Page 18 of Ava: Part One

“Please take me to the dean’s office. I shouldn’t be here,” she whispered to Jared.

“I shouldn’t be here either, but I am,” Jared answered somberly. “I’ll take you, but my best advice right now is to keep your head down. This place is a lot more dangerous than you think.”

Chapter 13

Her scent was every-fucking-where. It was up his nostrils and clinging to his clothes and skin.

“Calm down, Zeke.”

Calm down? Calm down?! How the fuck was he supposed to calm down when a human was calling to him like she was a siren? He had sensed her presence and smelled her long before she appeared on that bastard’s arm.

She had been touching him! And she had let him touch her! The moment Jared had put his hand on her knee, he had beenseconds from ripping that arm off. Ripping it off and then stuffing it so deep up that stupid dick’s ass before ripping his head off.

Shadow snarled again, doing everything he could to escape his control. He continued pacing up and down the path behind the kitchen, clenching and unclenching his fists.

Last night, she’d had that ridiculous cap covering most of her face and her boyish clothes covering her body, but now he could see her so clearly. When she had walked in, he’d felt like he’d been sucker-punched. She was so small, barely reaching his chest, but the package she came in...the delicate facial features, the curves he could see under her fitted blazer, the way her hips widened at the waist, and the legs... With so much skin exposed, his mind had gone to one place.

Why hadn’t she just done as he had told her? Why had she come to the assembly like she was staying here? Why had she paraded herself, swinging her hips as she walked like she was on some fucking runway? Then, when she’d let that bastard seat her in the Alpha seats, she looked at him like she didn’t know she was doing something wrong. She had met his gaze head-on so defiantly that he had been lost instantly in those big blue eyes.

Shadow wanted to make her submit to him right there. And he had wanted to mark her for all the bastards to see.

That was not good. That was not fucking good at all.

Even now, despite the rage he felt, he could feel the heat rushing through his body as the need to pin her down under him threatened to take him over.

“What’s this about? Was it Jared?” Myles asked.

He didn’t answer them. They were his friends and future hands but were still under his father’s command. They would report this in a heartbeat.

“Are you worried about the Council coming early?” Derek asked. “Look, man. I already said I’ll back you up. Whathappened over the break wasn’t your fault, plus I’m pretty sure that if it was a problem, they wouldn’t have waited all this time.”

‘Mate! Take me to my mate!’ Shadow snapped with a growl in his head.

He shoved Shadow back as hard as possible and told him to shut up. The beast snarled at him, his displeasure colouring everything in his head. Shadow would fight dirty if he got the chance. His beast could be a bastard like that sometimes. This situation wouldn’t end well as long as the girl was here.

His packmates finally shut up when he didn’t answer their questions. He wished they’d just leave him alone, but he needed them there.

In case they had to stop him.

Restrain him.

Save everyone from him.

He was still pacing when Claire’s scent coloured the air. He wrinkled his nose at the unwelcome scent that was desecrating the human’s sweet scent, but the closer Claire got, the clearer his head became. He turned to watch her approach, hoping this was the lifeline he needed. Even Claire would be a better choice for a mate than a human.

“There you are,” Claire said. “I’ve been looking for you everywhere.”

She couldn’t have been looking that hard. All she’d have had to do was follow her nose, and she would have found him. But he didn’t comment as he pulled her into his arms.

Her friends were trailing behind her as usual, but he ignored them as he took Claire’s lips in a searing kiss. It did nothing but agitate Shadow, and he admitted it did absolutely nothing for him. Her kiss cooled him down instead of doing the opposite.

He let her go with a frustrated growl. Claire smiled at him and must have taken his frustration the wrong way because she said, “Don’t worry, baby. I’ll come to you tonight.”

He nodded before turning away and walking towards his first class. He couldn’t help wiping his lips. Derek and Myles came to walk on either side of him, and their worry was like a beacon. The two of them would bring too much attention to him.

“I’m fine,” he said to them.

“You’re not fine, so don’t take us for idiots,” Derek said.

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