LUCAS had Ava's backcuddled to his chest as they watched Sleeping Beauty. He would never say it outloud but it was actually his favourite Disney movie.Her small body was clad in one of his large shirtsand some cotton shorts. The bruises on her body were fading but would stillbring her slight pain when she moved sometimes. Lucas' jaw clenched and hishold on her tightened as he thought of the people responsible for bringing hislittle mate pain. It was hard for him to not kill the disgusting excuse ofhumans. He managed to settle for a few of his female pack members to take theirturns in torturing the girls.The pride in his chest was overwhelming when hewalked out of class to see his delicate Ava, kicking Ruby in the stomach. Hetaught her self defence sometimes and she was really good too but never likedviolence so it was surprising.Ava's pink lips moved as she quietly sang alongwith characters. He remembered how soft her lips felt when they took eachothers first kiss. Adm
"NOW we chop theapples." Ava mumbled to herself. The radio was on low in the background soher hips swayed to the music. She never thought she was the best dancer so madesure nobody was in the kitchen before moving her body to the soft beat.Lucas had dropped her off at his house beforegoing back to school for his football game. She hadn't been to any of his gamesbefore because he said it was too dangerous. The crowd would often get wildwhen cheering their team on so he didn't trust that Ava would be safe there.She told him she'd enjoy it but knew that deep inside, she would just want togo home. Crowds weren't her thing, surrounded by loud noises and people gettingaggressive. She would've wanted to support Lucas though.Bored with nothing to do, she decided to bakesomething as she hadn't done for a while. When she was home schooled, there hadbeen much more time to bake tasty treats for Lucas but now, she barely hadanytime to sleep with all the homework and stress from surpr
Miss Lillian turned to herand saw an innocent smile on the girl. Ava was helping to cook but she waswaiting for Miss Lillian to pry for details. It was quite a shock that she andJoe may have a crush on each other but after a thought, she realised howperfect they would be together. Lucas thought so too but was no where near asinvested in match making as Ava was.The cooked in silence with the music still in thebackground before Miss Lillian couldn't take it anymore and gave in. "Whatdid he say?" She may pretend she wasn't interested by Ava saw straightthrough. The blush as she asked the question was evidence of that."He was wondering when you'd stop declininghis dinner offers." Ava told her.Miss Lillian grimaced. "I don't know dear.""Do you like him?" The grin on Ava'sface was wide as she looked at the woman with curiosity.Shyly, she nodded but groaned, squeezing her eyesshut. "Gosh I'm too old for this. I shouldn't even be thinking aboutdating at my age. I haven't even
IT was the day of thecarnival trip and truthfully, Lucas was looking forward to it. He nor Ava hadbeen to one before and he loved that they got to share the memory together.Unfortunately, their friends also planned to tag along.Lucas was on the phone with Ava as she shoutedexcitedly about the day trip. He was doing some paper work for the pack,knowing he was really behind on it. The only thing making it bearable was hismate's sweet voice."I heard they have a Ferris wheel too!"He hummed. "I'm sure they do.""And- and they have those games. You knowthose ones where you shoot the ducks and throw the balls." She stutteredin excitement, trying to tell Lucas everything she knows. Ava had overheardsome girls talking about the carnival in one of her classes and she couldn'twait to relay the information to Lucas."That's great." He agreedabsentmindedly, trying to focus on the documents but seriously distracted byhow cute his mate was being."Lu Lu! Pay attention to me!" Ava whin
"We're going on a tripin our favourite rocket ship. Zooming through the sky- ""Shut up!" The three werewolves allshouted at the same time, interrupting Jackson's incessant singing. He had beenrepeating the same line over and over again much to the annoyance of everyonein the car, apart from Ava. She sat there giggling at how grumpy Lucas was.They all decided just to take one car as it wouldbe easier. Ava had to sit on Lucas' lap as there weren't enough seats, which hewas fine with. She snuggled closer to him, his fingers playing with her hair."We're here!" Ryan announced, leading toAva frantically ripping the door open and jumping out of the car. Lucas watchedher run a few steps before turning around and looking sheepishly at the othersstill in the car.Quickly unbuckling his seat beat and stepping outof the car himself, he reached Ava, taking hold of her hand. "You! Don'trun away ok? Just because I agreed does not mean it is suddenly safe. You haveto stay by me and hol
AVA was sat next to Ryan onthe couch, fiddling with Lu Lu the Second, bored as she watched him play aviolent video game on the TV. She didn't want to go back to the children's homebecause that would be even worse and Lucas told her to stay in the house.He's been even more protective since yesterday atthe carnival. Ava didn't know why he made such a fuss over it not being safewhen he was perfectly fine with it the previous day. He wouldn't let her gomore than a step away from him yesterday and now she had to stay in his housewhile waiting for him to finish working.That was another thing. Ava was worried about howmuch he was working, spending hours in the office. She could tell he was reallystressed about something but she had no idea what it could be.On the other hand, she was thankful to have sometime away from Lucas. It gave her time to think about what happened yesterday.Or what could've happened.She couldn't stop replaying the moments in hermind but then again, she
