Page 51 of Ava: Part Two

“At least promise me you won’t take any random potions,” Zeke said. “Your heart stopped twice. I was outside, and I could hear it. You can’t do that to me again.”

Of course, he had been close. He’d been close every time she’d ended up in the Infirmary. But that was an easy promise to make because she had already decided not to do that to herself again. Mr Patrick had a lot to explain when she finally got to speak to him.

“Promise.”

Zeke’s gaze remained on her face for a while as if he could judge the truth of her words. Maybe he could. Zeke was so different from any of the wolves she had met.

“Okay,” he said finally.

He hesitated briefly before he said, "What happened in the training room—"

"I don't want to talk about it," she cut in.

"You'll have to. Soon."

It sounded like a threat, but she knew what he meant. How long could she fight this?

He turned to walk out of her room, stepping over the door he had broken.

“We leave in twenty minutes. Please tap out in the first match.”

She sighed again and turned to look out of her window. She was definitely tapping out. Her luck had probably run out now, anyway.

Chapter 34

Therewasadeadsilence the moment Ava walked into the Arena. She couldn’t stop her cheeks from heating up as she kept her head down and walked quickly towards her section. It didn’t help matters that Zeke was right behind her with his Alpha and Beta. They had separated at the door the other times, but now they seemed to follow her to the bleachers.

Were they making a statement of sorts? Did it not worry them that they looked like they were breaking the rules by giving an Omega preferential treatment? That their Alpha looked like he was cavorting with a human? She would get so much hate from the other Omegas for this.

And, most importantly, someone would tell the Council about this. If they had their spies here, as Mr Patrick said, then she had failed miserably to stay off their radar. What exactly were they looking for? Evidence that they had killed Claire and her friends? Was the end game to take their lives like they had taken the other wolves’ lives? Mr Patrick had been too cryptic when they had talked. Maybe she had done the impossible when she beat Dexter, but everyone saw that had been dumb luck. There was nothing exceptional about her.

Zeke, on the other hand, was very exceptional. She had known he was different from the first night she saw him. Maybe the Council’s interest in her stemmed from the fact that Zeke was interested in her.

After she tapped out of her match, she would find Mr Patrick if she could somehow get rid of her entourage. She needed answers.

When she approached her section, she looked up and saw the coach’s cold gaze. This time, he also directed that same look at the wolves behind her.

“Is there a problem, Coach Baxter?” Zeke asked.

“None at all. But get back to your section; you don’t belong here,” the coach sneered.

The coach and Zeke had a better relationship when the term started. It looked like Zeke’s life at Phoenix Academy had been much better before he decided to move her into his house and openly associate with her. He should have kept his distance. After all, he had more to lose. Once she left, he would have to continue his studies here to be allowed to be his pack Alpha one day. She didn’t want to take that from him after everything he had done for her.

She sat without looking at them and waited for the matches to start.

One week. She could take whatever insults they threw at her for a week, and then she would disappear with her dad.

The murmuring around the arena started back up again as her housemates walked back to their sections, and then, finally, the coach blew his whistle to silence them.

“First matches, Beginner level finalists against Intermediate level finalists. When I call your name, pick your weapon and step into your ring.”

And as always, her name was called first. She didn’t bother looking at the coach because she knew what she would see in his eyes, but once she got to the weapons, she realised they had removed everything previously assigned to the beginners.

The coach had made them practice with one weapon with the understanding that it would be what they were evaluated on for now until the final evaluations when they were expected to have expanded their repertoire. The earlier evaluation date had changed the curriculum. She had no problems using any weapon, but what about the rest of her class? Would they know how to use these safely without hurting themselves or their opponent?

She didn’t want to care about that, but not everybody had been an asshole to her.

“Where are the other weapons?” she asked, turning around to interrupt the Coach as he continued to call the names.

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