There was a dead silence the moment Ava walked into the Arena. She couldn’t stop her cheeks from heating up as she kept her head down and walked quickly towards her section. It didn’t help matters that Zeke was right behind her with his Alpha and Beta. They had separated at the door the other times, but now they seemed to follow her to the bleachers.Were they making a statement of sorts? Did it not worry them that they looked like they were breaking the rules by giving an Omega preferential treatment? That their Alpha looked like he was cavorting with a human? She would get so much hate from the other Omegas for this.And, most importantly, someone would tell the Council about this. If they had their spies here, as Mr Patrick said, then she had failed miserably to stay off their radar. What exactly were they looking for? Evidence that they had killed Claire and her friends? Was the end game to take their lives like they had taken the other wolves’ lives? Mr Patrick had been too crypt
The woods were scary, but she had to be brave. It was long past her bedtime, so it was dark. She had been fast asleep in the back of the car when she woke up to the loud bang. Then she saw them. The monsters.The monsters standing over her father’s body.She did what her father had taught her to do in this situation. She quietly slipped out of the car and started running.“Hey! Someone’s seen us!”It didn’t take long for the loud footsteps to follow her through the trees. The darkness and shadows cast by the full moon looked like predators ready to pounce on her, but she couldn’t close her eyes to make them go away. She had to survive. She tried to stay quiet as her dad had taught her. Step lightly. Change direction. Try not to leave too many tracks. But their long strides were fast and quickly catching up to her little ones. The forest was eerily quiet. All she could hear was her thundering heartbeat, harsh breaths, and the monsters behind her. It was like everything in the forest a
Ava tried to suppress the dread filling her as she sat in the back of the taxi, but she knew she was failing miserably. The taxi driver was some sort of supernatural, so he could probably sense everything. She knew that not because she had suddenly developed any enhanced senses overnight but because they were the only ones allowed to ferry the new students from the airport. Phoenix Academy was in some super-secret location that humans were not allowed to enter. She almost snorted at that. If that was true, they should never have insisted on her attendance. She should have been allowed to go to a regular college like any other nineteen-year-old human who’d survive the torture of high school. But no, she had to attend this place with all sorts of supernatural species who could kill her without a second thought if it wasn’t for the fact that it was forbidden.There were several branches of this academy all over the world to accommodate all of them, and she still didn’t know which one sh
Zeke Michelson buttoned up his shirt and tried to tune out Claire’s voice in the background. He didn’t give a shit about whatever she was complaining about. They had only been here a few hours, so only the Moon Goddess knew how she had found so much to complain about in the first place.He put his tie on and straightened it before he ran a hand through his still-damp hair.“Are you even listening to me, Zeke?” Claire whined.“No,” he answered as he turned to pick his blazer up. He held her gaze, daring her to complain about that. But Claire lowered her eyes and kept her mouth shut. Her blonde hair fell over her face as she sat naked on her bed. For a moment, he considered rejoining her because the woman knew how to use her body to please him. But she was already too clingy; he didn’t want to give her any more ideas.He left her room without a word, ignoring the shocked looks he got from the female residents of this dorm. But none of them would dare to report him. He was the future Al
When it was her turn, Ava finally lifted her head and looked towards the indicated room. She took a deep breath before grabbing the handle of her case and wheeling it behind her.A woman was seated behind a large desk when she let herself in. She didn’t even look up when Ava closed the door and left the bags just inside. The woman was typing something on her computer, and Ava took the opportunity to study her.Because she looked a little older than most supernaturals, Ava couldn’t tell what she was or if she was supernatural at all. She didn’t have the pale skin the vampires did, so she ruled that out. She dressed elegantly, and her greying hair was in a professional bun on top of her head. The name badge on the desk said, ‘Mrs. Benton, Student Welfare Coordinator.’Ava stood nervously in front of the desk, unsure if she was to just sit or be polite and wait for an invitation. With nothing in her hands now, she could only wring them together while waiting for Mrs. Benton’s attention.
