Page 39 of Ava: Part One

The question had been on her mind with every blow she had taken.

“You know we can’t say anything,” her dad sighed. “I’m sorry, Ava. I didn’t want you to get more anxious. But I also believe I taught you everything you need to survive. Hold your head high. Follow the rules like your brother said, but do not take shit from anyone. You’re much stronger than you think; you just have to believe in yourself.”

That was a lot easier said than done. The more she opened her mouth, the more the other students targeted her. But she didn’t tell him that as she let the conversation drift to other things. By the time she had spoken to all her brothers, she had a smile on her face for the first time since she arrived.

“Have you made any friends?” Caleb asked.

She smiled as Jared walked out of the house, followed by an Omega with a tray overflowing with food.

“Yes, I have.”

When she finally ended the call, Jared had fixed her up a massive plate of food.

“And you’re saying you do all this, but no one is lining up to live with you?” she teased as she accepted her plate.

“I don’t do this for just anyone,” he snorted.

“Then why me?”

Jared shrugged.

“There was someone last year... I guess I wish I’d helped him, too.”

He didn’t explain further, but she knew this was the incident that upset him when the dean mentioned it in assembly. Jared was only sad for a moment before he let a smile on his lips.

“Eat up. You need to get your strength up for next week.”

She started eating, but for the first time, she felt maybe she could do this. She just had to stick to her original plan: keep her head down and put a filter on her mouth. She had already survived being beaten for a week. Surely it would be someone else’s turn next week?

Chapter 28

Monday was even worse than anything she could have imagined.

Being shoved against walls by supernatural beings was a lot like being hit by a car, she imagined. By the time lunch rolled around, she was already bruised and in pain, even though Jared’s cream had worked wonders on her previous bruises.

Emily joined her as she had done most lunchtimes now.

“I thought you would look worse than that today.”

Sundays were the only days the Omegas got off to catch up on their own things. Since she had hung out with Jared the whole weekend, she hadn’t come to the dining hall and hadn’t seen Emily since Friday’s training.

“I would have if Jared hadn’t helped me,” she said between bites of her food.

Emily tensed and then quickly looked around. What had she done wrong now?

“It’s Alpha or Mr Anderson,” Emily whispered urgently. “You can’t refer to the future Alphas by their names. You need to understand the rules, Ava.”

Seriously?

“Do they want me to call him Master, too,” she snorted.

Emily clearly didn’t get the sarcasm because she tensed more and still looked worried.

“Read the rules,” Emily said again.

“The rule book is like a million pages. How am I supposed to read and remember all of that?”

“You’ve broken so many so far, but you’ve been lucky that the only consequences are detentions. I’m scared for you, Ava. Rule-breaking can have life-changing consequences.”

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