Page 57 of Ava: Part One

“Yes, but have they approved this? You’ve told me to keep my head down all day, but you want me to break this rule?”

“Relax,” Jared grinned. “I’ve spoken to the dean. Now go and freshen up before you die of hunger; I can hear your stomach growling.”

This had to be the best news she had had since she arrived. Would she really be allowed to stay here until her dorm washabitable? She quickly rushed up the stairs to the room she had been directed to and saw her suitcases placed in front of a double bed and some shopping bags. She hoped he hadn’t gone through the trouble of buying things for her; this was already too much. She already felt a bit more secure just being in this room and knew she would sleep well tonight.

She rushed to shower and pulled out sweats and a T-shirt from her suitcase, one of the few things that Claire hadn’t ruined. When she rejoined Jared downstairs, he looked like he had also freshly showered. She smiled at him as he led her to his dining room, and the smile widened when she saw the feast laid on it. Jared led her to a seat and pulled her chair out like a gentleman. No one other than her family had ever done anything like this for her.

“You really live alone here?” she asked as he filled a plate for her. This seemed like overkill for just one person.

“Just me and my Omegas,” he said. “Dig in.”

As always, the meal was delicious. When she was finished, Ava was stuffed, and it felt like she had eaten all her rage away. She knew the moment she left this house and went back to classes, the rage would return. So, she chose to take advantage of the peace Jared was offering her for the night.

“You can call your family as well if you want,” Jared offered as he handed her a non-alcoholic drink.

Her heart ached as she accepted the drink. Although she had tried not to think of her family the past two days, she was desperate to hear their voices.

“I can’t. They’ll want to know how I’m calling during the week, and I can’t tell them what’s happening,” she said sadly.

Jared nodded sadly as he picked up a beer for himself and put the TV on. When was the last time she did something as simple as this? Jared sprawled onto the other sofa.

“It’s okay. Only a few more days, and you can call them,” he said. “Now, what do you want to watch?”

She didn’t know how long she stayed up, but her lack of sleep had her nodding off in the middle of the movie. Jared switched the TV off and ordered her to bed, and she didn’t resist.

She had just freshened up and changed into her pyjamas when she walked back into the room and saw something outside the balcony.

Not something. Someone.

She gasped and stepped back when all she saw was the hulking shadow and the red glowing eyes.

Just like that, her little bubble burst, and her anger returned. She walked to the balcony doors, maintaining eye contact before she closed the curtains and turned away.

“Psychopath,” she muttered before she went to bed.

But no matter how tired she had been, all she could think about now was Ezekiel. What was wrong with her that she would feel like this about a wolf like that? He was everything she hated! But still, it didn’t stop her from remembering the feel of his lips and the hardness of his body.

Until her eyes finally closed, and the nightmare returned. Only this time, it was Claire she was ripping to pieces.

Screams. Blood. The crunching sounds. Screams. Blood. The crunching sounds. Over and over again.

Chapter 40

Zeke went to the library before sunrise the following day. Not that it mattered. He hadn’t slept for... Shit, he couldn’t even remember now. The librarian seemed surprised to see him, but she didn’t comment when he walked over to a shelf to start browsing.

The library was open twenty-four hours a day to allow students to keep up with their studies on top of their training schedules. It was the biggest structure on campus, with a vast atrium structure and several floors around it. It was usually fullof students after training, but at this time, he had known it would be empty. Most people were still asleep or resting before the start of another gruelling schedule. Lucky bastards.

The night after Ava had been attacked, he had gone back to wait in the woods behind her room, switching between hoping Claire and her friends would come back and hoping he could get into Ava’s room to finish what he had started. He’d only gone home once he had followed Ava to her duties and made sure she had gone in.

When Ava had left the dorm, the sun hadn’t even risen yet, and she hadn’t looked behind her a single time. The human knew Claire was waiting to hurt her, but there hadn’t been an ounce of fear in the air. What the hell was wrong with that girl? Couldn’t she sense the danger all around her?

Then, when he had been set to follow her back to her dorm after detention, that bastard had been waiting for her. Breakfast together twice in a row, and now what? They were living together?

Shadow growled in his head, but he put his mental walls back up. Last night he had probably had the worst night since all this shit started. Ava was testing his limits in a way he had never been tested before. He couldn’t even blame Shadow for this because he was the one who wanted to follow them. He was the one who’d wanted to make sure Jared didn’t touch her. He was the one who’d been on her balcony like a pervert. Seeing them together had almost broken him, and that wasn’t right. He didn’t want Ava like that. He didn’t want the bond.

That shit ended today.

He turned back to walk to the middle of the atrium to the librarian’s desk and pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. Miss Donovan was a vampire who had been the librarian here probably since the old building had been built. She kneweverything about everything and would know that one of the books on his list had nothing to do with any of his subjects.

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