Page 53 of Ava: Part One

“Say my name,” he said, his voice cracking slightly.

She looked away from him and crossed her arms.

“I’m an Omega. I’m not allowed to,” she said bitterly.

Ezekiel sighed and sat back, and the car started moving. The driver and his friend were probably in Ezekiel’s pack; they knew where to go without Ezekiel saying it out loud. She expected them to let her out, but she was surprised when all three wolves sniffed the air and then tensed as they looked at her dorm entrance.

The growl coming from the Alpha’s lips brought goosebumps all over her skin as fear washed over her again. What was it now?

Chapter 37

Zeke didn’t give a shit that the Omegas sitting in the common room downstairs were all startled when he crashed the doors open and marched in. Claire’s scent was all over the place. He wrinkled his nose and followed it down the hallway to Ava’s room. He had finally managed to push Shadow back where he belonged while he had been distracted with Ava, but now the beast was howling to be let out again.

What was she even doing here? Was she trying to take her vendetta outside the Training Centre? He growled at the thoughtbut then realised he should have expected this. This was Claire. She had always been a calculating bitch; this was not beyond her.

He opened the door, but he had already sensed that Claire had left, and not too long ago if her scent was this strong. Shadow wanted to go and hunt, but he had regained enough strength to shove him back so hard that, with the silver still in his system, Shadow wouldn’t come out again soon. The fact that it was Ava who had calmed the beast down enough for him to be able to control him again proved his point. The human was a weakness that he couldn’t afford.

Shadow’s earlier words came back to his mind.

She’s yours, too...

It was this bond; he knew that. Caring so much for a stranger's well-being was ridiculous, and it felt like the longer she stayed, the stronger the bond became. He was being compelled to give a shit, and that was bullshit. He would do better without Ava in his life.

He stepped over some toiletries on the floor and walked further into the room to the window. The latch was broken, but Claire and her minions hadn’t come through the window. They had blatantly walked in through the front door, which meant they were planning to come back again through the window. Claire seemed to have destroyed everything. The bedding was ripped, and Ava’s stuff was all over the floor. And on the wall, Claire had used her cherry lipstick to leave a message.

‘Human trash. You don’t belong here. Go home before you die.’

He had been afraid something like this would happen when he discovered her room was on the ground floor. Shadow’s protective instincts went into overdrive again; he had to clench his fists a few times.

“What the...”

He turned to watch Ava walk in with Derek and Myles behind her.

“I told you to stay in the car.”

Ava completely ignored him as she walked over to her bed and picked a few ruined clothes from the floor. He didn’t bother looking at his packmates, but he could feel their scrutiny. He was acting out of character, but he wasn’t ready to explain all of this yet—not until he found a way to get out of it.

“Who would even do this?”

And then her gaze stopped at the message on the wall. The blue eyes turned ice-cold when she read it. He hated that Claire had been there, but what she wrote was true. Ava didn’t belong here. She did need to go home before someone killed her.

“Someone telling the truth,” he answered.

Ava looked directly at him, and her gaze changed from ice to fire. Blue fire. No one had ever dared to look at him like that before. Her gaze singed every part of him, and he found himself wondering what it would take to break Ava, to make her submit to him and use all that fire in a more productive, satisfying way. Her lips twitched, and she raised her head, and he found her defiance exciting him just as much as it excited Shadow.

With a stubborn set to her jaw, Ava walked past Derek and Myles while holding up the ridiculous sweatpants that the infirmary had given her. She wrenched the door open and looked directly at him.

“Please leave. I need to clean,” she said.

“You’re not safe here. They broke the lock on your window,” he stated.

“That’s my problem to deal with,” Ava said.

His packmates were looking at him as if they had never seen him before, and that was the only thing that stopped him from arguing with her and telling her she was fucking insane. Sheneeded to stop being stubborn for once and go somewhere safer for the night.

But he couldn’t risk saying anything that would give him away.

‘Take her!’ Shadow growled.

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