Page 119 of Ava: Part Two

"Advance to the Advanced level, definitely," the coach continued. "But she yielded in her first match on the last day, and, uh... The rules say all her progress for the term is invalidated."

Alpha Morgan pulled the Katana out of its sheath and inspected the markings. The steel glittered in the afternoon sunshine that filtered in through the windows.

"But," the coach continued quickly, "when lessons start on Monday, I will inform her to start in the Intermediate sessions because she has demonstrated to me that she's very skilled and... And she works very well with her classmates."

Alpha Morgan sheathed the Katana and put it back on the wall. Then he looked over to where he was sitting and gestured to the door with his head.

The show was over. Alpha Morgan had said everything he needed to say without saying a word. If they weren't leaving this weekend, he was sure the coach would have fallen all over himself to please Ava in the training sessions.

He grinned as he followed the Alpha out of the room. Why couldn't his father have been this cool?

The halls were still clear as if everyone was waiting for them to leave before they returned. When they walked out, Alpha Morgan let out a satisfied sigh and rolled his neck.

"Remind me not to piss you off," he said.

"Shall we go eat something before we check on them?" Ava's father asked, already walking towards the dining hall.

"We've been gone long enough. I don't trust my father, and he's been busy making allies this weekend."

"Mr Patrick can protect her. I think he's right. With your true mate bond, you're even more of a distraction. She needs to be able to concentrate."

What he needed was to take his mate out of there and find a place to hide her before the academy realised she was gone. What he needed was time alone with her without the fear of death hanging over their heads.

They were newly mated, for fuck's sake, but they couldn't be alone.

He was about to protest again when he felt Ava. She was scared. Alpha Morgan stopped at the same time, and they both turned back towards the house. He jogged as he removed his clothes, and the moment he was naked, he shifted.

It was his father making his move because he had left the house; he was sure of it. He should never have left them alone.

Shadow's paws thundered through the street, and beside him was a wolf bigger than any he had seen before. Ava's father was almost as big as he was. He was a rare white wolf, rumoured to be the strongest and purest of Alphas. The opposite of Shadow, whose lust for blood stained his soul. Alpha Morgan's strength made sense to him now.

He could sense a large group of people the closer he got to his house. They were almost there when three women stepped into the road and chanted something as they held hands. He'd been too focused on what was happening to Ava to realise they were being ambushed.

Everything went dark, and the wolf beside him whimpered and stopped. The darkness disoriented him. He could no longer tell which direction Ava was in as all her emotions hit him from all directions. She was in pain. His mate was being hurt.

This was nothing like the magic in the forest, but the witches were strong.

He stopped moving and lowered to his stomach. And then he focused, just as he had watched Mr Patrick teach Ava for hours. He calmed his mind and blocked out the confused, unfocused emotions to focus on the soft chanting of the witches.

He focused on their breathing. He focused on the sound of their hearts, which began to beat faster as if the witches could see his senses had locked onto them.

Without giving them a chance to react, he launched himself at them, breaking their contact and stopping the spell.

The light returned instantly, with the witches screaming and begging for their lives. But he had no time to deal with them as he ran to his house.

And he got there just in time to see Ava shout, "He is mine!" as she continuously punched the shot out of his father.

He abruptly stopped behind some of his pack members, and Alpha Morgan stopped just seconds later.

His father was unconscious.

The Alpha of the biggest pack in the country was unconscious.

Holy shit.

Chapter 73

ZekewatchedAvagoback into the house and then shifted into his human form.

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