Page 13 of Ava: Part One

“Thank you. For everything,” she said, unstrapping herself again.

“Anytime. Go and prepare for tomorrow,” Jared chuckled. “And good luck.”

Good luck? Why would she need luck?

Jared had made a U-turn and was driving off before she could ask. She sighed as she carried her bag towards her dorm. Compared to the other buildings, the Omega dorms seemed to have been built as an afterthought. Maybe they had run out of money after splurging on the other dorms.

She was pulling her keys out of her jeans when someone stepped out in front of her.

Stepping back, she realised it was the angry man from the party.

“You need to leave. You don’t belong here.”

Chapter 9

Ava looked around to see if anyone else was around before she looked at the angry man in front of her. Jared’s car was long gone; there would be no one to hear her screams. She should have asked Jared to wait until she was inside. She should have remembered what always happened when she was left alone.

Challenging a wolf in unfamiliar territory was a bad idea. She looked down, as her brothers had always taught her to do. With her cap on, she couldn’t see him at all. This man was clearly anAlpha; there was no mistaking the aura of danger surrounding him. Her heart hammered in her chest even though she tried to calm it. Fear always made Alphas crazier, like it was an aphrodisiac.

“Did you hear me?” he growled.

“Yes,” she answered quickly.

The door to her dorm was right behind him, but she knew nothing would prevent a determined werewolf from ripping it off its hinges, even if she managed to escape. She couldn’t run from a wolf.

“Phoenix Academy is no place for humans. Don’t unpack your bags. Leave, or they’ll carry you out of here in a body bag.”

She knew that. If Mrs Benton had listened to her, she wouldn’t have been in this situation, but she couldn’t just walk out of the Academy grounds. That would be defying the Council, which would lead to dire consequences for her and her family. She would wait it out. They would see the truth themselves.

“I can’t—”

“You can,” the man growled, stepping so close to her that she could see his shoes and feel the heat from his body. With how loud her heart was beating now, she could have woken the whole dorm. “You’ll leave, or I swear to the Goddess I won’t be held responsible for what I do to you.”

She swallowed, still looking at his shoes.

“I’m going to try to sort it out,” she whispered.

Over the years, her skin had grown so thick that her pack members couldn’t get a reaction out of her. But this man, with all his anger, was filling her with so much fear that her whole body trembled. She tried to take deeper breaths, but all she got were lungfuls of his cologne—something spicy that she would have appreciated in a different situation.

“Look at you. Trembling like a little bird. They’ll smell your fear miles away and rip you apart,” he whispered.

She could feel his warm breath against her ear, and now that he wasn’t growling, his voice washed over her like a balm. Though she wasn’t looking up at him, she heard his deep breaths, as if he were taking her scent in. Her heart beat a little louder. When wolves went on a hunt, once they caught their prey’s scent, there was nowhere it could run that they wouldn’t catch it.

“Do you know why this place is named after the Phoenix? Because it’s designed to break us and burn us down until there’s nothing left. But you, little human, you’ll never rise from the ashes,” he said.

She didn’t understand why his voice eased her when he was saying things that should have ramped up her anxiety. But whatever the reason, it gave her enough of a backbone to take a small step away from him.

He growled in warning so she didn’t move anymore.

“Thank you for the warning. I’ll stay out of the way until the Council tells me I can leave,” she whispered.

She had to remember her father’s words. He had been teaching her to survive as a human among wolves since she was fourteen after puberty had hit, and they’d realised she wouldn’t shift.

Her stomach growled loudly at that moment, uncaring of the danger she was in. The man stepped back from her, and she held her breath, anticipating something bad. Her fingers gripped her bag of food tightly as she closed her eyes. Maybe she should have packed a weapon after all, even though they were forbidden. How would she protect herself if everyone was like this?

When nothing came, she opened her eyes and risked a look at the man. She had been right about his eyes. They were glowing red, and his fists were clenched at his sides. She had never seen any red-eyed wolves before, but she felt the chill to her bone asif she were standing in the presence of evil. His jaws were tightly clenched, and he looked like he was fighting something.

“Did they not feed you at home? Were you mistreated?” he growled. “You have no meat on your bones.”

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