Screams. Blood. The crunching sounds. Screams. Blood. The crunching sounds. That same scene repeated over and over again until Ava jolted awake. There was nothing but the pitch black around her and the shadows receding from her dreams. The sudden movement made her groan and close her eyes as she lay back and curled into a fetal position. Breathing hurt, but she had to take deep breaths to calm herself. As usual these days, her nightmares were accompanied by a panic attack. With her body in so much pain, she felt frozen in place, all her muscles seizing up. She couldn’t move, she couldn’t breathe... This was really where she died. In this school, alone, with people who played with her like she was a piece of meat. She tried all her usual techniques—counting, focusing on drawing deep breaths, thinking of something else. It wasn’t working. Her lungs started to burn as all the chaotic thoughts in her head told her she was dying. Her heart's loud, erratic beating was the only sound i
“You’re looking weak, Ezekiel. There are ways around those rules, and you know them. You should show the vampire prince who he will bow to when you become the Alpha. If you become the Alpha.”His father’s words still rang in his ears long after the dreaded check-in phone call. If he became Alpha? That was all he had been waiting for, for six fucking years. Now, his father thought he could dangle it in his face like that.He lounged by the pool while Claire and her friends swam—if he could call it that. They were in the water, but they didn’t look wet. They were still perfectly made up when anyone else would have been a wet mess. How the hell did they even do that?“Did you tell him—”“Yes,” he interrupted Myles. He didn’t want to think about his father right now. How was it okay for him to punish the vampires for a minor infraction committed away from the academy but his father didn’t even have the balls to gut the wolves who’d killed his mate? He was such a hypocrite. Talked the talk
Ava felt her muscles relax, and a wave of relief washed through her whole body. Jared’s hands were like magic on her sore body. “That feels amazing,” she said sleepily. “What is it?”“A little something I get whipped up by a witch at home. Helps after hard training sessions,” Jared answered. “If I had known it worked on humans, I would have given it to you sooner.”The fact that anyone with supernatural healing powers needed something like this made her feel anxious again. She flinched when Jared touched a more painful spot on her back. It brought her mind back to the present. “Sorry,” Jared said. “It’s fine.”She let him put it wherever he needed to and closed her eyes. She’d hardly had any sleep with the early mornings and the pain in her body. This was the best she had felt in what seemed like forever.“Turn over,” Jared instructed.She mumbled a protest, but Jared laughed and turned her over himself. It didn’t feel as painful as she had thought it would. Keeping her eyes clos
Monday was even worse than anything she could have imagined. Being shoved against walls by supernatural beings was a lot like being hit by a car, she imagined. By the time lunch rolled around, she was already bruised and in pain, even though Jared’s cream had worked wonders on her previous bruises.Emily joined her as she had done most lunchtimes now.“I thought you would look worse than that today.”Sundays were the only days the Omegas got off to catch up on their own things. Since she had hung out with Jared the whole weekend, she hadn’t come to the dining hall and hadn’t seen Emily since Friday’s training.“I would have if Jared hadn’t helped me,” she said between bites of her food.Emily tensed and then quickly looked around. What had she done wrong now?“It’s Alpha or Mr Anderson,” Emily whispered urgently. “You can’t refer to the future Alphas by their name. You need to understand the rules, Ava.”Seriously?“Do they want me to call him Master, too,” she snorted. Emily clearl
Screams. Blood. The crunching sounds. Screams. Blood. The crunching sounds. Ava sat up in bed with her heart in her mouth. She expected the same excruciating pain she had every time she moved her body so roughly, but there was nothing.Not even a headache from the insane girl’s punches.Her heart was still pounding when she looked around, and she realised she was in a hospital bed. The curtains were drawn around her, but she could hear beeping machines not too far away. They must have brought her to the infirmary when Claire knocked her out. That was a first. Usually, they just made sure she came to and then left her on the mat in the training hall to go about the rest of her day. Whatever magic they did to her at the infirmary was excellent because she felt better than she had in a long time. Why hadn’t she thought to come here last week? It would have saved her a lot of energy. Being in constant pain was mentally draining.The medication they had given her made her feel like she c
Zeke parked his car on the driveway and gripped the wheel tightly. He could feel the change coming as Ava’s scent overwhelmed him again. The heat of her mouth, the little whimpers she’d made as he’d tasted her, how responsive she had been to his touch, the way she had moulded her body to his as he had urgently ground himself against her. He had been so close to marking her.He groaned and closed his eyes. And then the scent of Ava’s blood hit him all over again; it was so strong in the confines of his car that his rage returned. He’d been fighting that constantly since he first saw Ava unconscious at the Training Centre.So many strong emotions were raging inside him that he didn’t think he could hold Shadow back this time.Pain. Rage. This inexplicable bond to Ava, calling for him constantly, pulling him towards her, making him want to be with her all the time.The whole time he waited outside the infirmary, his senses had been tuned to her beating heart, and Shadow had thrashed ins
