Page 7 of Ava: Part One

This was not how it was supposed to happen. This was where she should have been told that a mistake had been made and arrangements would be made for her to return home as soon as possible. She had even been prepared to accept her mind being altered a little so she could forget the past few days and live like she had not received the invitation at all.

Magic was magic, but surely mistakes could still be made?

Her heart was still pounding as she struggled with her case down the steps at the entrance and then rushed over to the fountain.

There, she sat on the edge and looked numbly at the water as she contemplated her future. Was she really expected to live among them? To train with them as if they were of equal strength? The boy’s words from earlier played back in her mind. Was this a prank? Did she piss off someone that bad that they thought this was the perfect way to pay her back? She quickly dismissed that thought. No one in her pack had that much sway that they had any sort of relationship with the council members who decided these things.

When she looked up, she realised there were fewer people around now. She didn’t know how long she had sat there, but she took deep breaths and trained her body to calm down.

It was okay. Mrs. Benton didn’t listen to her, but someone was bound to take this matter up with whoever ran this place once she started her lessons.

With that conviction, she took a moment to look around properly. The old building in front of her did look like a minefield of history, but so did the others she could see to the side of it. Maybe she could learn a little bit more about the place before they kicked her out. And she was curious to know where the actual classrooms and lecture halls were.

And then there was the giant water feature in the middle of the fountain, a spherical shape with water sprouting from the top and cascading down the sides. When she looked closely, there seemed to be some symbols on it, and if she wasn’t mistaken, it was silver. That was odd. She’d never met supernaturals who would purposely have anything silver near them, considering it could kill them.

She shrugged as she finally looked down at the paperwork and pulled out her dorm information and a map.

“Wow,” she said to herself.

It seemed the grounds she had seen as she had entered weren’t even half of it. The map went on forever, though it had several areas marked restricted. The learning facilities were separated by speciality, like a regular college, and large areas were marked for the other training she would not be able to participate in.

And she had been right about how far she would have to walk daily to get to class. When she located her dorm and then the building where she would complete most of her academic studies, she mentally screamed. She would be drop-dead tired by the time she walked to class.

Maybe there would be some sort of transport information in her welcome pack. She looked over everything twice and then sighed. There was nothing. She would have to ask her roommates how things worked.

With a sigh, she put her paperwork in the bag on top of her suitcase, grabbed the handle, and started walking. She didn’t know exactly where they were, but it was bloody hot and not a good day for long walks.

When she found her dorm, she was too sweaty, hungry, and thirsty to care that it looked nothing like the ones she had walked past. Nobody looked at her twice when she walked in, and no one was at the front desk. There were many sets of keys on the top, though, so she didn’t hesitate to find the one for her room.

Once she found it, she went straight to the little kitchenette to look in the fridge. There was nothing in there. No bottles of water, no food. With a sigh, she opened the tap and let it run a little before drinking as much as needed. Then she took a long, cooling shower and then wrapped her body in a towel without drying even her hair. She didn’t bother to dress or look around the room to see how many girls she would share with and if they had already arrived. She dropped herself on the only bed with folded bedding at the foot and closed her eyes.

Just a little nap. And then she could think straight enough to figure things out.

Chapter 5

Zeke looked at the offerings set out for the buffet with disappointment. Though all of it was quality food, as was expected at this academy, considering the amount of money most of them had to pay to be here, none of it smelled as amazing as whatever had been prepared earlier.

“Have you changed your mind?” Derek asked as he loaded a plate full of food.

Sighing, he picked up a plate and put something on it without paying much attention to what it was. He seemed to have losthis appetite without the delicious offering he had been looking forward to.

When he picked up a bottle of water as well, he looked over at his usual table and saw Myles already sitting there with a group of girls—Claire’s group of friends. The three girls went everywhere together and always forced their company on them, as if Claire was trying to pair up her friends with his, too. They turned up at every single place they went—like magic. The girls never ate in the cafeteria, so he could only guess that somebody had told them they were there.

With another sigh, he walked over to his table, nodding at some of his counterparts along the way. This school taught them how to be diplomatic and maintain relationships, and he thought he did that quite well. It didn’t matter that some of them rubbed him the wrong way or that he sensed a lot of fear in them; it was his job to maintain the peace.

“Hi, babe,” Claire smiled brightly.

Babe? He frowned at her as he took his usual seat at the head of the table and then opened his bottle of water without answering.

Maybe it was time he thought about ending this relationship. Even before his father arranged his mate, he had always known he and Claire wouldn’t go beyond a few tumbles in the sheets during the semesters. But Claire had become so comfortable with him that she constantly used these pet names. His father would lose his shit if he ever heard her call him that.

“Is that all you’re having?” Myles asked, nodding at his plate.

“Turns out I’m not hungry after all,” he answered.

He could sense Claire’s feelings. She hadn’t liked being ignored, but he was pretty sure it was something he did regularly. Why she still stuck around was beyond him. No, actually, it wasn’t. She wanted the honour of being called thenext Luna of the Blood Moon Pack, even though he had never put that offer on the table.

She was beautiful enough for that role. She was all chest and butt, and she was strong enough, as proved by how well she did in their combat classes. Those had been, and still were, the only reasons he had picked her in the first place. But he wanted a little more in the brains department for his future mate. And he didn’t want a girl who would worry more about her wardrobe than being the mother of the pack. The woman his father had picked for that role ticked all those boxes.

---