Blood. Screams. Crunching sounds. Blood. Screams. Crunching sounds. Claws. Claire. Her friends. So much blood. Ava woke up with a jolt and immediately felt her stomach churning. With her heart still pounding, she pushed the bedding off her body and rushed to the adjoining bathroom. The moment her stomach was empty, the overwhelming guilt took her over again. She had to make amends. Those poor families were grieving because of her. If it was true that she had a wolf, what sort of wolf did that? What kind of monster would cause that horror she saw every night in her nightmares?It was the sort of wolf that the Council put down. She'd heard the stories. Wolves that were uncontrollable just disappeared. It was for the best for the people around them. And now she was one of those uncontrollable wolves. From wolfless to a monster in one afternoon. The Council could have her. It was probably why they wanted her in the first place. They had seen it somehow. They had seen all that darkne
Zeke watched Mr Patrick with narrowed eyes. The professor looked at Ava like she was some sort of science experiment while she sat cross-legged on the rug with her eyes closed. He didn't like it.He'd always assumed Mr Patrick was a witch, but after that little stunt, he knew that was not true. There was magic around him, but it definitely wasn't witchy. What the fuck was he?And why was he so openly fascinated with his mate?Honestly, he looked like he was even salivating. "It's not working," Ava sighed, opening her eyes again. "We've been at this for hours already today. It didn't work last night, and it won't work now. Let's just try something else.""It won't work if you don't take this seriously," Mr Patrick said. "Empty your mind, Ava.""I'm trying.""Then stop thinking about why you don't want this to work and feel your wolf, Ava," Mr. Patrick said firmly. "There is no other plan that will work, and even if there was, you need your wolf. It's a part of you that you have to a
"You can't hand yourself over, Ava," Mr Patrick said quietly. Ava opened her eyes and looked at the professor who'd sat in front of her on the floor the moment her father had gone to help Zeke clear his head. "You really need to stop doing that," she sighed. "I can't help you if you remain so closed off. I have to do it.""That's what this is about, isn't it?" She frowned in irritation. "This isn't about meditating; it's about you having free access to my thoughts.""Something is blocking you from your wolf, probably something to do with the trauma of your first shift. If you don't let me do this, you'll need a lot longer than this week to figure it out," Mr Patrick said, without even an ounce of remorse. "You don't have time to mess around, Ava."He had no right to look into her head! She couldn't hide her anger as she stood and walked out of the living room. She didn't know how she was feeling, and Mr. Patrick was sorting through that mess in her head anyway. Without another tho
"Who is it?" Ava whispered as she peeked through the window. She still couldn't see anything, but there was someone there. "Stay back from the window. And I don't know why you're whispering; they can hear you."Mr Patrick was calm as he sat on the floor, his eyes closed, meditating. But he had been scared when he'd called her back in. She'd felt it—a moment of sheer panic that had made her realise what a dangerous situation she was in. "I wasn't scared."That was a lie. She could feel that, too.Mr Patrick opened his eyes and looked at her with open fascination."What else can you feel?" he asked."What?"Why was he thinking about that and not that they could be attacked at any minute, but Zeke and her father were not there to protect them? "If you close your eyes and focus, can you sense them in the woods?" he asked. Her heart hammered. "Them? What do you mean by 'them'? How many are there?" she asked.It wasn't getting attacked that was terrifying her. What if it happened agai
Jared was an Alpha! Did she really command him to stop?No, that was impossible. She couldn't feel anything different inside her, though she had no idea what her wolf was supposed to feel like. Maybe he'd heard the panic in her voice, and as an Alpha, he'd been able to pull himself back. She knew that she was grasping at straws because she could see how weak Jared was. He wasn't like Zeke or her father. She'd never needed a wolf to know they were stronger than most; it was quite evident in how they held themselves and their auras.Jared was still a future Alpha of his pack, though, so for the Alpha of another pack to use his Alpha command on him was an insult. His pack would never respect him if they heard about this. Jared had already suffered enough after being attacked by Zeke; why did this have to happen to him, too?"I said kill her!"This time, Jared remained in control. She could see it in his eyes even as he took another step forward, and she took one back. "Make it bloody
"Ah... Yes, Ava has done very well so far," Coach Baxter stuttered. "She..." His voice trailed off as he watched Alpha Morgan pick up two daggers from the wall of weapons proudly displayed at the side of the room. The very same daggers that his daughter had been drawn to.He did a few moves, showcasing where Ava had got her skills before he carefully put them back in their place. Zeke watched a drop of sweat roll down the coach's face before he wiped it and pretended to shuffle through the paperwork in front of him. So far, Ava's dad hadn't said a word. It had become clear in the very first minute that he was watching a master of mind games at work. He'd never seen the coach so riled up. He leaned back in his seat in the bleachers where he'd been watching the show. "She showed so much improvement in each training session," the coach continued. Alpha Morgan picked up a small axe and inspected the sharp edge. He heard the coach swallow before shuffling the papers again. "She... U
Zeke watched Ava go back into the house and then shifted into his human form. These people were part of his pack. The people he had protected since his father had put him in that position. And they had come here to kill his mate? Even after he had shown them who their true Alpha was?Shadow tried to force another shift so he could teach them all a lesson and end the bastard still unconscious on the driveway. But killing an Alpha in cold blood would bring the Council there much sooner than expected, and they weren't ready for that. He was disappointed. Not every member of his pack had come, but there were enough to make him wonder how many of these he would have to get rid of if he finally took his rightful place. Myles, Derek and their fathers were not among them, which meant his father had only gone to those he knew would agree to this act of treason. Or those he could manipulate with his lies. He took note of all of them. The crowd parted for him and the white wolf behind him as
It was late when Zeke left his mate sleeping to make her something to eat.There was some magic in the air, but he couldn't sense Mr Patrick or Alpha Morgan in the house. He found Derek and Myles in the kitchen, looking at some dishes of food on the table. "Is it poisoned?" he joked as he opened the fridge to get a bottle of water. "Maybe," Derek snorted. "Jared's Omegas brought food for Ava."He paused as he opened the water and sniffed the air before he suspiciously looked at the food, too. First, Jared was in his house, and now his Omegas were sending food?"I'm cooking for her," he decided as he joined them at the table. The urge to throw the food in the trash was strong, but he didn't want Ava to get upset with him. Why had they cooked for her in the first place?"We heard what happened. We were having lunch in the dining hall when they came over, or we would have warned you. I'm sorry, Zeke," Derek said."I'm sure my father planned it that way.""What's going to happen to the
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