Ryan pulled Ava off hischest and looked in her eyes, perhaps to look for any signs of lying. When hefound none, a grin split his face as his eyes lit up with happiness. "Whyare you smiling? This is terrible! I- I'm in love with him!" His smiletripled."Ava this is amazing!" He shouted."No it isn't! He's not going to want to be myfriend anymore." She sniffled and rubbed her sore eyes with the back ofher sleeve.Ryan looked like he was trying to hold hislaughter in, making Ava slightly angry. Couldn't he pretend to be sad too?!"Yes he will. Don't be silly Ava. He loves you!"She felt her heart crumble to pieces smaller thanit was before. "Yeah... as a sister." Her small voice managed tocroak out, hoarse from the crying.Ryan didn't know what to do to comfort Ava. Hejust rubbed her back as she broke down. "Want me to get Lucas?" Hesuggested but was immediately shot down with a loud no. Wanting to call forbackup and having no other choice, he texted Jackson what had happened
HE couldn't even feelanything. He was completely numb apart from a dull ache found in his chest -the place his heart should be.Lucas was still in shock from what happened lastnight. He could hardly register that it was even morning considering he hadn'tslept at all. He had been stressed since getting the threatening letter butnow... he couldn't even function.All he had to do was get snacks to bring back forAva and he couldn't even do that without getting sneaked up on by a rogue. Withhis mind consumed by thoughts of his mate waiting at home for him, he wasdistracted enough for the rogue to claw his chest before Lucas even saw it.After quickly killing the rogue and mind linkingsomeone to clear the body, he was annoyed at how he could be so easilyattacked. He was supposed to be an Alpha yet one small rogue managed to cut alarge diagonal line across his chest. Disposing of his ripped shirt, he walkedhome, hoping that his chest would heal before Ava saw it.Unfortunately, t
after the end: lucas' pov Lucas stomped downstairs with a pout as Ava locked him out of their bedroom to prepare for her own costume. Having no interest in celebrating Halloween, he let his little Ava choose his costume and organise how they'd be celebrating the holiday. He remember how her blue eyes lit up with excitement as she rambled about the different couple costume ideas she had and wrote them all down in her joker notebook. Lucas knew he couldn't deny her the simple happiness so he reluctantly became her doll to dress up however she wanted. Unfortunately, he did not expect her to dress him up in his usual all black outfit covered by a red hood with a basket of mini muffins. He was little red riding hood. And he was not happy. "It'll be fun, she said. I'll love you forever, she said." He mocked in an imitation of Ava and grumbled under his breath, "yeah you better love me forever after this." "Woah. Look at you!" Ryan said when he reached the kitchen. "What're you suppos
"Yes but you're goingto be ok." Lucas said through gritted teeth and began to strip himselfdown to his boxers. "I'm going to take your clothes off, ok baby girl?Skin on skin contact will help with the pain. We don't have to do anything butI'm staying with you." He assured her.She gave him a weak nod and wrapped her handsaround his neck and weaving her nimble fingers through hair, attempting to pullhim down to her. He gave her a quick kiss and then without hesitation, shed Avaof her shirt and jeans, leaving her in a pair of, to his surprise, dark redlace bra and thong.Oh Moon Goddess give me strength.Knowing he didn't want anyone to disturb them andwalk into the room, especially any males, he ran over to lock the door and thenscooped Ava into his arms. He made sure his scent surround her as hispossessiveness was at an all time high. He wanted her to forget anyone elseexisted.Her screams subsided when their limbs wereintertwined with each other's. Lucas' arms enveloped
"WHAT do you call acow that eats your grass?"Lucas stifled a groan as he lost his train ofthought again. His mate was continuously thinking of one terrible joke afterthe other, aiming to make him laugh. He hadn't been concentrating on schoolwork recently anyway because he had been preparing for the Luna ceremony thatwas tomorrow. So, he didn't need to be distracted with lame jokes. He alsodidn't want Ava to fail her exams if she wasn't paying attention."Listen to the teacher Ava." He scoldedher."WRONG! The answer was lawn moo-er. LawnMOO-er! Are you laughing? Are people looking at you weird?" She laughedevilly through the mind link."Ava l- "She interrupted him by saying, "now this one!Why did the cat go to Minnesota?"He decided to humour her and finally asked,"why?""To get a mini soda!" When he didn'trespond for a few long seconds, she sighed exasperatedly. "It's not asfunny with our accent. Here, I'll say it again in an American one so pretendyou don't know the a
A day later, Ava wasaddicted to Chamomile tea. It was definitely helping her control her emotionsso with that, she felt it was a tiny little bit easier to lie to Lucas. Shedidn't want to but there was no other option.She told him that she was going shopping withSabrina after school but in actual fact, her father was taking her to thepsychiatric hospital to visit her mother. When the idea was brought up to hermate, he instantly said it was a bad idea. He thought she could get hurt bothphysically and emotionally from the visit. Apparently there was no good outcome.But, Ava knew it would provide some closure and ifher mother could get better and become the loving mother she had alwaysimagined, it would be worth it."Are you nervous?" Her father asked herwith his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. He was visibly sweating alittle as he strained a smile in her direction.She shrugged, feigning a calm composure but on theinside she was the exact opposite. "Kind of. You?
