Page 38 of Ava: Part One

She let him put it wherever he needed to and closed her eyes. She’d hardly had any sleep with the early mornings and the pain in her body. This was the best she had felt in what seemed like forever.

“Turn over,” Jared instructed.

She mumbled a protest, but Jared laughed and turned her over himself. It didn’t feel as painful as she had thought it would. Keeping her eyes closed, she allowed Jared to continue his magic on the front of her body. He had dug up a bikini set from somewhere. She’d never worn bikinis because they exposed too much, but she was glad Jared owed some, for whatever reason. The tiny scraps of material allowed him unrestricted access as he moved his hands everywhere she needed him to.

She moaned when he started on her arm. She’d hurt her shoulder more with her duties in the kitchen, but now, like magic, the pain was almost gone.

“All done,” Jared said when he finally stopped.

“Thank you,” she said sincerely. “This is the third time you’ve saved me. I don’t know what I can do to repay you.”

“You don’t need to repay me. Your company is enough. No one ever really visits here unless I’m having a party,” Jared sighed.

Did his pack members not live with him? He sounded a little sad when he said that. She remembered how upset he had been at the assembly about something the dean said. Something about last year’s evaluations? What was his story? Though he’d had his hands all over her body, she didn’t feel they were close enough for her to ask such personal questions.

“Now, do you want to tell me what had those tears on your face? Besides the pain, that is,” Jared said as he moved over to another lounger.

“It’s nothing. Maybe I’m just homesick. I wanted to speak to my dad, but I was in too much pain to wait in the queue,” she sighed. “But thanks to you, I’ll be okay to call him tomorrow.”

“You don’t have to wait. You can use my phone.”

She opened her eyes wide to look at him. He had a phone? Weren’t those not allowed?

“All future Alphas have phones,” he explained. "Landlines, so the Academy can still restrict our usage if we misuse them. But on weekends, it’s unlimited.”

She sat up on her lounger and looked at him eagerly. Jared was saving her in more ways than he could ever imagine.

Moments later, an Omega came out of the house holding a cordless phone, and she could have kissed her. Jared had probably used their pack link to give her instructions.

“Thank you.”

She didn’t know why she was already blinking back tears as Jared stood.

“Take your time. I have things to do, and then I’ll see about feeding you.”

She eagerly dialled her dad’s number, which was answered on the first ring as if he had been waiting by the phone.

“Baby?” Alpha Roland said instead of a ‘hello’.

“Hi, Dad,” she answered.

And then she burst into tears. She had so much she had wanted to ask him, to say to him, but just hearing his voice on the other end of the phone made her miss her father so much. Until now, she hadn’t yet faced the reality that she wouldn’t likely be taken back home.

“Shh. Don’t cry, Ava. Everything will be alright,” her dad said over and over again.

It was a while later when she could finally get some words out.

“I don’t think it will,” she sniffed. “I don’t even know why they’ve kept me here when they can see I’m not like them.”

“I believe you are, Ava. You know I always have. But say the word, and I will come and get you.”

“I don’t even know where I am,” she answered with a sob. “And besides, you know I won’t let you do that.”

Even after students left this place, the Council was still a thorn in the backside. If they punished her family, they would destroy her whole pack. She disliked most of them, but they were still her pack. She couldn’t do that to everyone.

“You are more important to me than being Alpha,” her Dad said. “I would do anything for you.”

“So why didn’t you tell me?” she asked, her voice cracking.

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