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.
“Where exactly are we going?”Zeke looked back at Ava and squeezed her hand in reassurance. He’d still sensed her fear when she woke up, which increased when she realised they were heading into the woods. “You’ll see.”It would have been quicker if he’d shifted and carried her there or even run with her on his back, but she didn’t seem to want any contact with him at all. Understandable. It had been torture having her rub her body all over him earlier when he could sense how hot for him she’d been. And now she’d only allowed him to hold her hand once they had come deeper into the woods. It was a lot darker under the canopy of the trees, but he knew it wasn’t the darkness that was making her so scared. The woods blended into the cursed forest surrounding the academy, so few people ventured this far. There wasn’t even a path for them to follow, so Ava was relying on his sight to lead the way.“I think we can talk here. We’re far enough away from anybody else.”“Just be patient a little
“Where did they take Ava?”He could sense she was in the building, but something was blocking him from pinpointing her exact location. That was very worrying because their bond should have allowed him to find her no matter where she was. Would they have taken her straight to Isolation? They wouldn’t survive it in this state. “You’re in no position to ask me that, Mr Michelson,” Dean Russell said. “I spent weeks organising everything, and you and that human just went and desecrated the President of the Academy’s accommodation.”He should have ‘desecrated’ every room. His eyes narrowed on the dean.“You keep calling her that. You’re a stupid fuck, Alpha Russell, but I’m sure even you’ve figured this one out. Where is my mate?”He didn’t miss how the dean’s fist clenched on the table. Shadow had been alert since they had met the Head of Council’s cold gaze head-on, so he wasn’t taking any of this shit from the dean. He pushed forward and growled in warning. Though the dean lowered hi
The sun streaming through the window woke Zeke up. It was blinding, but he didn’t have the strength to move.It had been sucked from his body. No, wrenched from his body. He felt about as useless as a newborn pup. He had not known it could be like this.He’d known mated couples to hole down for a couple of days when the woman went into heat, but they always came back out okay. But he felt like somebody would have to peel them off the floor and carry them out of there. He was completely spent. It had to be because they were true mates. Everything was stronger. More extreme. He had been loved within an inch of his life, and it was fucking amazing. A small smile played on his lips as he closed his eyes against the sun.The moan that came from beside him had his body reacting. Okay, maybe he wasn’t completely spent. He turned his head to face Ava because she was the only one who could command his body to move when he had nothing left in the tank. The spirit was willing, but the flesh was
Zeke paced the basement with Shadow in control. Trusting Shadow to be the one to keep things under control would have been something he would have laughed at not too long ago.But here they were. After a few more hours of this, Ava wouldn’t feel all of that anger. They would be free. “Are you sure she’s not in trouble? I can go and check her dorm,” Derek said. “She’s fine.”Just angry. And horny.She was like a siren, calling him to do his mately duties through their bond. He hadn’t been able to concentrate all day. Ironing out the details of their escape became more difficult as he sensed his mate’s needs. The door to the basement opened, so he stopped pacing to watch Myles walk down the stairs.“I’ve got it,” Myles said, holding a small case towards him. “Two vials. They said you’ll get two days at the most, but aim to be as far away as possible in a day and a half.”“Are we sure we can trust those witches?” Derek asked. “If you’re caught, we will all go down for it. They’re wil
"Focus, Ava."Ava dragged her eyes from Claire as she sparred at the other end of the training room.“What’s going on,” Max asked as he faced her from across the mat.“Nothing,” she mumbled, dropping into a fighting stance again. Focus on Max. Focus on Max.But her eyes found their way to Claire again, and the wolf was staring right at her this time. Fury, white-hot fury, shot through her when she saw the smug look on the wolf’s face. It occurred to her that maybe this was another of the Council’s tests. Perhaps they wanted to see what she would do to the wolf she had already ripped apart and thrown into their forest. Maybe their spies were in this room, reporting her every move back to them. But she was beyond thinking clearly now. After another sleepless night, she knew she was about to snap.The coach’s whistle blew, and he walked to the front of the room.“We’re going to switch partners now,” Coach Henderson said. He was stockier than Coach Baxter, and so far, he hadn’t said or
