Page 36 of Ava: Part Two

The expert ring was the fourth one, too far away for her to see, but she was sure that wasn’t a problem for any of the supernatural students. She wasn’t sure why she would worry about Zeke, though. He was a trainer for a reason and would probably beat his opponents in seconds.

By the time the coach called for her second match, there was enough action going on that she didn’t feel as intimidated to step into the squared circle. That match was just as easy as the first, as was the third.

When lunchtime came, she was among the ten that would advance to fight the intermediate level. As far as she was concerned, that wasn’t fair at all. None of the people in her class could take on the most experienced of the next level, and it seemed like it was just to put on a gruesome show for everyone.

Because it would be gruesome. The intermediate ring was full of blood, and if some of the instructors hadn’t stepped in to physically stop some of the matches, she was sure it would be full of body parts, too. The evaluations were basically blood sports. The most ruthless, the cruellest among them, would win.

As Zeke had probably won to get where he was. No wonder everyone seemed so scared of him. No wonder he thought he could just casually hunt other wolves and kill them.

A cold shiver went down her spine as she stood with the winners in her class, looking over at the winners in the next. While her little class stood there trembling, the barbarians in the next ring had cruel smirks on their faces. And not too far from them, Zeke stood. His eyes were red as he looked at her next opponents as if cataloguing them all.

Another shiver went down her spine. She had created this monster. What damage would Zeke cause by the end of the day?

Chapter 23

Avahadn’tmanagedtoeat anything, and Zeke sat in the dining hall opposite her, not even pretending to eat. He sat so still as he watched her that she wondered what scheme he was hatching in his head. Would it get him sent to Isolation again? Or much worse?

Zeke’s gaze only shifted from her when his body tensed, and he looked at the entrance. Moments later, a group of students entered the dining hall. She recognised a few of them as the vampires who had visited Zeke last night.

The whole dining hall quietened down as they stopped to look around. Since vampires didn’t eat solid food, she had never seen any in the dining hall before, and those, in particular, she would have remembered. Like last night, she was struck by how powerful their allure was. Not as strong as the dean’s secretary or the Councillor, but such strength was rare in people so young.

Wolves and vampires were natural enemies, even if the Council forced everyone to co-exist. She hadn’t imagined they would willingly interact, but they seemed to be making their way to Zeke’s table. What business did Zeke have with the vampires?

Or rather, what business did they have with her?

It was her they were looking at as they approached.

“Alpha Ezekiel,” one of them said with a slight nod at the wolf.

“Prince Gideon,” Zeke said. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

Prince? No wonder he was so strong. Royal blood was stronger than anything. He would be a force to be reckoned with when he was older.

She got the feeling Zeke was not impressed by the vampires stopping by. His whole body was tense as he watched them. Maybe the relationship wasn’t as cordial as she had thought.

“I just wanted to thank Ava for sparing young Robert today,” the vampire said, looking back at her. “I’m sure you could have made that match much more unbearable for him. Now I have two vampires in my nest who can’t stop talking about you, so I had to come and meet you myself.”

The second vampire must be Max. She hadn’t seen him around since she brushed him off.

“It was nothing,” she shrugged and then returned to pushing her food around her plate.

“It was everything to my vampires. I’d like to invite you to our residence after the evaluations are behind us to show my appreciation.”

A human in a vampire’s nest. No, that was not a good idea.

“Thank you, but I’m afraid I have to decline. I’ll be busy.”

She didn’t know why Zeke visibly relaxed after she said that. The prince’s brow arched at her words. He was as handsome as everyone else here and probably not used to hearing the word ‘no’. Vampire hierarchies worked almost like wolf ones, so he probably had an ego the size of an Alpha’s.

“I haven’t said the day yet.”

“I’ll still be busy. I’m a very busy person.”

Instead of showing the typical alpha behaviour, the prince smiled and nodded.

“Intriguing,” he said, looking over at Zeke and sliding a small box over at him. Zeke took it off the table quickly. If she hadn’t been looking, she would have missed that exchange.

“Nevertheless, I appreciate what you did. Thank you, Miss Morgan. And good luck,” the prince said before turning to walk back out of the dining hall.

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