Page 63 of Ava: Part Three

“You will build my army, just like you did before. Exactly like you did.”

She felt bile rise up her throat. She hadn’t expected that. Becoming a soldier? Yes. Training to be a Council member? No. Ripping other students apart to throw them into the forest? Never.

“I’ll give you time to decide. But don’t forget that you’ve killed students at my academy, Ava, and the penalty for that is very, very steep.”

And that was the reason that trap had been set. To make sure she couldn’t refuse their offer.

Mr Hansson inclined his head, and the councillors stepped out from behind her to stand beside their leader. The four monsters who had come to destroy her life.

“There are things here we must attend to before we leave. When I summon you, I will need at least five students of your choice as your first candidates.”

His magic released them, and she dropped to her knees. The force jarred her injured ribs and made her grind her teeth together.

“Oh, how is your father, Ava? Is he coming over for dinner tonight? I’ll make sure he joins us when you make your momentous decision,” Mr Hansson said with a grin.

And then he and the three councillors disappeared, leaving her and her mate alone at the boundary of the forest.

Chapter 38

ZekewasbyAva’sside the instant the magic released him. Ava had her arm over her ribs and her teeth clenched to stop her from screaming out, but he could sense how much pain she was in. He helped her to her feet and fought to calm Shadow down when he gently held her in his arms.

The contact was only mildly soothing, and Shadow still growled in his head, still close to losing control.

‘You should have ripped his head off,’ the beast said.

He should have. When he had agreed to this plan, he had thought this meeting would merely be a conversation where they would finally get to know what the fuck the Council wanted. Nothing had prepared him for this. Feeling Ava in pain and not being able to do anything about it had been torture on a different level.

But he knew he couldn’t beat the Head of the Council, not by himself. Not yet. He would have paid the price with his life, and Ava would have died, too.

‘I can beat him,’ Shadow snarled.

‘Stick to the plan, Shadow. You only have one job to do right now.’

He kissed the top of Ava’s head and released her. Her gaze was full of questions, but they knew better than to discuss anything here, especially now that they knew what the forest was capable of. Ava sighed and tried to walk, but she hissed in pain. In a perfect world, they would have been sneaking quickies between lessons, not getting injured by a Council that was supposed to protect them. And definitely not trying to outsmart Hansson.

“You should shift to heal quicker,” he said.

“Not yet. Not here,” Ava whispered.

He looked back at the forest looming behind him. It was still early morning, but beyond the treeline was perpetual darkness. And the silence within it was as unsettling as the noise that had come from it before.

He had driven through the woods on the first and last days of every semester for years, but he had never heard anything like that before. There was something in there much worse than what he had fought when he rescued Ava. And now those things were silent.

Ava had done that.

Her growl had been a promise of death that had made them scatter away. And it had made the Head of the Council eager to have Ava under his thumb. He’d seen that look on his face. That bastard had been practically drooling. And he hadn’t been the only one—Shadow had been enthralled by the proof that she was his equal in every way.

But she was right. If she shifted here, outside the gates, there was no telling where her wolf would go. He needed to teach Ava to co-exist with her wolf as soon as possible. Co-exist and not control because there was no such thing when it came to wolves like theirs.

“I’ll carry you,” he offered.

The sooner they got away from the forest, the better. He gently picked Ava up and cradled her against his chest before walking towards the school gates. He stepped as smoothly as possible to avoid jarring her and causing more pain. He had no idea why the Council had left them outside the campus. A test, maybe? To see if they would escape?

But he knew that was the furthest thing on Ava’s mind now. Not with her father trapped in the school and his presence known.

Because the forest had seen him or someone had told? How had they known who was in his basement? And was Mr Patrick still safe?

“This is so messed up,” Ava whispered.

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