Zeke followed the guard to the dean’s office with a sense of dread in his stomach. It was almost time for training, so he was sure this was about whatever the Council wanted to do next. Who would they kill today?The whole academy had been in a solemn mood. Though not many ever noticed the Omegas, the fact that the Council could just kill one of them like they were nothing had brought fear to all of them. So much for the president’s speech that they weren’t to worry. This morning, he had heard that they’d taken Emily’s body to the Infirmary freezers to wait for instructions from her parents. How would they even explain that to them?The guard knocked on the door and then opened it for him. The dean sat at Penelope’s desk, working on something at the computer. He was surprised to see him enter.He was so surprised that he knew it wasn’t the dean who had sent the message to his tablet. But he could feel the presence of the man who had summoned him behind the office door.“Mr Michelson.
Ava realised that Derek, Myles and Jared were backing away from her as if she was the monster, not the wolf she had protected them from. She looked back at the damage she had done. Not all of them were dead, but... With her anger gone, her mind cleared.But there were too many scents and too many emotions in the room. Too much noise. She could hear everything. People talking at once. People screaming. Leaves blowing in the wind. Cars. Heartbeats. The harsh breathing of the students who were too terrified to run from the room. The dying breaths of others. She could see the tiniest splatter of blood on the wall. She could smell that somebody had pissed themselves.Everything tumbled down on her in a confusing avalanche as she backed away from her friends. They were terrified. “It takes a special kind of person to kill the same people two times. I’m very proud of you, Ava,” Councillor Andrei said.They had done this.Her anger built up again, mixing with everything else. But she knew
Ava felt like her stomach was eating her when she opened her eyes. Her body felt tender, but she didn’t feel any pain. She stretched and sat up in bed, not surprised that she was in Zeke’s bed again. The room was dark, and the clock beside the bed said it was barely nine o’clock, which was odd. Wolves tended to sleep and recuperate for a day or two after the first shift.But then again, her wolf was...She could still smell the blood that had covered her body despite Zeke washing it off in the lake. Quickly, she shoved the covers off and rushed to the bathroom. Food could wait. The insane Council members could wait. She stood under the shower spray before it had warmed up and started to scrub her body, but no matter how raw her skin looked, she didn’t feel clean.Would she ever?The Council had not been surprised that she had shifted into that thing, so they had already known. That was the reason they had come; she was sure of it. Mr Patrick had been right after all.Her stomach growl
“Wait. Say that again,” Ava said.He looked down at their entwined fingers and brought her hand to his lips. He should have told her before he marked her. Told her he was bonding them for life. But there had been no other choice for either of them. "You're my true mate, Ava. The perfect half of me," he said. "It's why our bond was so strong before I even marked you. I only had to catch your scent for Shadow to know you were ours.""So when you say my fate is your fate, what exactly do you mean?"This would be the most challenging part for her, as much as it hurt him to admit that. When Mr Patrick told him about True Mates, it had been easy to accept because he wouldn't want to live without her, anyway. He and Shadow agreed on that. But Ava's wolf was complicated. She and Ava were at odds, and he didn't know how that would affect their bond. "If you die, I die," he said simply. Ava gasped and pulled her hand out of his. Her shock and disappointment shot through him. It felt like sh
Ava felt the difference in the air when she stepped into the First-Year block the following day. It wasn't just the rush in her body from Mr Patrick’s magic still surging inside her or the way the students avoided her and lowered their gazes. It wasn't even because she could sense the dark void she usually felt around Claire and her friends was muted. It was because she could feel the Head of the Council as if he was right next to her. All around her. Watching her. She could feel the prickling all over her body, and unease filled her body.She kept her mind purposefully blank as she walked into her Cooking class because she knew Mr Patrick’s magic was nowhere near as strong as Mr Hansson’s. Too much was riding on her ability to shield.It wasn’t until she’d sat down in her usual spot next to the window that she realised the whole class had stopped talking, and the teacher stood with her eyes lowered at the front of the room. And then the things she was trying to forget pushed back t
“So, has she rejected you?”Zeke glanced sideways at the Alpha walking beside him and then back at the pavement. He felt juiced up on Mr Patrick’s magic and didn’t want to say anything wrong, but he had no idea why Alpha Diego had offered to get him for his meeting.He didn’t respond. “I mean, I was sure she was going to rip you apart,” Alpha Diego continued. “How did you manage to mate her in the first place? Was it because she hadn’t shifted yet?”His fists clenched, but again, he said nothing.“Do you think the mark will start to fade now?”Zeke started to walk a little faster even though where they were going was a lot worse than enduring this mind fuck. He knew there was no chance of the bond being broken because Ava was his true mate, but what if...“This is why I’ve never marked anyone,” Alpha Diego continued, keeping up with him easily.The councillor talked to him as if they were friends instead of a prison guard and prisoner. “Wolves like you, me and Ava were not meant to
