Page 71 of Ava: Part Three

“He’s figured it out,” Ava whispered.

Chapter 42

AvalookedintoZeke'seyes. She already knew what he wanted to say.

He’d sat her on a bench and sat on the floor in front of her. His chest was still bare; he’d only hastily put his sweats back on before he’d grabbed her hand and led her to the basement.

He was pissed off, and this time she was sure she was the reason. Had he wanted her to let him hurt Andrei?

“I’m going to tell you something you have probably figured out yourself by now,” Zeke started. “Your wolf will never bow to anyone. Not your professors, instructors or coaches. Not the dean. Not the Council and certainly not Mr Hansson. You will never submit. Your wolf would die before she allows that to happen.”

She looked away from his eyes to her hands on her bare lap.

She already knew that. There had always been something in her that had refused to submit to anyone. Until Zeke came along, and she’d offered him her neck before she even realised what she was.

“I will never forgive myself if my father died.”

“You will never forgive yourself if you willingly killed other students.”

“I don’t know them,” she mumbled.

“And that makes it okay?” Zeke asked incredulously.

He came to his knees and took her hands in his.

“We agreed we would fight,” he said.

“That was before I found out my dad was still here,” she said.

“Because you think he would have been safe if he’d gone home? They don’t work like that, Ava. They’re monsters. They would have still gone after your pack just for fun.”

“But you still want us to fight them so they kill our packs, anyway,” she snarled.

“I want you to try everything possible before we fucking give up. We had a plan,” Zeke insisted.

“And it won’t help us. We had one advantage. They didn’t know we are true mates, and that’s gone. We aren’t strong enough!”

His fingers came under her chin, forcing her to look back into his eyes.

“We don’t know that. But we’re monsters, too. If we work together... Not just us, everybody. We still have that advantage. We aren’t the only ones tired of this shit,” he said.

Who would help them? Nobody wanted to be in the same room as her, so she doubted they would get involved. Besides that, she didn’t want anyone else risking their lives.

“Why don’t we go for a run and clear our minds,” Zeke suggested.

“You want me to shift?”

Zeke nodded and took her hands again.

“Maybe I can introduce myself to your wolf properly.”

“I don’t know how to do that. It just happened,” she protested. “And I don’t know if she’ll want...”

If her wolf would want to run with her mate. That was so messed up. How was she expected to help with this plan if she didn’t know what was wrong with her wolf?

“Well, she’s let you touch Shadow a few times, so she must trust us to some extent,” Zeke said. “I think that’s what we need to work on.”

She would try anything at this point. Her wolf, as unreliable as it was, was all she had. She sighed and nodded, immediately sensing Zeke’s relief.

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