Page 59 of Ava: Part Three

“I mean, I was sure she was going to rip you apart,” Alpha Diego continued. “How did you manage to mate her in the first place? Was it because she hadn’t shifted yet?”

His fists clenched, but again, he said nothing.

“Do you think the mark will start to fade now?”

Zeke started to walk a little faster even though where they were going was a lot worse than enduring this mind fuck. He knew there was no chance of the bond being broken because Ava was his true mate, but what if...

“This is why I’ve never marked anyone,” Alpha Diego continued, keeping up with him easily.

The councillor talked to him as if they were friends instead of a prison guard and prisoner.

“Wolves like you, me and Ava were not meant to have mates,” he continued. “Our fates don’t allow it.”

“And what is my fate?” he asked as they approached the Administration building.

“I guess that depends on you. I hope you make the right choice, kid.”

His steps slowed as he glanced at the councillor again with a frown. He wasn’t imagining this. He didn’t sense any threat or lies from the Alpha like he was indeed being friendly. But he knew that was impossible. Alpha Diego probably felt they had made their point; the next move was his.

“And what would the right choice be?”

“Anything that keeps you alive.”

He was going to ask more questions when he sensed Ava approaching. He turned back and saw the other two councillors approaching him and his mate following like a lost lamb.

He didn’t sense any fear even though she was walking with two of the strongest people at this school. Mr Patrick’s protection was working, but hopefully not too well. He didn’t want to make Mr Hansson suspicious.

“Ah, there you are,” Iulia said with a smile.

“One big happy family,” Andrei added.

Something was not right with this picture. The Council didn’t treat any of its soldiers like this, which meant whatever decision they had to make was not what they were expecting. He looked back at Ava, and she shrugged.

“Shall we go in?” Alpha Diego said.

Andrei gestured for Ava to walk past them, and when she did, he and Iulia shared a look he couldn’t decipher. It was a quick one, but it made him worry.

He turned to walk with Ava up the steps of the building, and the guards opened the door. He looked back at the councillors. Inside the building, they were not holding hands, and their smiles were gone. It was back to business as usual.

When the next set of guards opened the doors to the inner offices, he felt the sickly magic from the Head of the Council hit him in the face. How anyone else could stand to be in the same building was beyond him, but it felt worse today. Stronger somehow. As if the president was done playing games.

The magic rolled over his skin and wrapped itself around him. His heartbeat elevated, and Shadow growled from behind his magically reinforced wall. Ava gasped next to him as if the magic was doing the same to her. She stepped back, but Andrei was behind her, blocking her.

“Move, Ava,” the vampire said quietly.

He felt a little anxiety from the vampire, but it disappeared quickly.

Would walking away from this have dire consequences?

Zeke took his mate’s hand and felt both their heartbeats start calming down. He looked back at the vampire standing way too close to his mate, and Andrei stepped back without a word. No smile, no smart comeback. But he was too busy trying to protect himself from the invasive magic to think about that.

He looked back at his mate and saw her eyes glow red briefly. They had to remember what they talked about. They had to shield themselves, and that meant keeping focused. Letting their wolves do what they did best, which was protecting them. Even though Ava's wolf was temperamental, she always protected her.

Ava let out a breath and then started moving, keeping her hand in his. He squeezed it gently as he walked beside her. And then, sooner than he was ready, they were being let into the dean’s office.

The dean was not sitting at the front desk as he had expected. Penelope herself was in her chair, typing away. She looked up briefly when he and Ava walked in, met Ava’s gaze, and then resumed her work as if this was a normal day.

Alpha Diego walked straight to the door and opened it without knocking. He looked at Ava and squeezed her hand again. And then he let her go and walked in first.

---