Page 33 of Ava: Part Two

She didn’t look at him again and let out a breath of relief when he walked out of her room. Parents’ Weekend couldn’t come quickly enough. She was getting away before she made a decision that would break her heart.

Once she had showered and put on the academy tracksuit, as per the instructions sent to her tablet about the day, she packed a change of clothes in her bag to take with her. Just in case. She knew the coach was itching to get her beaten up again, so today would likely end with her in the infirmary again. She would be prepared this time.

It was a pity she was no longer on speaking terms with Jared. His cream would have come in very handy, too.

When she walked downstairs, she saw a feast prepared on the dining table and heard Zeke speaking in the kitchen.

“...already told you not to do this. We all have evaluations; you should have been training, not cooking...”

Did he really expect the Omegas to do that? Zeke was an Alpha, and they had to obey him, but the academy rules trumped everything. The Omegas would never stop serving him.

She went past the dining room to see the two Omegas in front of Zeke with their heads down.

“We’re sorry, Alpha Ezekiel,” one of them said. “But if we don’t do our duties, we get punished.”

“I’ve told you I don’t tell them anything. Do what you want here. Watch some fucking TV. Don’t keep cleaning and cooking for me,” Zeke growled.

“Sorry, Alpha.”

But she could tell the apology wasn’t because they would do as he said from now on. They would still do their duties because they had been conditioned to be everyone else’s servants.

Zeke must have realised this, too, because he growled and came out of the kitchen.

“Let’s eat and get out of here.”

Breakfast was quieter as the three wolves dug into their breakfast. She ate heartily because she didn’t know what the day would bring.

“It’s for three days. We’ll be okay,” Derek said once they had all finished. “And at least we get to skip two days of lessons after that.”

Zeke was a little sombre when they finally started heading out. He held her back at the door and let Derek and Myles go out first.

“Keep your head in the game,” he reminded her.

“I will. You already said that.”

“If you feel like it’s too much, no one will fault you if you tap out.”

Tapping out meant she would never advance out of the coach’s class. She would never tap out.

“Okay,” she said instead.

And then, when she was about to walk out, Zeke pulled her back and planted his lips on hers. Like always, it weakened her knees. But it was quick, and when Zeke released her, she almost protested.

“Good luck,” he said gruffly. “Don’t die.”

Chapter 21

ZekeledAvaintothe Assembly Hall. He didn’t make an entrance like Jared had done on the first day of school, but the students who had already arrived turned around to watch them walk in anyway.

Ava kept her eyes down and only looked up to look around for a seat. When she started to walk to a group of Omegas, he pulled her back and led her to his section. She didn’t protest, but once they sat down, she looked at him as if to ask what he was doing. Maybe Ava finally realised that Jared had purposely sat her in the Alpha section on her first day.

But she wasn’t scared as she had been that first day. All he could sense from her was anxiousness.

Jared walked in last with a few of his pack mates and didn’t even meet his gaze as he found a seat behind him. He’d yet to speak to that asshole, but he had expected that by now, there would be whispers around the campus of his activities in the training room. There had been nothing.

An Alpha being with a human was unheard of. It was one thing for everyone to whisper whatever they wanted when he put Ava under his pack’s protection. It was another to have somebody confirm those rumours. Once his father and his enemies heard about this, he would be forced into action earlier than he was prepared for. Jared was quiet now, but he was sure that asshole would find a way to exploit the situation sooner or later. Once he cornered Jared, he would know the terms required for his silence.

Derek had been right to worry about putting a target on Ava’s back. Even now, he could see the blatant heated looks being thrown at her.

---