Ava took a quick shower in the ensuite. Her bruises and cuts from training had already healed. She forgot to ask Jared about his cream the other night, but surely the effects should have started to fade by now?She had no time to worry about it as she went to her wardrobe. The only clothes Claire hadn’t ruined were already in the wash and not suitable for a party. Jared knew her situation. Had he not thought of this? She felt a little bit ungrateful for thinking he was selfish; he probably had a lot on his mind, too. She was about to pull her old sweats and T-shirt from the bottom of the laundry basket when she remembered the shopping bags she had found with her suitcase on her first night. She pulled them from the bottom of her wardrobe and emptied the contents on her bed.Her eyes widened. Jared had bought her clothes, and not the off-the-rack ones she was used to. The labels made her eyes bulge out, and just thinking of how much he had spent made her eyes water. He was insane! W
The rage in him was indescribable.He felt his own anger mix with Shadow’s as he barreled into Claire and clamped his jaws down on her hind leg just as she launched herself at Ava. Claire’s father was a Beta, and Claire had taken after him, so she was almost as big as an alpha. She whimpered and tried to snap at him, but he caught her in the middle and tossed her the way she had done to Ava.Blood lust took over him when he saw the blood trickling down her fur. She had almost killed Ava. Blood for blood. He didn’t give a shit when she whimpered and tried to roll onto her stomach. Her submission meant nothing to him and Shadow. They were ready to finish Claire on the spot when several enemy wolves surrounded him. His rage increased, and he knew the bloodbath wouldn’t end with just Claire.He released the wolf’s throat and snarled in warning at Jared’s pack and friends. They were no match for him, and they knew it. The stench of their fear was heavy in the air as they took several steps
The bed felt so comfortable that Ava snuggled in further when she slowly started to wake. She couldn’t remember the last time she slept so well. It felt like she’d been hit with a dose of magic to get rid of all her tiredness and worry. She wriggled a little more under the covers. And then froze.She opened her eyes, which widened when she saw the unfamiliar room in the early morning light. And that meant the warm, hard wall that was currently spooning her was indeed another person.Her heart pounded out of her chest as she shot out of the bed and turned around, and then horror filled her when she realised she was standing in front of Ezekiel with no top on. She covered her bra quickly.Why was she in his bed?Ezekiel was leaning on his elbow as if he had been watching her sleep. As if he had let her wriggle against him on purpose. With his hair tousled and his shirtless chest exposed, he took her breath away. If there was ever a person blessed by the Goddess it was this man. Every i
Ava didn’t wait to finish her breakfast. She asked Emily if they could go straight away, and before she knew it, they had visited Mrs Benton’s office in the main building and acquired two passes. The Welfare Coordinator didn’t even bat an eyelid or look away from her screen when she made the passes appear on her desk and even when she stamped them.“Don’t you need anything from your room first?” Emily asked as they walked down to a side of the campus she had never been to. “I already have my purse.”It seemed darker here, somehow, even though the buildings looked the same as the others. The air felt different, almost as if it was colder, making a shiver go down her spine.“No, I just want to walk around a bit,” she answered.Besides, she didn’t want to see Jared or Ezekiel. She’d had her breakfast earlier than usual, so hopefully, Ezekiel hadn’t come to pick her up yet like he had threatened to do.“How do you know Claire is gone?” she asked as they approached a gate smaller and less
It was the wrong time to have a panic attack, but Ava couldn’t stop it.As Claire advanced, the pressure built in her head. She’d thought she could escape somehow if she came out of the academy gates to find a way out of town; she could have been on her way home before the end of the day. But here she was, about to face death for the second time in a few hours.“Alpha Ezekiel is too good for a human like you,” Claire continued. “He will be Alpha of the biggest pack in the world in a few short months, and I will be his Luna. I don’t know why you thought you could compete with me. I mean, look at you.”Ava began to tremble as she stepped back.“You’re pathetic and can’t fight your own battles. You’re the last thing that Zeke needs right now.”“I’m not trying to compete or be a Luna. I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”“Zeke’s late-night visits to your room? Stalking you? Reeking of your scent every time? He doesn’t take his eyes off you, but you think I’ll believe you don’t kn
Zeke’s father called just as he prepared to pick up Ava. Zeke normally called him when he was ready for the weekly check-in calls, usually after lunch, but his father had called an emergency conference meeting because the rogue attacks had increased in the past couple of weeks.It pissed Shadow off. He had marked the whole territory because he considered it his. No one in the pack dared to dispute that, even though the current Alpha was alive and well. The rogues didn’t dare attack when he was home; it only happened when he was too far away.That was one of the reasons he was anxious to graduate and take over from his father. Nobody feared Ezra Michelson anymore, but they were fucking terrified of Shadow. He paced the room while his father and his Beta and Gamma, Derek’s and Myle’s fathers, filled them in. They had been lucky that no one had been injured, and the warriors had quickly taken care of the rogues. But they had come too far into the territory and too close to the pack resi
Ava was sure her head would fall off when Ezekiel set her down. It was cleaving into itself and jumbling all her thoughts. Her energy seemed to have been sucked from her body; she couldn’t understand why she felt so sluggish. It took her a moment to realise she was alone. Ezekiel left her. Again.What was wrong with that guy?With a tired sigh, she limped to the bathroom. There was a basket of toiletries on the counter that hadn’t been there that morning, as if Ezekiel had spent his time preparing for her to move in with him, but she only glossed over it as she went straight to the shower. She would have loved to soak in the giant tub in this room, but she didn’t know if she could stay awake long enough to enjoy it. It took a while to remove her ruined clothes, and then she finally stood under the cooling spray. She was sure she was sunburnt on top of everything else. She loved being outdoors, but her skin was not made for that.She felt only marginally better when she finally stepped
