Someone really needed to curtail this child’s dramatic reading material.My patience snapped.I had to make it clear that disobedience wouldn’t be tolerated.
I locked my gaze with hers.K-5 swirled dangerously within me.
Ms.Beast erupted.
Ruth tumbled backward out of her chair as I stormed around the table.I hooked a claw into the front of her t-shirt and twisted.The fabric tore, but it was enough to haul her toward me, fangs bared.
“My, what big teeth you have,” she sing-songed, her voice mocking even now.
I saw red.
My roar ripped through the room, a primal sound that silenced everything.
The terrified look on Che’s face brought me crashing back to reality.The urge to throw Ruth across the room evaporated as I realized how far I’d let my anger take me.
I was out of control.It took me a moment to regain it, but I knew the thread could break again in an instant.I leveled my gaze on Ruth.
“If you were a Shadow Warrior, I would kill you for putting lives in danger.Even after training you, you have betrayed my trust.”Finally, Ruth’s eyes showed something besides challenge, but I wasn’t sure what it was, and it sure as hell wasn’t guilt.I could take no more.“Return to your rooms,” I ordered.“You will not leave until I give the word.If you disregard my order, you will be banned from the citadel.”
Without waiting for a response, I stormed out of the armory, the weight of my failure to control my anger pressing down on me.I felt like an idiot for losing it with children.As I moved through the halls, Shadow Warriors lowered their gazes in submission.A few murmured Alpha in greeting, but I didn’t stop or acknowledge them.
My destination was the infirmary.When I arrived, I found Axel taking the blood pressure off the young Federation soldier I’d saved.She was the only prisoner among the crowded room of injured Warriors and humans.
“Where are the other prisoners?”I demanded, my loud voice cutting through the steady buzz of the infirmary.Heads turned, startled by my tone.
The young woman flinched, shrinking back against her pillow.Her thin face was pale, green eyes wide with terror.Axel shot me a testy look.“Let me finish here, and we can talk,” he said.
I turned on my heel and marched into his office, slamming the door behind me.What the heck was wrong with me?My anger was spiraling out of control, and now I wanted to bite his head off too.
It took Axel five minutes to join me.By the time he walked in, we’d both had a moment to cool down, at least a little.
“Take the table,” he said, nodding toward the examination table.“I’ll answer your questions while I remove your stitches.”
I glared at the table like it had personally offended me.So much for calming down.With a frustrated growl, I dropped onto the metal and crossed my arms.
“Something’s wrong with me,” I admitted miserably.
Axel studied my face for several seconds.“Start from the beginning?”
I sighed and recounted everything: passing out the first time after going on the minisub, the strange sensations since then, chucking up my guts, and the outburst I’d just had with Ruth and Che.
Axel listened silently, without interrupting once.When I finished, he took a breath.“You need a complete physical,” he said with no wiggle room in the words.
“Do it.”My shoulders slumped.I didn’t believe he’d find anything, but if this was the only way to move forward, I’d endure it.
He smiled gently and rolled over a tray loaded with medical supplies.My eyes narrowed at the array of instruments.“I hear you’ve been reading the women’s texts,” Axel said casually, trying to distract me as he prepared to poke and prod.
I let out a low grunt, already dreading whatever he was about to find, or not find.
“It’s her personal journal,” I muttered sourly.“Maybe it will finally give me the answers I need.”
Axel rubbed his chin thoughtfully.“This is just a theory, but I think your Beasts are in a power struggle.”
I made a dismissive sound.“Pfft, Ms.Beast doesn’t stand a chance.”
“You might think that, but I’m not so sure,” he countered.“How much control do you really have over your Nova?”
I shrugged, feeling the weight of his question pressing down on me.“I thought I was getting better at it, but during the battle, the rage was overwhelming.I lost control.Maybe that’s just how she operates.”
