Zeke returned to his senses the moment Ava’s pain turned off like a switch.He would have thought she was dead if he hadn’t sensed her calm, almost content emotions instead. The ring was destroyed to shreds all around him, and his body was cut up in several places where he had smashed into the magical barrier and the ring. He ignored the blood and the pain as he walked around the damage he had done. The witches were still chanting, but they were sitting down now, breathless and their heads lolling to their sides. Instead of three, there were six now, and they were slumped against each other to maintain contact instead of holding hands. They had drained themselves. It looked like they’d had to reinforce their barriers constantly.How long had he been stuck in his rage?Right beside them, the dean stood with his arms crossed, watching him. “Let me out, Alpha Russell,” he said calmly.He knew the Alpha could still sense his cold fury despite how calm he now was. It was impossible to hi
Ava laughed. She sat facing her imaginary Zeke, who had been amazing to talk to. She hadn’t been this free since arriving at Phoenix Academy, and his dry sense of humour had cracked her up for...Well, she had no idea. The sun was still up in the sky, and she knew it was all imaginary anyway, so she couldn’t use it to judge how long she had been stuck in Isolation. And even though this Zeke was imaginary, too, she couldn’t help wondering what it would be like if this was the real him. The conversation had been light and carefree. She hadn’t steered it towards what she imagined was happening to her body in that dark room or what was happening to Zeke now. A dark cloud formed quickly and blocked out the sunshine.“Focus on me, Ava.”She quickly did just that. Every time she had even the slightest thought of how terrifying her reality was, the weather in this place changed. “I wonder how I’m even here,” she mused as she watched the dark evaporate. “I’ve never seen a beach before. Our
Zeke put Ava down and took her hand to lead her out of the building. The other students gave them way, but he could sense that what they had just witnessed was something they did not welcome.But he didn’t give a shit. He was done hiding.He’d been sure Isolation would break Ava and he wouldn’t get a chance to tell her how he felt. He’d been sure her end would be the end of him. Of everyone at the academy.But there she was, exceeding his expectations again. She had saved herself from the Council’s invasive magic, which was the only reason he’d regained his sanity and not killed everyone. So maybe she had been able to keep them out of her head after all when they had questioned her.Was that the reason they were coming back? Was it Ava they wanted? They had been curious about him, but was it the human that had captured their attention more? Did they know she was the one who’d had Claire’s blood all over her?He looked back at her as they walked down the steps. She looked pale and tir
Ava had opted for a quick shower instead of the inviting bath the Omegas had run for her because she was starving but felt too filthy to eat. Once she rested, she hoped she would finally get a chance to soak and relax. She had longed for a chance to do that since the first day she had been in Zeke’s room. She walked into the dining room in record time and sat at the table, her mouth watering at the spread in front of her. Was this all for her?Samantha and Julie stood at the side of their room with their eyes lowered, even though no one else was there. Zeke seemed to have disappeared, instantly deflating her mood and reminding her of reality. Her imaginary Zeke and the real one were not the same person, but seeing him as she came out of Isolation had felt like a natural continuation of her time at the imaginary beach. “This looks very delicious,” she said to the Omegas.“Thank you,” Samantha said.“You’ve made enough to feed an army. Why don’t you sit down and eat, too,” Ava suggeste
Zeke leaned against the wall near the door, watching the vampire chained to the wall opposite him. The silver sizzled against his skin, but the vampire was barely conscious. The morning sunlight filtered through the windows, the rays touching every inch of the room except where the vampire was chained. He hadn’t had his charmed ring on since he came out of isolation, and Prince Gideon got his hands on him. If he moved even an inch, the sun would fry him, but as was his nature, he would also feel the sun's pull without the ring. Keeping him awake during the day was torture beyond anything else they could do to him.But the vampire had remained silent. Kept his mouth shut in the face of his prince’s anger, and Gideon’s royal blood made him the strongest vampire at the academy. This told him one thing: he feared whoever told him to yield much more than his prince.Or it could be that Isolation had fucked his head up.“Who told you to do it, Nathan?” the vampire prince hissed again, yan
Ava slowly walked back up the front steps and stopped at the open door. She tried to hide her horror but didn’t think she succeeded.Jared was wearing only a pair of shorts, and his whole body looked like a giant bruise. He also had huge open wounds on his stomach shaped like teeth. Huge teeth that could only belong to one person. What the hell? Had Zeke come after him again while she had been in Isolation?She met his gaze and saw the dejection in his eyes. The complete helplessness.“I don’t think you should be here,” Jared said.She ignored his statement to look at his wounds again. Why wasn’t he in the Infirmary? Why was his pack letting him walk around like this?“What happened? Did Zeke come again?”She didn’t know why she was surprised. She had witnessed Zeke go after the wolves watching her in his backyard, and he’d come back bloody. Zeke was very much capable of this. His wolf was capable of this. She didn’t know why she always pushed such important facts to the back of her