When Ava arrived at the kitchen for her duties, the supervisor seemed surprised to see her as she assigned the jobs. Whether it was because she was on time for the first time or because she had heard about her disastrous training session, she didn’t know. As she pulled out all the equipment needed to keep the kitchen clean, her mind was still stuck on Ezekiel and his kiss. Why was she reacting like this to him? She had no control whatsoever. One touch and he could have done whatever he wanted to her. She wouldn’t have stopped him. It was disturbing.Her first kiss and it had been with that arrogant Alpha. She would never get that first back.She ignored the looks and whispers until she finished her assigned jobs. Then she changed into her uniform to go into the dining hall for breakfast. There was a hush as she walked out from the back as if it wasn’t obvious that they were all talking about her. She rolled her eyes as she grabbed a tray and joined the queue.“You!”Claire. Why was s
Waiting for the shoe to drop was excruciating. No one had shoved or insulted Ava all day, but she heard them whispering. This was one of those times she wished she was a wolf so she could hear what they were saying about her.In Housekeeping, they were being taught to fold napkins, and even that failed to get her usual angry reaction. Her stomach got tighter with every second that passed as her fear of what was coming increased. She did everything she was told like a robot, and it was possibly the first Housekeeping lesson that hadn’t ended with a detention.At lunchtime, she made her way to sit in the quad. The thought of eating anything was making her feel sick.The dean had taken one look at her and told her to get out of his office. Since she had no cuts or bruises, she had nothing to argue about how severely she had been hurt in the last training and was warned to stop taking up his valuable time. Penelope had cancelled all her pre-booked appointments. Her only hope of leaving h
“Can we even do that? Can we yield?” Ava asked again as she paced Zeke’s dressing room floor.Her anxiety levels were through the roof, and she didn’t think even Zeke could get her out of this.What the hell was happening today? She'd expected her day to be over by now. She’d expected to be recovering in the infirmary by now or Zeke’s bed, where she usually woke up after something like this. But here she was, about to fight expert fighters—Zeke’s equals who were probably as ruthless as he was.“It’s against the rules. You invalidate all your progress for the term and get a day in Isolation,” Zeke said quietly. She whirled around to face him, horror filling every part of her. Even Jared warned her about Isolation and how it broke someone. Zeke seemed to have come out unscathed, but she knew how much pain he had been in. How could someone like her survive that? And why would anyone do that to themselves on purpose?“Is that vampire crazy? Does he have a history of doing such messed up
The moment it sunk in that she won, she was in Zeke’s fancy dressing room, and her three housemates were looking at her as if she had grown another head. She sat stiffly on a sofa, looking at them as that thought kept going round and round in her head. She won.She beat Douche Dexter.And then something else occurred to her. She was going to have to fight again. She was going to have to fight a student at the advanced level.“What the hell have I just done?” she whispered.Zeke, Derek and Myles looked at each other and then back at her. Goddess knew what they were mind-linking each other, but they all probably also realised she had just screwed herself. There was no way she could fight anyone more advanced than Dexter. That was a death sentence!“How did you do that?” Derek asked.“I don’t know,” she answered, rubbing her temples. “I just got angry, he’s always an asshole... What have I done?” As the adrenaline had worn off, she had expected the pain from his blow to return, but the
Ava walked straight into the ring, and everyone in the arena started to quieten down. She told herself to breathe. This match would be her real test after fighting the beginners, so she had to let all her fear drain away as she had been taught to do. She told herself she didn’t need that vampire’s blood; she could fight under her own steam. In the silence of the arena, with all the students and faculty looking on, she concentrated on counting her breaths so she wouldn’t have an anxiety attack. To be more effective, she had to do what she told Robert that morning. She had to pretend no one else was in this room except her opponent, whoever that would be.As she waited, she started her stretches. She was lucky that she was flexible, but sometimes fear made her body freeze up. That couldn’t happen today. She had no idea how much longer she would be in this school, so she could have just lost all her matches earlier and avoided all of this. But she had her pride. She could admit that. A
