Sweeping into her office, Avery makes sure her dress doesn't get caught in the door as it closes.Hayden playfully wolf whistles, and Mitchell shouts for her to do a twirl.Avery bashfully obeys, doing a little spin and a mock curtsy."What time is Roman landing at?" Hayden asks with a wide grin on his face, putting the file in his hands down."I think we have half an hour until he gets here," she beams, taking a seat behind her desk and gently pushing her curled hair behind her shoulders."What are your plans today? You were supposed to be going to Moonstone Mountain today, but I'm guessing that's been changed?" Mitchell asks, and Avery shakes her head."No, he has business there too, so while he deals with his business, I'm going to spend time with baby Emmett," she grins, and Hayden lets out a low whistle."You shouldn't wear that dress for taking care of a baby, they're grubby little creatures," he warns, and she grins wider."I have a pair of jeans and a t-shirt in my bag, don't
....on her face, glancing up at Roman.She winks at him, and he feels his lips tug upwards automatically, his face being forced into a smile as he gazes over his shoulder at her."Do you love our Alpha?" One of the kids asks curiously, his bookbag falling off his shoulders as he trails along behind Roman.Avery doesn't hear the question, and Roman is sure of it as he glances around and spots her a few meters behind, bent down and conversing with a few of the younger kids."Why do you ask? Aren't you a little young to be asking about love?" Roman retorts, a grin on his lips as they enter the dining hall.He nods to some of the Generals who are scattered around the room, and they grudgingly nod in his direction, moving out of his way.It isn't out of respect though, and he knows it - it's to try and avoid being sucked into the large gaggle of children surrounding him."Well, my mom always tells me about how she loves my dad, and then whenever she lets me watch the Disney movies, they're
The car ride to Zephyr's is mostly quiet.Avery's day has been turned upside down, and she has a lot of paperwork to deal with before they even get to Moonstone Mountain.Her heart aches for Mitchell, but a selfish part of her can't believe Kathleen revealed herself on one of the only days Avery isn't on packlands."He'll be okay, Ave, don't worry," Roman mutters, glancing up from his own laptop to take a look at Avery.Her face is screwed up in a mixture of stress and disgust, and he gets out of his seat."Do you want to talk right now, or do you want some silence?" He asks softly, and Avery sighs."I want a hug," she mutters, and he engulfs her in his arms, patting her back lightly."Is there anything that I can do?" He asks, and she shrugs."I don't think so. Filling in these approval forms is literally killing me," she mumbles, pushing her hair back."Okay, then I'll do it," he suggests, gently prying the forms and the necessary file away from her."I need to do it, I'm the Alpha,
"If you had been killed, I would have dragged you back to life and then murdered you myself," he hisses, speeding up to walk past her.He sends Zephyr a text to tell him they're going to run the rest of the way to his territory, and as he sends it, Avery clears her throat behind him.He pockets his phone and turns around, his eyebrows rising and his jaw dropping slightly as his eyes land on a very naked Avery.She grins, and then immediately shifts, nudging the bag of her clothes on the forest floor with his nose.He stoops down to pick up the back, and she shakes her head, a wolfish grin on her face.He puts the bag down and unbuttons his shirt, folding it and then putting it into the bag.He slowly strips off, Avery sitting in front of him with her legs crossed, her ears perked up to listen for any invaders.Once he finishes packing the bag, he bends down over her, securely fastening their clothes to her back.She stands up and waits for him to shift, Sonya impatiently waiting for h
"Can you imagine if we had a baby?" Roman asks dreamily, speaking more to himself than her.We? Excuse me? It would be us having the baby, Sonya argues irritably."Sonya doesn't like your phrasing," Avery comments lazily, glancing over at him with a hand shading her eyes."Fine. Can you imagine a child we created?" He rephrases with a grin, his whole body turned sideways and facing her.His tan is going to be so uneven, Sonya comments."It would be so dominant it would be ridiculous," Avery responds, and Roman releases a puff of air.His grin has turned to a bit of a frown, and Avery quickly sits up on her chair, furrowing her brows."I'm not saying I don't want a kid," she explains hurriedly, "I just tend to think on the negative end of things, you know that.""I still think a child is a good thing, so I don't appreciate you trashing our metaphorical demon spawn," he retorts, his tone half teasing and half hurt.Aw, we fucked up, Sonya groans."You haven't even marked me yet, why are
"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