocity, and it takes far longer because we are close to evenly matched.” A snarl rips from me, and she gives me a suspicious look before adding, “His tiger takes umbrage to my claim and since his lineage trumps mine, I will yield.”

She drops to her knees, head bowed, and I sigh in irritation. It calms my cat, but I’m not fond of overt displays like this in public. “Get up, Zhenga. No need for this shit.”

“But I love being on my knees for you,” she says with a mischievous expression. The growl sounds again and her grin gets bigger as she gets up, looking for its source. “However, it sounds like there’s another person eager to jump in the ring. Perhaps we should allow her to have her turn?”

Barbie’s eyes go wide and a look of fear comes over her. “With… one of you?”

Zhenga laughs and I shake my head. It’s clear she’s not even certain which one of us she’d be more terrified to take on—though, obviously for different reasons. “No, Barbie. With one of the other students. I’m feeling generous, so I’ll even let you pick which one.”

Her gaze narrows as she stands, putting her hands on her hips. I don’t know why I thought she’d back down or cower; the girl has stood her ground every time I’m around. She finally points at the head bully with the gold bow, her lips curving as she looks to me for approval.

Fucking hell. Bravery looks as good on her as everything else.

The snooty Heather stands, tottering a little on the sky high heels she foolishly wore to class. Kicking them off, she watches as one of the idiotic hyenas picks them up and flips her hair over her shoulder. “DD, you’ll never learn your place. Just like before and until the day you die… I’ll make you snivel in fear and defeat in front of everyone.”

“Prom wasn’t a fair fight, E. You rarely give your enemies one and that’s why you think you’re hot shit.” A feral grin spreads over her face as she calmly walks to the stairs and makes her way to the ring. “This time, it’s just you and me. No minions, no flunkies, and no cheating.”

You could drop a pin in the dirt and hear it, as the previously quiet Barbie steps into the center of the ring and turns to face the crowd with her arms spread in ‘come at me, bro’ position. An acrid scent fills my nostrils and I realize its fear radiating off Gold Bow as she stares at her opponent.

“I don’t have to do this, right? I’m not even dressed for it, Professor. And if I get hurt?—”

Zhenga smirks, cutting her off. “That’s your fault, honey. I know Felix didn’t bring fresh meat to the pit without telling them to be prepared. It’s not his style. If you didn’t listen, that’s on you.”

“Agreed,” I respond with a satisfied grin. “I offered to let Barbie pick, and you made yourself a target by acting like a fucking fool at every turn last week. Let it be a lesson for all of you—if you wave a flag at a bull, you eventually get the horns.”

Barbie holds her hand out, crooking a finger at the griping dog. “Afraid a wittle bunny is going to beat you, E? What would Daddy say then? Gosh, I can’t imagine!”

Ouch. She’s going for blood and we all know where that attitude came from.

The acolytes around the whiner whisper, and she rolls her eyes, finally stomping to the center of the ring with Barbie. Losing face must be more important than fear because she drops into a basic fighting stance with a small growl of annoyance. I watch as her challenger stands loosely, eyeing her from head to toe.

“Ground rules are no shifting, no eye damage, no permanent disfigurement, no crippling?—”

I don’t get to finish because the adorable girl my brother loves bum rushes her bully with a speed I didn’t know she had. When her attack knocks the girl off balance, she counters with an uppercut and a swift punch in the kidneys that doubles the bleached bimbo over. Screams of fury and pain fill the air and the crowd goes wild as Z and I scramble to get out of the way.

The rage in the air makes my tiger pace and I feel Zhenga’s lion ripple over her as well. We have to watch this closely because if we’re not careful, it’s going to force a shift of every pred in the training area.

Bloodlust always does.

A leg sweeps out, catching the canine as she’s stumbling around trying to catch her breath, and the dipshit in gold hits the ground with a solid thud. Barbie leaps forward with a snarl of anger, pinning her down with her thighs as she rains punches on the prone Heather over and over. I almost step in, afraid she might kill the bitch, but suddenly, she yanks the blond ponytail hard enough to make her opponent scream. Exposing her neck as if going for the final blow, Barbie looks up at me with a dark satisfaction before turning back to her foe.

“You pretended to be my friend. You used my loyalty to keep me quiet about all the evil shit you said and did. You lied to me about everything to keep me compliant. And when I wasn’t useful anymore, when you’d drained every ounce of narcissistic supply you needed, you threw me to dogs to make yourself look better.”

That draws gasps from the other students and even Z looks a little sympathetic.

I, however, am having trouble keeping my dick from bursting through my goddamned pants so I can fuck the shit out of this little warrior.

“Listen up, E. Your reign of terror is over. You can come after me as much as you want; you may even knock me down a time or two. But… Every. Single. Time. I will get up and hit you back exponentially harder than you hit me. If you keep pushing me, I’ll be the one standing over your corpse in the end. Do you understand me, you two-faced moron? I. Will. End. You.”

Holy fucking Odin on a tricycle.

Z leans in and whispers in my ear softly enough that no one else will hear it. “I don’t blame you, Raj. Even I want to fuck the shit out of her now.”

My head whips around and I look at the lioness in panic as she laughs. “I…”

“Put a stop to this before the dumb whore mouths off or your girl is going to kill her,” Zhenga says drily. “Arguing with me won’t make it less true, though it explains a lot.”

Swallowing hard, I adjust myself surreptitiously and stomp into the center, tapping Barbie on the shoulder. “That’s enough. Clearly, we have a winner. Class is dismissed and I advise all of you to work on your shit, lest I make you fight the boxing bunny here next time!”

It takes another tap to get Barbie to come back to reality, and she finally rises, letting go of the bimbette on the ground. She doesn’t look at me as she walks to the stands, avoiding the other students while she grabs her things. Before she leaves, she tosses one triumphant look at me. Her lips curve in a smirk as she jogs to the edge of the ring. She’s obviously heading to the main campus and I should talk to her before she goes.

“Professor!” The gold bowed Heather is screeching as her friends try to help her up unsuccessfully. “You’ll be hearing from my parents and my attorneys. You let her purposely injure me and?—”

Sighing, I stalk back to her and get right in her rapidly bruising face. “Your parents signed paperwork stating attending Apex, particularly Shifter Basics, could cause a serious injury, up to and including death. You do what you want, Scrappy Dipshit, but I promise you won’t win the favor you think you will. Hell, if it were my father, he’d have me killed for losing. What about yours?”

That said, I grin and turn to Zhenga. “Shall we join the rest of the staff for drinks in the lounge? I feel like being one of the bourbon lunch people.”

“As you wish, Raj,” she says. This time it’s without her usual innuendo, and I give her a grateful look. “I know when I’m fighting a losing battle, Felix. Don’t act surprised.”

Well, isn’t that wonderful—Zhenga’s become a shipper.