"HE hates me!"She wailed hopelessly to Sabrina.A little part of her felt guilty for forcing herfriend to endure her endless babbling but the larger part of her didn't reallycare about anything other than the misery she was feeling. Ava had spent therest of the day wallowing in self pity as she would continually cry out thather mate didn't love her, only to have Sabrina disagree every time in anattempt to console her.But no matter what she said, Ava wouldn't believea word until she had her Lucas cuddling with her like he was supposed to do.She internally pouted at the fact that he wasn't doing his job."I'm sure he doesn't." Sabrina repeatedfor the thousandth time. "He's absolutely obsessed with you. It'ssickening really."She peered up at her with a distressed look."Then how come he hasn't come back yet?" It was nearing midnight andhe hadn't even returned any of her calls or messages. She was worried about himand nobody else seemed to know where he went when she mind li
"Lucas. Let go of him!Please." Hearing the fear in her voice broke him out of whatever trance hewas in. Lucas turned around to wrap his arms around Ava and she hugged him backjust as tightly. His whole body was shaking with the urge to shift and show theweak wolf who was Alpha. He nuzzled his head her neck, breathing in her mangoscent with her soft hair caressing his cheek. He needed to hold his mate - makesure she was there. That she was with him and she wasn't leaving him.As Ava rubbed her hand soothingly up and down hisback, he repeated mumbled, "you're mine. All mine. Not his. Mine. Mygirlfriend. My mate. Mine to love." He held her close to him, kissing themark on her neck with his eyes squeezed shut."Argh. Geez that hurt." Lucas heard theinjured Edward say but he didn't stop from muttering his words, as if he wasconvincing himself, telling himself they were true and that there wasn't abetter person for her. That she belonged to him because he only belonged to her."
WITH the night spent awayuntil the early hours in the morning in their wolf forms, Lucas immediatelyfell into a deep sleep as soon as his back hit the bed. He faintly rememberedhis little Ava climbing underneath his arm and snuggling into his chest before,she too, fell asleep.As he slowly regained consciousness, he felt eyesboring into his skin. His arm covered his mate's waist while the top of herbody leaned on his torso. He could tell she was close to his face from thesmall puffs of air that hit his skin every time she breathed.He made sure not to make any sudden movements thatwould let her know he was awake because he was curious as to what she was goingto do. He felt Ava's small fingertip lightly press onto his eyebrow, tracing itbefore moving onto the other one. He stayed still whilst she ran her fingerdown the ridge of his nose and booped it, eliciting a giggle out of her. Lucas suppressed his laughter at his weird mate'sactions, subconsciously tightening his grip
She jumped and looked ather mate. Feeling extremely happy he was there, she tried to run to him, onlyto trip over her own paws. As Lucas crouched beside her, she noticed how muchsmaller she was compared to when she was a human. Yapping happily, she jumpedup and down, licking his face as he chuckled."You're adorable. Look." He showed herhis phone with a picture of a beautiful blonde wolf. Cocking her head to theside, she analysed every inch of it. It was a small thing. It looked more likea puppy than a wolf. This is me? She rested her head on the grass with a huff.Ava had expected to be big and menacing like her Alpha mate. Not a tiny pup."Can you hear me?"She jumped again, startled at the voice in herhead that sounded a lot like Lucas. Nuzzling her head into his leg, shewhimpered and whined in fear that she was going crazy."Don't be afraid. It's just me. You can nowmind-link me because you've got powers." Lucas reassured her aloud."Hi?" She asked hesitantly in her head
EVERY part of her body wasin pain. Her muscles ached, making her feel like she had ran a marathon whenshe hadn't even moved from her bed since coming home from their short holiday.Her vomiting had subsided but she felt hot and cold at the same time, whileextremely uncomfortable in every position she lay. Ava squirmed on the bed,bitting her lip to stop from screaming out in pain and disturbing everyone inthe pack house.Her eyes were shut tightly with tears spilling outof them. She felt Lucas pull her, now, bleeding lip from her mouth, gently withhis thumb. Whimpering, she reached out for his hand and put it to her face,wanting to feel the tingles he gives her. She wanted to feel something otherthan pain."I'm sorry this is happening to you."His voice broke as he kissed her temple. "I'm so so sorry, baby."The door opened and heels clicked on the floor,followed quickly by someone clearing their throat. "Alpha." Someone,a woman, said."Please tell me what's wrong with her."