Ava looked back down the road at the guards patrolling Zeke's street. Though they were not facing her direction, she knew they were tracking her movements. Her head had been messed up since Claire said those words. He is still mine. Wait and see. It was like she’d flipped a switch, and everything in her wanted to find Claire. To hunt her. To hurt her.Her fists clenched. The rules didn’t say she couldn’t go to an Alpha’s house, so she hoped she wouldn’t get carted away before seeing Zeke. She needed him.The door opened before she even started walking up the steps, and Zeke stepped back from the entrance. Her mind was still a little foggy from their last encounter, but Claire’s words were what had her current state. The violent thoughts going around in her head on a loop were something in a league of their own. She always hated it when she saw those images from her nightmares, but now she welcomed them. She wanted to rip that bitch apart. She wanted to feel her blood dripping down
“Ava.”Ava almost jumped out of her skin when she heard the voice behind her. It had been three days since Claire had come, and sleep had become non-existent, even with Zeke just outside her window. She was on constant alert, ready to defend herself if needed. Not a single move from anyone. “Sorry,” Jared said from behind her. She turned around and briefly looked at his face before she lowered her gaze. He had completely healed from his run-in with Zeke’s dad so he looked his usual self, but without the flirty smile. “I just wanted to talk. To see how you are.”“I’m fine,” she said, adding, “Alpha Anderson.”Jared mumbled swear words under his breath.“I really need to go. I have to set up for training,” she said. “Wait. I don’t know what the hell is happening around here these days, but if you need me for anything, you know where to find me,” he said as he approached her.Jared had a temperamental wolf. She doubted he could help her with anything, but she appreciated his offer
Ava looked out of the window in her dorm room. The sun was still out, and she couldn't see anything besides the woods. But she could feel Zeke there. Her door opened, making her turn quickly, but it was just Emily returning with her bags. Training had been strange. Claire and her friends hadn't made a single move. Besides the initial snarl when she walked in, the session had gone without incident. Her new coach, Coach Henderson, hadn't targeted her like Coach Baxter, so she had stayed in the background the whole time. She'd sparred with the vampire Max, so even that had been stress-free. But all it had done was make her a little anxious about when Claire would attack. Would it be another ambush?"Shall I pack this away for you?" Emily asked. "No!"What was wrong with this wolf to make her so eager to be someone's maid?"Thank you for collecting my things, but we need to talk now," she said as she finally walked away from the window and sat on her bed. The room was still empty. It
Zeke was still struggling to stop himself from going on a bloody rampage when he sensed he wasn't alone. He looked over at the lake to calm himself. It really wasn't Mr Patrick's fault, he knew that. But still, he wanted to rip his head off."Calm down, Zeke," Mr Patrick said from somewhere behind him. "Don't tell me to calm down. I should never have listened to you. To either of you."Ava's father was the first to come down to the bank and stand beside him as he looked over the water. Ava was going to kill him for this but damned if he was going to send away the only other person there who would lay their life down for her."And what was your plan?" Alpha Morgan asked. "Charge out of here and protect my daughter out there alone? Try to outrun the Council?"Zeke snorted."I think we all saw that she doesn't need protecting," he growled. "But none of that matters if she doesn't talk to her wolf, Ezekiel," Mr Patrick said. Did he want her to talk to her wolf? At this point, he wasn
Ava came out of the Administration building, and the first person she saw was Zeke. She had felt him there even before the guards opened the doors for her to leave. She made her decision the moment she saw the way the guards stood at attention with their hands on their weapons, ready to hurt him. Zeke's eyes were red, and his fists clenched at his sides. He stood like a statue, but she could sense the danger emanating from him as if one wrong move would end everything. She knew he'd been waiting to save her. He would put himself on the line if she were in danger. She'd condemned him to her fate. She lowered her gaze and started walking down the steps. "I'm fine," she told him quietly. "No, Ava. You're not 'fine'," he growled. So she wasn't hiding it as well as she thought. "I will be," she said truthfully. Whatever was going to happen next was her fight. Zeke needed to stay out of it to stay safe. At least he would have a chance that way."What did he want?""I've been removed