Page 72 of Ava: Part Three

“One more thing,” Zeke said as he helped her to her feet.

“What?”

“Don’t hang out with them again. I think they’re trying to break our bond, but I will never let that happen.” His eyes flashed red as he looked down at her.

She had no idea if that was the Council’s plan, but she agreed. If Andrei had realised the truth, she didn’t want to be around them, anyway.

“Okay,” she whispered.

Zeke kissed her lips before he led her back up the stairs. Myles and Derek were coming in through the front door when they walked out of the basement. Zeke looked at them, and they shook their heads, making him swear under his breath before he took her out to the back.

“Focus your mind,” he instructed as they sat on the lawn in front of the woods. “Don’t think of anything. Just listen to my voice.”

She had done this for days without even a tiny flicker. But she closed her eyes and did as she was asked.

“Listen to the wind in the trees,” Zeke whispered. “Reach out with your senses and hear all those little critters getting ready to go down for the night. Imagine you’re in there with them. Free. Not afraid of shit. Your paws crushing the dry leaves and twigs underneath them.”

She let out a breath and imagined all of that. And then, like in the morning, the sound hit her so hard that she covered her ears and opened her eyes.

“It’s okay,” Zeke said, gently prising her hands away. “You have to let it happen to train yourself to focus it. We can hear more than the others, and if you let your wolf guide you, you will be able to pick up sounds miles away. You can see better. Smell better. Hunt better.”

He put her hands on her lap and held them there.

“Try again.”

She closed her eyes, and this time, the noise was instant. She winced but she could still feel the weight of Zeke’s hands holding hers down, stopping her from covering her ears again. It was too much. It was grating on her nerves and banging around in her head, causing pain.

“There’s a deer not too far from here. She can sense us, so she’s going to run soon,” Zeke whispered. “Do you hear her?”

At least, she thought he whispered. It sounded like he was shouting.

She didn’t hear anything other than the jumble. She was about to give up when she had a moment of clarity and heard the rustling of hooves in the leaves on the ground. She knew she hadn’t done that herself. Her wolf? Was it coming out?

The noise returned, and this time, she pulled her hands from Zeke’s and covered her ears again until everything was silent.

“Did you sense her?” Zeke asked.

“Maybe. I don’t know.”

“Okay, I know what you need,” Zeke said as he stood up and pulled his sweats down without warning.

She shrieked and looked away.

“Here?” she asked,

“I think you need to get used to doing it in odd places,” Zeke chuckled. “But no, that’s not what I mean. I want to introduce you to Shadow properly. He’ll take you for a run, so get on his back, and we’ll go to the lake. Make sure you hang on.”

Get on that huge thing? She was about to protest, but Zeke shifted so quickly that she had to crane her neck more to look up at the wolf standing in front of her.

She had touched it for the second time today and knew he would never hurt her, but her heart still skipped a bit at the sheer size and the aura of danger coming from him. She stood slowly and held her hand up, and Shadow lowered his head so she could reach his muzzle. The giant wolf wagged its tail and whined like a puppy before it licked her face.

She chuckled as she wiped it off and then watched Shadow lower to his stomach so she could climb onto him.

Shadow stood, and the distance to the ground made her dizzy, so she clutched onto his fur and closed her eyes. But when he started moving, she couldn’t help opening them. Shadow started running slowly and then faster and faster. She felt the wind in her hair as the trees whipped past. Her wolf had run into the woods when she had shifted, but she had been freaking out too much to enjoy it.

But now she let her mind clear and focused on this feeling. Nothing else mattered except here and now.

Eventually, they reached the lake, and Shadow lowered so she could get off. She was still exhilarated when Zeke shifted back and immediately reached for the hem of her T-shirt.

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