Zeke looked at the offerings set out for the buffet with disappointment. Though all of it was quality food, as was expected at this academy, considering the amount of money most of them had to pay to be here, none of it smelled as amazing as whatever had been prepared earlier.“Have you changed your mind?” Derek asked as he loaded a plate full of food.Sighing, he picked up a plate and put something on it without paying much attention to what it was. He seemed to have lost his appetite without the delicious offering he had been looking forward to. When he picked up a bottle of water as well, he looked over at his usual table and saw Myles already sitting there with a group of girls—Claire’s group of friends. The three girls went everywhere together and always forced their company on them, as if Claire was trying to pair up her friends with his, too. They turned up at every single place they went—like magic. The girls never ate in the cafeteria, so he could only guess that somebody ha
Ava woke up with a start and looked around the dark room. She felt disoriented until she remembered the nightmare that had become her life.There was a lamp on the table next to her bed, so she felt her way in the dark and put it on. When she looked around, she realised she was still alone. It looked like her dorm mates hadn’t arrived yet, which was weird. She was sure they said everyone needed to be on the premises by three in the afternoon, and it was long past that now. There were three other beds in this room, each with a side table on one side and a desk and chair on the other. On her desk was a laptop and what looked like a tablet. Those had to be the electronics she had been told about by Mrs Benton. Then, separating each space were big wardrobes. On the other end was the kitchen area, which didn’t look like much at all. Just a counter with a microwave on it, a small fridge under it, and a small sink to the side. There was a small table and two chairs in front of it. She woul
Zeke shifted in the woods behind Jared’s house and snarled with frustration. What he wanted... What he needed was on that dick’s property. The scent was so strong here that Shadow was going crazy trying to cross the boundary.He usually had a tighter grip on his wolf than this, so it occurred to him for a second that maybe he needed to worry. It had taken years of work to get that unstable beast under control.But that scent... He was with Shadow on this. They had to find it.So he jogged back to his house and entered through the back doors. Myles and Derek were in the lounge with a group of girls who were definitely not wolves. He ignored their questioning looks when he strode past them naked. He didn’t give a shit that his junk was swinging all over the place in front of strangers. Other wolves wouldn’t have cared, but he felt the girls eyeing him as if he were their next meal. Derek found him as he was putting a shirt on.“Are we going somewhere?” he asked. “Just me.”He didn’t wa
There was a dead silence the moment Ava walked into the Arena. She couldn’t stop her cheeks from heating up as she kept her head down and walked quickly towards her section. It didn’t help matters that Zeke was right behind her with his Alpha and Beta. They had separated at the door the other times, but now they seemed to follow her to the bleachers.Were they making a statement of sorts? Did it not worry them that they looked like they were breaking the rules by giving an Omega preferential treatment? That their Alpha looked like he was cavorting with a human? She would get so much hate from the other Omegas for this.And, most importantly, someone would tell the Council about this. If they had their spies here, as Mr Patrick said, then she had failed miserably to stay off their radar. What exactly were they looking for? Evidence that they had killed Claire and her friends? Was the end game to take their lives like they had taken the other wolves’ lives? Mr Patrick had been too crypt
He was coming for her. He would finish what he started. Ava didn’t know how she knew this, but it was like her whole body was waiting for Zeke, and that terrified her. She had no idea what had just happened in the arena. The moment she saw Emily walking to the ring, she felt like a different person. She felt so strong as she finally did what she had wanted to do since her former friend turned on her. And then she turned around and saw Zeke’s glowing eyes. She was instantly lost.Her first instinct had been to run, and just like that, the hunter had become the hunted. But she’d only exited the arena when she realised it was pointless. Then everything became a blur after that. She had been so crippled with need that she would have let him do anything. She would have so readily become his plaything.He was an Alpha, for goddess’ sake! The future Alpha of the largest pack in the country. Claire had been right about one thing—he couldn’t be with her. If life with her pack had taught her
“That was a very immature thing to do. You’re not children! I will not tolerate such undignified behaviour in my academy.”Zeke only half-listened to what the dean was saying. All he could smell was Ava; all he could feel was Ava. He needed to go for a run to clear his mind before he ruined everything. Ava wasn’t ready for this. She would run a mile from him if he told her, and her running from him when they were in danger was the last thing he needed.Last night, she’d almost died from whatever foolish thing she did, but his anger evaporated during her match as if it hadn’t existed. How could he have forgotten that there was someone among them who wanted her dead? How could he have easily forgotten about Claire and the Council? It was like he’d been mindless, stripped down to his primal nature to focus on one thing only.‘...two days in Isolation, and believe me, I will find out who did it...’The Fourth-Year fire assembly point was quite a distance from the First-Year one, but he co