Ava felt the odd sensation of the magic around her as Mr Hansson talked. And behind her, she could sense the three Council members.It was like everything was heightened out here. The forest leading to the school had been her first introduction to the evil that surrounded her daily, but it felt more threatening here than around the school.Almost as if what resided here was never meant to be seen.She could sense it, whatever it was. Creatures like the ones she had seen? Or something much worse? There were so many sounds, living things prowling the forest behind her. She heard a growl in the distance, and the hair rose on the back of her neck. Goosebumps rose on her arms under her blazer. Whatever that was was not something she had seen before. She didn’t dare to look back.“Do you know why this campus is my favourite?” Mr. Hansson continued. “It’s not just because I send all the future leaders here. And it’s not just because the security is so impenetrable.”The way he said it made
Ava tried not to react, but she could still feel Zeke’s rising anger. They had a job to do here, which wouldn’t be done if they both gave in to their true natures. "Don't hurt her," Zeke growled. "Then answer my question. We can’t proceed until I know what the fuck is going on.”She had not expected Mr Hansson to swear, but she could feel the frustration in his words. He really didn’t know what was going on. His forest wasn’t working as well as he said it was, and that calmed her down a little, even though the magic was restricting her breathing.And when she calmed, she felt Zeke calm, too. Whatever Mr Hansson did to her mark was not enough to break the bond. “How did someone so young tame their beast? You're in perfect control. Even now, I have your mate by the neck, but you’re not reacting,” he said, cocking his head to the side. “Do you know how long it took Diego? Decades. Decades of destruction and bloodshed.”Zeke remained silent again; this time, when the magic squeezed her
Human blood still scented the air hours after the fight. It was everywhere. On the narrow path up the mountain. On the cold, unyielding side of the mountain. Over the trees, bushes and dead leaves on the ground. Silver bullet casings and broken silver weapons were scattered on the forest floor. Sharp lengths of twine were tied between tree trunks like traps, and blood dripped from them. There was something else on it besides that metallic scent, something spicy and woodsy, and very faint.Putting her nose closer to the twine, she started to inhale. A second later, strong arms circled her chest and wrenched her away.“Don’t touch that. Wolfsbane,” Zeke said.Of course. She had never been around it, but she was sure the other wolves in the pack were taught how to detect it from the moment they shifted. It was deadly to wolves, poisoning their systems as quickly as silver. A chill rushed down her spine at how close she’d come to making a rookie mistake.Stepping out of Zeke’s arms, she l
‘Let’s at least find out what happened to the Moonvalley Alpha first,’ Zeke mindlinked Ava. ‘There are too many humans here.’Ava’s apprehension was obvious through their bond, but so were her rage and fear. Tension coiled up in his stomach. Whenever he got like this, he always pulled the silver chains out for Derek and Myles to restrain him. But now, they were freely running near humans. Even if it was a small town, people would notice if half of them got wiped out by raging beasts.‘I’ve only been this far from our territory once, and Dad didn’t even let me get out of the car. I don’t even know where this diner is, so we need to speak to Nate.’It was clear from her tone that she didn’t like that, but some of the tension uncoiled because she wasn’t about to burrow through innocent people in town without a plan.The sun was setting when they stopped near the forest’s edge. Zeke followed Ava to a small wooden cabin, where she shifted without much regard to the humans he sensed close to
The Silver Daggers. A bunch of fucking neanderthals who’d dwindled their numbers even before the Council had formed to take them down. Probably the only good thing the Council had done.Psychopaths on the same level as Hansson, with their well-documented kills and torture methods. And they had somehow dug up enough information on his mate to have a recent photo of her and also know which orphanage she’d been at before being adopted. In which world was that the kind of information someone kept to themselves?Shadow growled in his head, pissed off with Ava’s family for the first time since meeting Roland. ‘Let’s go hunt them down,’ he ordered. Oh, that was a given. The only question was how to make Ava go back home. Dealing with Hansson together was one thing. They had been trapped at the academy and had no other options. But he would not willingly let Ava face another asshole like Hansson. He would not risk her life. “Answer me,” Ava said, stepping closer to Nate.“No, I don’t thin
