"I don't tell you how much I appreciate you," she murmurs, gazing up at him."I don't mind that," he shrugs, and she shakes her head."No, you deserve to know how great you are. I value you so much as a person, and I appreciate your loyalty and care much more than you'll ever know," she begins nervously, "when something happens, you're the first person I want to tell. I can't seem to spend enough time with you, and even when I'm with you, I miss you, because I know you'll be going soon."Her confession is made in a small voice, and she looks over his shoulder at a tree to avoid his eyes.Before he can open his mouth, she continues."I love you," she blurts out, clapping a hand over her mouth.What the fuck did you just say, Sonya screams.It just came out, Avery roars back, panicking immediately.Take it back! Hit him on the head, make him forget!, Sonya screeches, her eyes as wide as possible."Shit," Avery mutters under her breath, staring at Roman, who looks ready to faint.His fac
The rest of the weekend had been a little awkward.The sparks had begun, and Avery jolted every time Roman touched her, even if it was just a brush off as he walked by.Roman was falling hard and fast, and the four days together only solidified that.Nobody had caught on yet, and Avery had no idea how.The lie they had created was that their wolves had imprinted on each other. Although it caused some raised eyebrows, since imprinting wasn't really done in modern times, her parents had simply accepted it, nodding along with the excuse if anyone questioned it in front of them.Light, silky scarves had been Avery's go-to accessory to hide her mark.It was the middle of summer, so she couldn't exactly start wearing polo-neck jumpers.Roman had it easy - he just wore collared shirts whenever they had to go and be around people."That was fun," Avery grumbles, yanking her scarf from around her neck and flinging it onto the bed as she itches."Stop scratching, you'll make it worse," Roman re
The evening was disastrous.It seemed like every fighter Avery had trained had stage-fright for a while, and some of them had even refused to fight the next day.Avery had ordered a tonne of pizza and ice cream to calm them down, even though the Generals didn't exactly approve of her methods, one of them going as far as to call it a 'bribe'.Sure enough, after they all had some carbs, they calmed down, and Avery had gotten them to talk about why they were afraid of fighting the following day.Some were afraid of disappointing their parents, and for those kids, Avery organised phone calls home to the families, with the parents under strict instructions to only be encouraging about the event taking place.Some were terrified they'd just do terribly, and Avery told them there was no shame in not winning. Her words did nothing to help, so Avery enlisted the help of some of the counsellors who were supplied by the Council, who organised the Trials with the help of some of the Senior Alphas
It's totally empty, and Avery wanders down the well-lit hallway towards the floor's kitchen.Once she arrives, her eyes land on Scott and Mike.She gives them both a genuine grin, jumping up onto one of the counters near them."Hey, guys," she beams, swinging her legs happily, "I hope I'm not interrupting.""You're not," Scott says with a frown on his face as he stares at her.His eyes are on her neck, and her own eyes shoot open as she realises that she doesn't have her mark fully covered.Fluffing her hair in an attempt to make it less visible, she looks around the small kitchen, stopping on Mike."How are you?" She asks with a cough, glancing at Scott to see him still staring intently at her throat."I'm pretty good, I'm missing Meredith," Mike says with a sigh, running a hand through his short black hair as he leans against the sink, a bottle of beer in his hand as he gazes over at Scott."You're looking at her like she's going to vanish, take a chill pill," Mike groans, shaking h
.....and Avery yelps, wiggling out of his hold."You monster," she grumbles, closing the bathroom door in his face as she walks over to the sink.She brushes her teeth and washes her face in record time, taking a minute to pee and sort herself out.She's finally fully awake when she reopens the bathroom door, glancing over at Roman, who plopped himself onto the bed."Okay, how much time do we have?" She asks as she applies her moisturiser, digging through her suitcase."Fifteen minutes till breakfast," he nods, and she squeaks, pulling out a pair of leggings and a workout top.The judges can be called in to stop fights, and she has to be dressed for it."Hurry up!" She exclaims once she realises that he isn't making any move to get dressed."I was waiting until you were done in the bathroom!" He responds in a matching high-pitched voice, scuttling into the bathroom with his hands raised in innocence.As soon as the door shuts, Avery clambers into her clothes, brushing her hair while s
"I know you're all going to do amazing, even if you don't. Just take your time, and ask for a pause if you need one. I'll be there, watching every fight that you guys are in. I've even planned my bathroom breaks around the schedule, so I'm not missing any," she grins, and the last part gets some small laughs out of the kids."Thanks, Alpha," one of the girls nearest her smiles, and Avery grins at her, recognising her from the weaponry lessons she held a few weeks ago."Play to your strengths, whatever they may be. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't," Avery reminds them, patting a few of them on the shoulders before she leaves.She knows that some of them want to sit in silence, and the few who chatter when they get nervous are sitting together at the end of the table, keeping the conversation going at a mile a minute.She feels a small smile appear on her lips as she walks back to Roman and Scott, shaking her head as she goes.She slides into her seat as a plate appears in front
This is what they mean by the mate bond, she thinks ruefully.Yes, it is, we're magnetised to him, Sonya says dreamily in response.Avery wanders over to where he's sitting, sliding into the uncomfortable seat beside him and taking his hand nervously."What's wrong?" He asks, glancing at her in concern."I'm just nervous one of the kids will get hurt," she mumbles, running a hand through her hair as she looks around at all of the spectators.The youngest children start off the fighting, with girls going before boys.The first rounds fly by, and Avery digs her nails into Roman every time one of her kids take a blow in the ring, her teeth drawing blood from her lips more than once."Relax, they're okay," he whispers, cringing a little.Right after he utters those words, one of the children take a particularly vicious hit and slams into the ground, making Avery leap up from her seat and race over to the barrier."Michael," she roars, and the referee blows his whistle aggressively."Non-a
The excitement in the air is infectious as Avery enters the room, a grin on her face.As soon as she enters, the teenagers release a roar, startling the nearby packs into moving away.Avery has to stop herself from snorting out loud at the sudden fleeing of the nearby people, and she barely has a chance to think about the entire thing before her pack engulfs her into a humungous group hug.They all start talking at once, and Avery can't focus on any voices, deciding to shush them and suggest that they take turns so that everyone is heard."Are we all happy?" She beams, and they all hoot, the trophies being lifted aloft and wiggled about, the light beams catching the shiny metal and reflecting around the room in rainbows."I'm so beyond proud of you all," she grins, shaking her head in disbelief as she looks at each and every face that surrounds her.The facial expressions on the teenagers range from simply satisfied to gleeful, all of them chattering to each other excitedly as they sh