Zeke stood near the bleachers, unable to process what he was seeing. Ava’s emotions had morphed into something completely different the moment she had seen the Omega. He felt all her anger and disappointment as if those feelings were his own. And he felt her deadly intent.The moment she shouted at the wolf to fight her, even Shadow paid more attention to that tone. Something had washed through his body as they watched Ava expertly pummel the Omega like she was some sort of demon. She looked so incredibly sexy as she committed acts of violence not normally seen in humans. Was it wrong to feel this fire spread through his body at the sight? It felt like his body was no longer his own as he walked to stand outside her ring.Every move she made wasn’t wasted, and it looked so effortless. Ava maintained control so easily that she would put most of the people at the Academy to shame. Her focus was entirely on the Omega. She fought as if she was made for it, as if she was some sort of warri
Ava stayed in the bleachers for all the matches for the beginners to complete. She was just being a coward. Between his matches, Zeke had paced up and down the whole arena, and every time he stopped at the beginners’ section, his eyes burned through her. She’d kept her eyes down even though she was obviously frustrating him. If other people hadn’t heard the rumours about them by now, she was sure his behaviour had made them aware. He was scaring the shit out of everyone. But it was okay. She wasn’t going to be at the arena much longer. She’d won some matches already but would tap out on the next one to avoid winning a spot in the top ten. This day wouldn’t end like the last one.Predictably, the coach called her name first. She ignored Zeke as she went to pick a weapon and chose a very small chain. It could still be deadly in the right hands, but she didn’t want anything that would intimidate her opponent. They’d all been wary of her already during the earlier matches. She hoped t
Zeke stood near the bleachers in his section, his eyes trained on Ava. She looked fearsome with that deadly weapon in her hand and her face devoid of emotion as she waited to cut her opponent down.He would have been very impressed if he hadn’t been so angry with her. Ava looked very confident with weapons in her hands. But as it stood, he wanted to fucking throttle her.Gideon told him that the vampire yielding had not been his doing. The prince claimed to have been just as surprised as everyone else. And, of course, he couldn’t rip that vampire apart because he had taken himself straight to Isolation the moment he had yielded. He would not be able to interrogate him until the end of the day.He still had the vial of Gideon’s blood in his bag, so Ava had not taken that before her last match; she’d had something else. She could have died last night! Who had given it to her? Who did he need to rip apart with his bare hands? She was keeping too many secrets; he and Shadow didn’t like it
Ava slept in her own room and silently made her way downstairs before Zeke woke up. The Omegas were the only ones awake when she went into the kitchen to grab a piece of fruit. She would have breakfast in the dining hall before going to the arena for the second day.The Omegas were just standing around, and the moment she walked in, they tensed and looked down.“What are you doing?” she asked with a frown, keeping her voice to a whisper so she wouldn’t wake anyone up. And why were they lowering their eyes?“Alpha Ezekiel keeps ordering us not to cook, but we have to. We don’t know what we should do,” one of the Omegas said. Samantha, if she remembered correctly. This Omega was usually the one bold enough to answer Ezekiel.“I would do what he says. Prepare your own food and then go to train and get ready for today, or whatever. I won’t say anything,” she said, reaching for a banana. She ate it quickly before grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge and putting it in her bag. The p
The infirmary. Ava had missed it. As she slowly blinked the sleep out of her eyes, she heard the beeping of the machines and realised she was hooked up to some IVs. The curtains were drawn around her bed, so she knew she wasn’t in a private room this time. She could hear faint moaning from one side of her. It made her wonder what had happened to that poor student for them to be in that much pain because all the students healed quickly, and the Infirmary had their fancy potions to help them.She gingerly lifted herself onto her elbows and looked around, trying to judge the time. The dim lights were on, so it was nighttime, but whether it was still the same day was up for debate. She hoped so. This would be a brilliant time to be unconscious for days so she wouldn’t have to participate in the rest of the evaluation.There was a slight commotion somewhere in the ward, and a female voice saying, “We told you to come back during visiting hours. There are too many patients tonight; you can
“Can we even do that? Can we yield?” Ava asked again as she paced Zeke’s dressing room floor.Her anxiety levels were through the roof, and she didn’t think even Zeke could get her out of this.What the hell was happening today? She'd expected her day to be over by now. She’d expected to be recovering in the infirmary by now or Zeke’s bed, where she usually woke up after something like this. But here she was, about to fight expert fighters—Zeke’s equals who were probably as ruthless as he was.“It’s against the rules. You invalidate all your progress for the term and get a day in Isolation,” Zeke said quietly. She whirled around to face him, horror filling every part of her. Even Jared warned her about Isolation and how it broke someone. Zeke seemed to have come out unscathed, but she knew how much pain he had been in. How could someone like her survive that? And why would anyone do that to themselves on purpose?“Is that vampire crazy? Does he have a history of doing such messed up