Ava hadn’t managed to eat anything, and Zeke sat in the dining hall opposite her, not even pretending to eat. He sat so still as he watched her that she wondered what scheme he was hatching in his head. Would it get him sent to Isolation again? Or much worse?Zeke’s gaze only shifted from her when his body tensed, and he looked at the entrance. Moments later, a group of students entered the dining hall. She recognised a few of them as the vampires who had visited Zeke last night.The whole dining hall quietened down as they stopped to look around. Since vampires didn’t eat solid food, she had never seen any in the dining hall before, and those, in particular, she would have remembered. Like last night, she was struck by how powerful their allure was. Not as strong as the dean’s secretary or the Councillor, but such strength was rare in people so young. Wolves and vampires were natural enemies, even if the Council forced everyone to co-exist. She hadn’t imagined they would willingly i
Ava wasn’t surprised when she heard Coach Baxter’s booming voice calling her name. She met his gaze and saw the cruel smile on the man’s lips. He would enjoy every hit she took as if he was delivering it himself. She stood slowly and lowered her gaze. It was one thing to antagonise the coach during training, but there was an entirely different atmosphere in the arena and hundreds of people watching. She couldn’t openly break the rules. She felt hundreds of pairs of eyes on her as she walked into the wrestling ring and stood in one corner. Silence descended in the arena. She was sure the only sound they could hear was her loud heartbeat. Were they all waiting to watch her get her butt kicked? The whole school had to know by now how many times that had happened in training. Would it be the same now?She risked looking up and then had to look down again. The coach hadn’t announced her opponent and seemed to be enjoying making a spectacle out of her. The other levels hadn’t started yet;
Zeke led Ava into the Assembly Hall. He didn’t make an entrance like Jared had done on the first day of school, but the students who had already arrived turned around to watch them walk in anyway.Ava kept her eyes down and only looked up to look around for a seat. When she started to walk to a group of Omegas, he pulled her back and led her to his section. She didn’t protest, but once they sat down, she looked at him as if to ask what he was doing. Maybe Ava finally realised that Jared had purposely sat her in the Alpha section on her first day. But she wasn’t scared as she had been that first day. All he could sense from her was anxiousness.Jared walked in last with a few of his pack mates and didn’t even meet his gaze as he found a seat behind him. He’d yet to speak to that asshole, but he had expected that by now, there would be whispers around the campus of his activities in the training room. There had been nothing.An Alpha being with a human was unheard of. It was one thing
Ava tried to stay awake because she was curious about what Zeke had to say. Would he try to justify his rotten attitude? And if he did, would she mindlessly follow everything he said?And she was constantly thinking of when she would be able to see Mr Patrick again. With Zeke moving her detentions and being around her all the time, she couldn’t get away to find him. How could he help her get out of this? How was she supposed to prepare for the Council?Could anyone prepare for the Council?But her tiredness caught up with her, and she drifted off to sleep.When she woke, dawn was breaking, and she was nestled against a warm, hard body. She felt the tingles start in her body and shot out of bed immediately.That was not happening again!Zeke’s eyes were open, and he popped himself up onto his elbow to look at her. He had an amused smile on his stupidly handsome face.“Your bed is too small for me. You really need to move into my room,” he said.Sleep made his voice huskier, and parts o
Zeke stood just inside the glass doors and watched Ava sitting by the pool with her knees drawn. She had showered and then prepared her own food, which she had eaten in her room as she had done the other night.She was still pissed off with him. Her calling him Master and pretending to be submissive was a dead giveaway. How long was she going to keep this up? ‘She’s completely messed you up.’ He turned to watch Derek approach and then looked back at his little human. Though a weight had been lifted off his shoulders when he told Derek and Myles who she was, it was still irritating him that they were here to witness all this. A little human had felled the mighty Ezekiel.‘What are you two even fighting about?’ Derek asked in the mind link as he came to stand next to him.‘I don’t know,’ he answered honestly.He was frustrated. After waking up in Ava’s bed the other morning and embarrassing himself after he’d dry-humped her like a human teenager, he’d expected she would at least let h
Ava went to her lessons that day and the day after with all her anger fuelling her. She was grateful that the other students left her alone since that display by Zeke and his pack in the cafeteria the other day, but even that was pissing her off.So she had begged them to stop making her life hell and they didn’t listen, but one word out of Ezekiel’s mouth and suddenly even the teachers weren’t saying anything to her? In training, the coach hadn’t insulted her a single time, even though she could see in his beady little eyes that he was itching to do so. Then Ezekiel informed her that her detentions had been moved to allow her to train a little longer for the mocks. The dean had supposedly agreed. Bullshit. Utter bullshit. When the coach blew his whistle to signal the end of the session, he told them to try not to die during the mocks and left the room. She shook her head as she headed to grab some water. “Ava.”She turned to watch Zeke approach. It was funny how she had become les