Ava looked away from the angry Alpha as Jared stopped at the seats on the opposite side of the aisle. Her heart beat so loudly that she knew everyone here could hear it. The Alpha’s words floated through her head again. They would smell her fear. They would tear her apart. Jared inclined his head, and one of the people quickly stood to move away. She had been ready to let go of Jared and find an empty seat for herself, but Jared still held onto her hand. It took her a moment to realise he was making the other guy give up his seat, too. She would have felt mortified when the guy stood and walked to the back of the hall, but she was ready to sit down. Her whole body had started trembling so much again that she didn’t think her legs would hold her. “After you,” Jared smiled.She sat quickly and looked down. It was so quiet in the room she would have heard a pin drop, and Jared was grinning like an idiot as he sat next to her. Maybe all the Alphas here were crazy. “If you are quite re
Her scent was every-fucking-where. It was up his nostrils and clinging to his clothes and skin. “Calm down, Zeke.”Calm down? Calm down?! How the fuck was he supposed to calm down when a human was calling to him like she was a siren? He had sensed her presence and smelled her long before she appeared on that bastard’s arm. She had been touching him! And she had let him touch her! The moment Jared had put his hand on her knee, he had been seconds from ripping that arm off. Ripping it off and then stuffing it so deep up that stupid dick’s ass before ripping his head off.Shadow snarled again, doing everything he could to escape his control. He continued pacing up and down the path behind the kitchens, clenching and unclenching his fists. Last night, she’d had that ridiculous cap covering most of her face and her boyish clothes covering her body, but now he could see her so clearly. When she had walked in, he’d felt like he’d been sucker-punched. She was so small, barely reached his c
Jared had led her through hallways that were a mix of old and modern architecture. He was walking so fast that she had to half-jog to keep up while also remembering not to make eye contact with anyone in case they turned out to be psycho wolves. It would have been funny if she still wasn’t trying to calm herself. This Academy had all the species, but it seemed it was still the wolves she would have to watch out for. Jared took her up a wide staircase to the second floor, where she saw doors labelled for the directors and associates of the different faculties. Then, finally, he stopped at a door that said ‘Dean Alexander Russell’.“I’m going to have to leave you here,” Jared said when she finally caught up. “I don’t think Alpha Russell wants to see my face right now.”He didn’t seem as happy as he had been when they had made that stupid entrance. If it weren’t for the fact that she would probably be leaving, she would have asked what the deal was with the evaluations that had made him
The First Year block seemed miles away. By the time Ava went through the wide doors, she was sweating and sure her eyes were red from holding back her tears. She hadn’t bumped into anyone, so she realised everyone else really followed the tardiness rule. She hoped they would follow the other rules—no fighting, respect for others, etc. The front of the building had several offices, which she assumed were the administration, but she couldn’t see anyone to direct her. She eventually found a map on the papers stuck on the notice board near the door and made her way to the room she was supposed to have gone to straight after the assembly. The welcome pack hadn’t included the academy prospectus, which she had thought was odd, but it said they would enrol in their classes during orientation. She hoped the spots weren’t limited. If she was going to get stuck here for a while longer, she at least wanted to make a start on the Business degree she would have done at a human college. She planne
Ava was seething by the time she was shown her locker in the training centre. She had pricked her fingers so many times during a quick taster lesson in needlework that she was ready to punch someone. How in the world did they think they could do this to her? This was about her future! She was going to run the family business, not sew and clean! She was not an Omega, but the fact that they treated them like this, giving them no choice about their futures, was outrageous! She had a lot of respect for Omegas, but how they even took all of this shit was beyond her. Being submissive didn’t mean being a doormat.If that was what it meant in this place, she would never survive. There was no submissive bone in her body. She would never survive four years doing this. She could have put her head down for a week or two until they saw their mistake, but if they kept her here for four years? No chance! Needlework? Seriously?She slammed her locker, startling the girl next to her.“Sorry,” she mu
Zeke hung his blazer up in his locker and then slammed it shut with more force than necessary. Derek and Myles didn’t say anything. They had been watching him since the assembly and it was pissing him off. How was he supposed to think like this? How was he supposed to prepare?“Maybe you shouldn’t do this today. Take your aggression out somewhere else instead of on the poor First Years,” Derek said finally.He gave Derek a look as he walked over to the fridge to get a bottle of water to cool himself down, and his friend had the good sense to look down. A challenge was the last thing he needed right now. His body was so wired up that he felt like he would explode. He hadn’t been able to concentrate in any lesson because this situation was not like anything he had ever dealt with. Derek was probably right.But he needed to let out some steam, and letting Shadow go for a run was out of the question. His only option was to punch something, and the training centre was the only place wher
Keep your head high. Remember your name.Her father’s advice rang constantly through her mind when she had followed the Alpha, though she wasn’t sure if she could trust anything he had said to her now. But her fake confidence disappeared the moment she turned to lock the door. This was so stupid. Why was she even listening to him? Why had she locked the door instead of opening it and getting to safety? She still had her hand on the lock as she tried to think of a way out of this. The last place she wanted to be was in a locked room with an angry Alpha.“Turn around,” Ezekiel growled. “Don’t even think about running because I’ll catch you, Ava. And we both won’t like the consequences.”With a shaky breath, she turned around to face him, but she didn’t dare look into his eyes this time. She didn’t know if looking anywhere else on him was any better. Her brain fizzled and stopped working when she looked at his body. The guy was huge and built to perfection. He wore sweats that moulded h
The training session was unlike anything Ava had ever seen.Her head had still been a mess when the other students started piling in; she could still feel Ezekiel’s body against hers. It made it hard to concentrate. All the First Years were in this class until they could be evaluated and separated, so they were asked to pick an opponent. Almost everyone wanted to fight her, but the coach told them he would pick an opponent for her. Then he told them to run laps around the gym for a warm-up. That almost killed her. Jogging was not her friend, and it was unfair that she still had to do the same number of laps even after all the others had zoomed past her several times and finished before she had even completed the first lap. She had been wheezing as she completed the second lap, ignoring all the laughter and taunts. Trying to catch her breath had taken all her focus. At least it had taken her mind off Ezekiel.Then, thankfully, the coach had told her to get off his floor with a few cho
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