Zeke crashed through the front door and looked around. All the curtains were drawn, so it was dark inside. There were only two people in this house, all alone like a couple of lovers.He growled as he followed Ava’s scent up the stairs. She was supposed to be in his bed sleeping, not hanging out with his enemy. “Ava!”His voice was low, on the verge of shifting. It didn’t matter now what he did to Jared. Once he and Ava left the academy, he would likely never be allowed to return. He would never graduate to be officially recognised as the Alpha.But he would be Alpha anyway. He and Shadow agreed on that. When he reached the top of the stairs, his steps faltered when he saw his mate coming out of the master bedroom. And she was terrified. Her heart was beating so fast and so loud that he had to tune it out to concentrate. It felt like he had been transported back to when Ava had hidden in her room in fear. Why would she be scared now? Just a couple of hours ago, she’d kissed him pu
Ava stopped struggling when she realised it was useless. And she also realised that no matter how scared or angry she was with him, her body still reacted to the contact as if he was her source of life. She craved him with every fibre of her being.It was terrifying. It was exhilarating.As Zeke marched up the stairs in his house, she saw Derek and Myles come out of the living room to watch. She could almost tell what they were thinking when they looked at each other and then back at the door Zeke had left open when he had walked in. They hadn’t even realised she had gone. She hid her face behind her curtain of hair that was dangling down, and of course, it was then Zeke’s very muscular butt she was directly looking at. Probably the most perfect glutes on the face of the earth.She bit her lip, but she didn’t close her eyes.Maybe there was something wrong with her. Perhaps something inside her was broken—damaged beyond repair—to make her want Zeke so much when she knew what he was.
Zeke sat through what felt like hours of awkward conversations and a lot of food. He noticed Ava didn’t mingle as much as her brothers with the rest of the pack and kept her answers very vague about why she was home early. He’d heard a few of them whisper that she had probably been kicked out for being a handful and disgraced the pack. He wanted to throttle them for being so disrespectful. But this was Ava’s pack, so he couldn’t pick a fight.Not when they were all looking at him like he was about to murder them all.He now understood why Ava had a hard time following the rules. There was nothing like that here. Omegas mingled and joked with Alphas, and he was sure the man cooking all the food had Alpha blood running through his veins. The children were running freely in and out. He’d been observing it all from a bench outside the backyard of the small house Ava had grown up in.Okay, it wasn’t small, but where the hell was he going to sleep? And how was he going to touch his mate wi
“How is this even fair? When I came to the academy, I was squashed under someone’s armpit in a small plane for a whole freaking day,” Ava said. “And you travelled alone in this huge private jet. You even drove yourself from the airport.”Zeke grinned as he sipped on a beer. “I wasn’t alone. I had Derek and Myles.”Ava looked at all the empty seats and rolled her eyes.“Yes, you had two other people. That makes it so much better,” she said sarcastically. “You know, I liked you better when you used to tremble in fear when you spoke to me. This new you is just too mouthy for me.”She threw a magazine at him and watched him throw his head back and laugh.The sight of it took her breath away. She hadn’t seen Zeke laugh many times, but now they had no darkness hanging over their heads. They could laugh and hang out like a normal couple. She could feel the absence of the burden that had been lifted from their shoulders as if it had been a tangible weight, and she could sense the same in he
Zeke walked up the road to the Infirmary with his arm around Ava.Everything still felt so surreal. He sensed the numbness all around him as everyone came to terms with the fact that they all could have died. Alpha Roland walked by Ava’s side, holding onto her hand. They hadn’t let go of each other since they had finally left the mess they had made at the Administration block to go home. He didn’t mind it, really he didn’t, but he wanted his mate all to himself. That morning, he had little hope that they would win, but now all he wanted to do was bury himself in his mate and forget about Hansson and the Council.With a sigh, he looked at the three councillors walking ahead of them. For some reason, they, too, had decided to recuperate at his house like they didn’t have a whole fucking mansion over at the guest houses. But they were still waiting for transport so they could leave and check on their families, so he didn’t say anything.He still didn’t like the three of them, but Ava s
