Page 26 of Ava: Part One

Ava tensed when his large hand came down, and he picked a strand of her hair that had escaped her ponytail. It was stuck to her skin on the side of her neck, making her realise she was sweating.

She didn’t know what she had expected when he did that, but it wasn’t how he gently tucked the hair behind her ear. And it wasn’t the deep breaths he took.

It certainly wasn’t the way he brought his head down to the crook of her neck and sniffed her skin.

Her brain fizzled again because of the contact, and she let out a gasp. He was taking her scent in to hunt her; she knew that. But as his nose trailed up the side of her neck and his hand lowered to her ponytail and pulled it to tilt her head for greater access, she couldn’t think past how good it felt.

The fear, the anger... everything was forgotten. Her eyes closed as something she had never felt before filled her body.

Things were jumbled in her mind as Ezekial lowered his other hand to slowly trail his fingers down her arm, causing a surge of electricity through her body. The heat, the weak knees, the incredible cologne... everything whirled in her mind, making her forget herself.

Then his hand went around her waist and pulled her forward. Her eyes widened when she felt him. Ezekiel lifted his head from her neck, and this time she looked him in the eyes again. Red was bleeding into amber as his eyes held so much heat, so much need, that it instantly melted her bones. If he hadn’t been holding her up, she would have been a puddle at his feet.

“No, that’s not what you need to fear at all,” he whispered.

His voice was husky and called something within her. She had never been wanted by anyone before, and the fact that it was this man should have sent her running for the hills.

“Leave, Ava, or you will end up in my bed. And I don’t think your fragile body can handle me and my wolf.”

Could anyone handle him and his wolf?

His words penetrated her foggy brain, and she widened her eyes again.

What in the world was she thinking?!

This man was insane! Who went around doing all of this to complete strangers? She pushed against his chest until he set her down.

“Don’t touch me again,” she snarled. “I will never end up in your bed. And if you want me to leave, you go and tell the Council to let me go.”

She turned around and unlocked the door.

“Don’t walk away from me, Ava.”

She didn’t know why she was antagonising him again, but she ignored him and headed back to the gym. Her mind was still a jumble as she wondered how the hell she had allowed herself to end up in his arms.

Chapter 19

The training session was unlike anything Ava had ever seen.

Her head had still been a mess when the other students started piling in; she could still feel Ezekiel’s body against hers. It made it hard to concentrate. All the First Years were in this class until they could be evaluated and separated, so they were asked to pick an opponent. Almost everyone wanted to fight her, but the coach told them he would pick an opponent for her. Then he told them to run laps around the gym for a warm-up. That almost killed her. Jogging was not her friend, and it was unfairthat she still had to do the same number of laps even after all the others had zoomed past her several times and finished before she had even completed the first lap.

She had been wheezing as she completed the second lap, ignoring all the laughter and taunts. Trying to catch her breath had taken all her focus. At least it had taken her mind off Ezekiel.

Then, thankfully, the coach had told her to get off his floor with a few choice words. She was sure teachers were not supposed to say that to students.

Coach Baxter was a stern man and looked like the human military type with his short buzz cut and combats. He hadn’t even looked in her direction even once after that disaster, but he had given her another Omega to fight with. A boy who looked as frail as she did but kept smirking in her direction as if he thought he had already won the match.

That had been over an hour ago, and she’d sat on the floor alternating between watching the students trying to kill each other and the unhinged Alpha, who had his arms crossed across the room. Ezekiel hadn’t stopped looking at her since he walked back into the hall after the coach, and it made her breath catch. She felt stupid for that. She would not be one of those girls who fell all over people who were blatant assholes.

“Who taught you how to fight? Your mother?” Coach shouted.

That statement brought her attention back to the coach and made her instantly hate him. Was every instructor or teacher going to be like this? When her dad said the Council had antiquated rules, she hadn’t paid much attention to it, but the ignorance she had already experienced on her first day was shocking.

Her pack may have mostly hated her, but her father made sure everyone had the same opportunities. There was nothing like ‘women’s work’ or ‘men’s work.’ The wolves trained everyone equally, and everyone was free to do whatever job they wanted.Her gym teacher was a scary Hunter called Gisele, and nobody had messed with her. She would have shown Coach Baxter how to train people properly.

She shrieked when a body landed at her feet, drawing everyone’s attention to her. The vampire seemed unconscious and seemed a little bit... broken. Instead of helping the poor student, everyone was more concerned with laughing at her.

The wolf responsible for hurting the vampire took a bow in the middle of the mat with a laugh, and his friends cheered for him. He was big, so she knew he probably had alpha blood. On closer inspection, she realised it was the douche who had shoved into her that morning.

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