Ava took a step back from the venom in Jared’s voice.“I... What’s going on, Jared?”“Alpha Anderson,” Jared corrected with a snarl.Her heart sank as she took another step back. How had she been completely taken in by him? There was no sign of the concerned and sometimes flirty wolf she had dealt with before. So why had he helped her? Why had he given her a room in his house? It hadn’t felt like he was faking it, and her instincts would have been screaming if she had been in danger.“Don’t look me in the eyes when you address me,” Jared continued. “Unless you want to challenge me. And we all know how well you do in a fight.”She looked down and swallowed. She didn’t feel scared of him, just a crushing disappointment that Ezekiel had been right.Jared hadn’t even looked for her after Claire attacked her at his party. He didn’t give a shit.“I’ve come to get my things.”“So you’ve moved from one Alpha to the next?” Jared chuckled. “It’s true, isn’t it? You like to see people fighting o
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
Ava closed her eyes when she felt Zeke's pain mixing with her own. "Move."The guard behind her nudged her, causing her to stumble, but she righted herself quickly and continued walking down the hallway. "Faster, human," the guard said, and then he grabbed her arm and half pulled, half dragged her the rest of the way.This was no school. The Council could dress the academy up all they wanted, but it took more pride in the training than the academic side. And now, with the Council soldiers manhandling students, there was no way they could hide it.When she entered the dean's offices, Penelope was already looking right at her. She wasn't typing and ignoring her as she usually did. Her allure felt different. It was still strong; it still drew her towards the woman, but it didn't feel threatening. Penelope looked at the guard who came in beside her and then at his tight grip on her arm. And that was when she felt the full force of the vampire's nature."That's unnecessary. Let her go,"
Zeke sat on the bench in the Quad, watching the seven students standing in the middle of it. They weren't talking; they just stood there as if they were waiting for something. Or someone. He tilted his head and focused on each of them. Their wolves were still there, but he could barely sense them. So, did that mean they couldn't shift anymore?The Council had found them when the dean and his guards had failed. Dead or alive? That was what he couldn't figure out. What the hell had been done to them? And was this Ava's doing or the Council? Claire turned her head to look at the building behind them. Then they all turned. Shadow snarled inside him because he knew what they could sense. Ava. Ava was in that building, still in her lessons, and her heart pumping away. Terrified. He had been tracking her all morning, on the verge of shifting at any little thing, waiting to run to her aid the moment she needed him. If she needed him. He pushed thoughts of the forest out of his mind and
Ava felt all the eyes on her as she made her way to her Needlework class. It was back to the same old rubbish again.Only it wasn’t the same now. Over the weekend, she’d gone and got mated, then beat the crap out of an Alpha, and to top it all off, she'd willingly walked into the darkness of the forest. She was not the same person as before. Instead of shoving her, they were moving out of her way. She couldn't be sure whether it was because they had heard what she had done or they had seen her holding hands with Zeke. However, she didn’t think Zeke’s dad would have publicised what she had done to him. But none of that mattered now, anyway.She’d felt something in her chest the moment Claire and her friends had walked in.The first had been the brief joy when she had realised that she hadn’t killed them. She wasn’t a murderer. She didn’t have to hand herself in to the Council.Then came the feeling of dread. The darkness she felt was coming to claim her had been coming from those stu
Zeke pushed down his emotions as much as he could, but Ava could clearly sense some of them. She'd been looking at him since they'd woken up. He hadn't expected Mr Patrick's plan to work at all. He'd thought it would be exactly like the last time when he'd felt her pain and run into the forest raging. But instead...He looked down at the woman sitting next to him and felt like going back home to hide away. Like what Shadow was doing. He hadn't heard anything from the beast since they'd had their heart broken. But it wasn't Ava's fault. He had to keep reminding himself of that. He sensed Ava's fear seconds before he smelled it. The stench of death and decay. The stench of evil darker than anything Shadow had hidden in his soul. His beast unfurled and paid attention. Something wasn't right.This thing was coming closer to the assembly hall. For Ava? For him?And then he caught a scent that he had thought he would never smell again. It was just a hint as if it was fading, but it was
Ava gasped for air and clawed at her throat as she sat up. Something was squeezing her throat, making it hard to breathe. The darkness was inside her. She could feel it. "Shh. It's okay. You're okay." She felt Zeke's warm, hard body against her bare back as his arms circled her. The relief was instant as she greedily inhaled and exhaled deeply. Zeke's large arms tightened around her as he brought his lips down to her mark briefly. The security she always felt in his arms failed to ease her mind. There was danger all around them, danger inside them, and she didn't think she would ever feel safe again. But still, her breathing evened, and her heart rate lowered. Zeke didn't need to say another word, but her body relaxed as if the nightmare hadn’t happened. "My dad?" she asked."Gone. I did what you asked," Zeke said. Her heart squeezed again. She would have wanted a better goodbye. If the pain she’d felt all over her body was anything to go by, her dad would have been traumatised a
It was almost lunchtime when her father returned. She had been on her way downstairs to eat something when Alpha Morgan knocked the broken door out of the way and marched in.She stopped when he noticed her and her heart squeezed in her chest. Her father was in pain. She could sense that as if her wolf senses were helping her, even though she still couldn't feel anything different inside her. "They're all over the boundary," her dad said. "We have to find a hidden place to cross into the forest."He was still saying 'we'. She walked down the rest of the stairs and went into his arms. When his arms tightened around her, she felt him tremble a little, and her heart broke again. This could be the last day she saw her father.But he would have to go. When the car came for him to take him to the airport, he would leave alone. He had the boys and the whole pack to take care of. She'd had the entire morning to come to terms with that. It was the only way. "I will go into the forest, and