Nyx finally stopped attacking when the screams stopped. When there was no heartbeat. When the light faded from those evil purple eyes that she would remember for the rest of her life.The eyes she would see every time in her wolf’s and Shadow’s eyes.Everyone stood as still as she did, taking in the destruction. Was this the end? Could she finally have the life she had hoped for with her mate by her side?Nyx retreated and allowed her to shift back. Her body was sore and bruised, and she could still feel the effects of almost being hit by the lightning. She limped over to Shadow, put her arms as far around him as she could, and closed her eyes. They were okay. They had done it.When she let go, Shadow shifted, and the man she loved took his place. Zeke engulfed her in his embrace, lifting her off her feet before he crashed his lips into hers. He could feel his relief and his hope. They were free. They could be themselves. Zeke finally put her down, and they looked back at the damage
Of course, they would hide something so important in plain sight. Zeke felt the change immediately the moment nothing was left of the fountain. It was like a bond had been broken. He remembered the morning he had come out to look for the councillors after their first visit, and Iulia had been messing with the fountain. He’d sensed something then; he should have put it together sooner. The beasts sniffed around the smashed fountain, at the water gushing freely from the pipes before they walked away from the rubble and started circling them. “You fools!” Hansson screamed as he picked up a piece of the sculpture. Shadow walked over to their mate and Diego, and they stood together, watching the man meltdown. They were not out of the woods yet. Though Hansson felt considerably weaker, he was still Fae and could hurt them and Alpha Roland.He looked up to see Ava’s father breathing better and his eyes glowing. The hold on him was weakening.‘We need to keep him busy to give your dad tim
Ava’s frustration boiled over, and she told Samantha to get Julie and stay close to Myles and Derek. Then she shifted and lowered her head. All she wanted was to get to her father, but the guards were in her way. Nyx growled. She hadn’t known Nyx long enough to know if it was a standard growl, but it felt different. It felt right. She could feel it in her whole body as Nyx took over again. And when Shadow came to stand beside her, and the growl came from deep within him, she felt the strength of their bond. One by one, the people in front of them stopped and lowered their gazes, soldiers and students alike. It was not something she usually liked, but she understood her wolf now, and this was the only way they would get to her father. They had to show their dominance.She felt something else. It was more than the darkness she felt in Nyx’s soul; it was all around them. She felt it the same way she felt the evil in the forest both times that she had gone in. It was the same darkness s
There was a shift in the air.Zeke guessed it was because Iulia was not focusing her magic as she wept over her lover. Was he dead? It felt like it, but he didn’t give a shit. What caught his attention was that the councillors’ strength was noticeably reduced. ‘We can take them now,’ Shadow growled. But there was another scream, and this one hit him in the heart again.He shifted and was by Ava’s side in seconds, taking her into his arms as he tried to figure out what happened. Mr Patrick was struggling to sit up with Jared’s help. But Alpha Roland was gone. He knew what had happened, but they had to be still at the academy. Hansson was a sadistic asshole; he would make sure Ava witnessed whatever he had in mind for Alpha Roland before he killed them all.“We’ll find him,” he whispered, tightening his hold on his mate. They had to go before Iulia and Diego calmed down and did as they were told. He looked back at the trio and saw Alpha Diego was still standing over the other two. W
Nyx took a bite of Hansson’s shoulder before he realised what had happened. She tasted his blood on her tongue, and it was putrid. Vile like the man himself.Before she could sink her teeth in further, Hansson disappeared into thin air and appeared on the other side of the stage. The men he had been holding hostage fell to the stage, released in that moment of confusion. But she knew it wouldn’t be for long. Hansson would get his bearings and take his anger out on all of them. She stood in front of them to protect them and ignored the panic and commotion she felt and heard from the imprisoned students.Nothing filled her mind now except the rage. The need for revenge.Nyx lowered her snout to the ground, ready to attack again, when she saw the beast standing beside her. It was Shadow, but... Something was different. He seemed bigger. His head was lowered, and his hackles raised as he snarled at the councillors, frothing at the lips as if rabid. And his eyes were purple. “What is th
“Let’s play a little game.”Ava couldn’t move her head, so she was stuck looking at the faces of the people who would die today if she didn’t pick five of them to sacrifice. They had all been forced back from the top of the road to witness the next murder. She sensed desperation. Terror. They were all looking above her at Jared, waiting for his life to be taken like Dexter’s. Even the teachers stood helplessly by. She had never seen the dean looking so scared.Nobody should have to live with this kind of fear hanging over them. Fear that one wrong move and someone stronger than them would swoop in and end them.Dexter had been innocent, and now his parents would have to come to collect his body as Emily’s parents had done.Innocent. Gone all because of her. ‘It’s not your fault. It’s Hansson’s fault.’Zeke’s voice was so clear in her head as if he had been listening to all her thoughts, but she couldn’t get anything from him except what he wanted her to hear. “How many of these will