Ava glared at her brothers after she pulled a T-shirt over her head. The boys had accepted shorts and were already eating the bowls of a meat and vegetable stew that they had been offered. How could they even eat at a time like this? She took her place beside Zeke, and the older woman who’d given her the clothes gave her a bowl, too. She recognised her as the Luna immediately. Audrey had come forward before Nate could tell her anything about the secret they were keeping.When her father first brought her to visit the Moonvalley Pack, she was impressed that the pack's protection fell on all their shoulders equally despite being so traditional in other roles. Her father said Luna Audrey could kick ass as hard as Alpha Barrett.“I’m sorry, Luna. I don’t think I can eat right now,” she said, smiling at the woman.“Your wolf needs to eat,” Luna Audrey said, pushing the bowl towards her. “It’s true, isn’t it? You shifted?”Her reputation as the only human in the Mystic River territory had sp
The air was sharper, and his eyes picked up the smallest grain of soil—as impossible as that seemed. He could hear the smallest critters scurrying under the decomposing matter on the forest floor. His hind legs launched him easily over shrubs and fallen trees while the wind rushed past his face with an almost overwhelming force.His heart pumped with the surge of adrenaline, and below that, the strange, unfamiliar energy. What the hell was this? Nyx hadn’t stopped running since they shifted when they reached the forest. Keeping close behind her, Shadow followed the almost non-existent trail. Even with his stronger senses, Alpha Morgan’s scent wasn’t there at all. And the warriors he’d taken with him must have been some of his best men because they’d hardly left a trail.He’d expected Nyx to flounder a few times because she was still new, but the other half of him hadn’t lost the trail even once. Not that he expected anything different. Even without the strange boost they seemed to h
No. No, no, no.Her fault. Why the hell hadn’t she trusted herself?Ava was out of the door before anyone could stop her. The guards had already gathered in the front yard, discussing what was happening. “...they’ve brought the bodies to the morgue. Can’t recognise them...”“...might be the same rogues that attacked the Moonvalley pack...”“...they didn’t make it there, so we still don’t know what’s going on over there...”Her fault.It was Emily and Dexter all over again.She shouldn’t have stayed in the background when she knew she was strong enough to help.“Ava,” Caleb called out as he followed her down the front steps. “I’ve already organised the search party. The trackers are already out there, and I’m going to join them. Stay here and—”“Even now, you’re trying to stop me?” she asked, facing her brothers.“It’s not safe—”“Then tell me why the hell you’ve kept me inside when you know I can help?” she growled.Caleb didn’t look away from her, but Nate, Alex, and Nick glanced a
Ava opened the back door again and glared at the wolf leaning against a tree at the edge of the forest. It was long past noon, and there hadn’t been any word from her father or the people he’d left with. Nyx growled, growing restless. She should have listened to her wolf from the start.Nyx was not very vocal, but she understood her wolf’s emotions perfectly. And it wasn’t helping that something else was simmering just under her skin, ready to burst. It had worried her when she woke, but there were bigger things to worry about now. Anxiety made the wait unbearable.Her father had always taught her to stand up for herself, so whatever rumours were going around about Zeke shouldn’t have made him go to such extremes. It was easy to prove that he was innocent. Why did it feel like she was missing something?That was the only thing stopping her from going after him. The fact that she didn’t know what was really going on. Her brothers were protective but always let her make her own choices.
It was strange to see all four mini Morgans looking at him directly without an ounce of fear. He and Ava sat on one couch while the brothers sat on the massive leather one that ran along two walls of the lounge. They had the same ash-blond hair in different styles and the same piercing blue eyes. Alpha Roland’s genes were clearly superior because he couldn’t see a trace of their mother. Even the judgy expressions were the same as their father’s.“Is this what they teach you in your pack? To disrespect a girl in her own home?” Caleb growled.They’d remained quiet until they herded him and Ava into the house. The rest of the pack had remained at the school, but he could sense some of them coming closer.“I meant no disrespect—”“She’s my little sister,” Caleb interrupted. “Don’t give me that bullshit.”As the oldest and the one who would take charge after his father, Caleb would have been given the same lessons as he had. At least the basics. Did he not understand what a true mate was?
Okay, now that was messed up. Nyx went on alert when all the attention focussed on Zeke, and Ava’s blood started to simmer. “Why are you looking at him?” she asked, finally lifting her head to look around the room.She’d anticipated some backlash once everyone heard the whole story about Hansson but assumed it would die as quickly as it usually did when she caused her father some trouble. It was why she’d not wanted to cause any waves for minor things. But for them to call Zeke a demon and blatantly suspect him of such a heinous crime?“He’s walking around with you, so something is obviously wrong with him,” Riley muttered from somewhere behind her.“As opposed to a wolf who can barely shift and can’t be admitted to an academy where a mere human was accepted?” she growled, not ashamed to hit below the belt.Several gasps brought her back to her senses, and she breathed deeply to calm the storm brewing inside her.The last time anyone had been a threat to Zeke, she’d levelled him in