Page 11 of Ava: Part One

He took another deep breath before he looked at his friend. Why did he look so worried? He was known for his control over Shadow. It had been years since...

He looked away from Derek again to start walking down his driveway. All he wanted was to find where this scent was coming from. There would be no trouble tonight.

“Go back to your girls. I’m not staying out too long,” he commanded.

Maybe that made him a dick because Derek had to comply instead of following him. But he wasn’t going to let anyone stop him.

People moved out of his way as he went up Jared’s driveway. They stopped talking as he looked around, trying to find the source. But it wasn’t outside. He followed it into the house and stopped just inside the doorway. The scent was everywhere there. With a frown, he followed it into every room before he came to the kitchen.

The Omegas in the kitchen dropped what they were doing and shrank back. Knives clattered on the surfaces; trays fell to the floor. Zeke didn’t pay them any attention as he looked at the food on offer. He poked a piece of steak that looked like it was cooked to perfection. He had nothing but a few bites of his pastry at lunch, so looking at that meat should have made him want to eat it. None of it smelled like what he wanted, but he was practically drooling standing there. Starved. But not for this food.

He eyed the Omegas one by one, but all he could smell on them was fear.

“What else have you made? What’s that scent? Like vanilla and something fruity,” he demanded.

They didn’t lift their heads to answer him. He wondered if Jared had ordered his Omegas to never interact with him. Scowling at them, he walked around the kitchen island to stand beside them. Shadow was going crazy, in complete agreement with him. They would not be denied.

“Tell me what else you made,” he growled.

The Omega swallowed before she said, “This is everything, sir.”

He didn’t sense a lie. He growled in frustration as he backed off and left the kitchen.

If it wasn’t food in the kitchen, it had to be on one of the guests. He followed the scent to the wide-open back doors, where he could smell Jared and his pack. The patio was full of people being loud and obnoxious and participating in things they knew were not allowed on campus. But Jared was an arrogant asswipe who always flouted the rules. He would fail as an Alpha.

If he lived long enough to become one.

His nose pointed him to a spot somewhere in the loungers by the pool. First, he noticed Jared laughing at something.

And then he noticed her.

A little woman with a massive plate of food on her lap. He couldn’t stop his eyes from glowing as his body filled with the undeniable need to ravish her. He took another deep breath, and the scent almost knocked him off his feet. It was her.

Vanilla. A hint of orange blended so perfectly that his body started to react. And human.

He recoiled back. Human?

And then Shadow said something that didn’t make sense but still filled him with dread.

‘Mine.’

Chapter 8

Ava didn’t feel even a bit self-conscious as she wolfed down the food on her plate. It hit the spot—all the spots. She was sure she moaned as the juicy steak went down her throat. It was better than any steak she had ever eaten. Okay, maybe this guy had the right idea by getting his party catered. She was a convert.

She peeked at him from under her cap and found him watching her, tracking her movements. Like the wolf he was. She suddenly remembered where she was as she looked aroundfor a napkin. But there was no point. She was still eating; it was inevitable that it would go all over her face.

“I’m sorry. I’ll wipe my face after I finish eating,” she said.

The wolf laughed, a hearty sound that brought more attention to her. The party guests hadn’t stopped watching her since this Alpha had brought her outside.

“Eat however you want, Red. As you can see, nobody gives a shit around here.”

When she looked around, she noticed that even though the others kept looking at her, they were all engaged in one very shocking act or another. She had read about the human parties before and how wild they could get, but these people seemed to have taken things to a different level. Looking at the people at the front of the house, she would never have imagined the back was full of debauchery.

Somebody was sucking on someone’s neck against a wall. There were half-naked people all over the place. And some were... She looked back at her plate before she could see any more.

She would finish her plate and go. This was no place for her.

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