Page 76 of Ava: Part Three

“I haven’t come across anything like this in a long time,” Alpha Diego said, looking at her and then Zeke. “Now more than ever, you need to stop playing your little games and just listen to us. You have made him curious already, but this...”

He pointed at Andrei’s shoulder.

“You need to keep that away from him.”

She frowned. Were they not there on Mr Hansson’s behalf? She had been sure they had come to make them pick their five students and get that over and done with.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Ava muttered.

“Then I’ll be blunt,” Andrei said. “Your mate bond pisses him off. If he finds out you’re true mates, then there won’t be anyone in this school that will stop him from killing you two and your packs. Your bond is a threat to him.”

“I still don’t know what you mean,” she lied, “but why would he care about that?”

“Because you can do things like this,” Andrei said, pulling his shirt down again, “Among other things.”

“And why do you care what he does to us,” Zeke growled.

“We’re not monsters, Ezekiel,” Alpha Diego said.

She couldn’t help the snort that came out of her mouth before she slapped her hand over it.

“See, it’s things like that you need to stop,” Andrei said. “Those two behind you are shitting themselves, but you two can’t feel an ounce of fear. You openly challenge us. You shield yourselves from us. You can’t be compelled or commanded. You silenced the beasts in the forest with one little growl. Stop.”

“I don’t feel comfortable talking about any of this,” she said.

What if Mr Hansson was spying on them now? Then he would know all these things anyway.

“Mr Hansson is a little bit...busy right now. You can speak freely,” Alpha Diego said.

“Busy, how?”

There were times when he wasn’t as all-seeing as they assumed? Was that why he hadn’t figured them out yet?

“I’m not now or ever going to speak freely with you,” Zeke said. “Stay away from my mate.”

“Now that I understand the nature of your relationship, I can see I made a grave error in judgment,” Alpha Diego said. “But you need to trust us. Stop sending your Gamma to sneak around. Stop having secret meetings. Pick five students to give him, and then he will go away, and you’ll be free to be kids again while you learn your new roles. No one else needs to die.”

“You’re still not giving us a reason to trust you,” Ava pointed out.

Alpha Diego sat back and held her gaze. She was sure he wasn’t going to say anything else when he spoke.

“My parents were the only true mates that I’ve ever known in my life. They were unstoppable together. I always thought there was nothing in this world that could hurt them. But a little Fae came and killed them because he couldn’t stand not being the strongest,” Alpha Diego said.

Two old wolves had been killed. Ava felt her hope disappear as she heard that because what chance did she and Zeke have?

“I know you don’t trust me, but I like you two, and I do think when all of this unpleasantness is over, we can actually get along.”

They both stilled, and she could tell they were mind-linking.

“Trust us,” Andrei said, and then they both stood and left.

Chapter 45

Avawasawaretheycouldn’t trust the councillors. Zeke didn’t need to keep telling her that. But what if they were telling the truth?

She had been so preoccupied with the lunch meeting that she didn’t mind being forced to sit out the training session again.

“For safety reasons,” Coach Henderson murmured before he turned to instruct the rest of the class.

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