Chapter 48

Ava couldn’t concentrate. She could feel that Zeke was upset and angry.

Something was different today; it felt like she couldn’t separate his feelings from her own. Like they were... more, somehow.

She knew she was the one feeling anxious, but the unjustified anger... That was Zeke. His emotions had her clenching and unclenching her fists instead of paying attention to Dexter.

But why was he angry with her? Because she didn’t want to see Jared die? She didn’t want anyone to die! And she wasn’t asking him to befriend Jared, but there must be a way for them to talk this out and put the past behind them. How old were they when this had happened? They would have been still teenagers, and she knew kids didn’t always make the right decisions.

Like her, for example, she’d defied her dad several times and ended up in the hospital because she’d been too pigheaded to stop picking fights in the pack. But she had never sold her packmates out because they were just teenagers like her, and they were fighting the Alpha’s child. That was a mistake they all knew could have led to fatal consequences.

She was older now and knew she should have listened to her father and stayed away from these things. She was sure her packmates now knew how to think before acting and had better control of their wolf natures. They had matured.

The same way she knew Jared must have matured from that time. He wouldn’t make the same mistakes again.

But had it been a mistake? Not picking a side?

If her father wasn’t Alpha and decided to challenge the Alpha, would she go and rat him out? She didn’t think so. And Zeke’s dad wasn’t much of an Alpha anyway; she had known that from the moment she saw him. Perhaps he’d deserved to be toppled.

Killing other packmates was the only thing she couldn’t agree with, and that was hardly Jared’s fault.

She felt the anger surge again and gripped the side of the desk.

“Are you okay?”

She looked up and saw the fear in Dexter’s eyes before he lowered his gaze.

“Stop doing that?” she growled.

“What?” Dexter asked nervously.

“Don’t lower your gaze! We’re all the same here,” she snapped.

And now Zeke’s unreasonable anger was making her snappy.

“I’m sorry. I’m okay,” she said, pulling her work towards her.

They had a free period, and Dexter suggested they catch up in the library. If it weren’t for the fact that she hated that the only reason she was now able to study what she wanted was that she’d killed some students, she would have been above the moon that she had a reason to use the library.

They were in a private study room, but she’d been able to see more of the library this time than when Zeke dragged her in there, and she’d almost lost her head—and other things—on a desk.

“You will need to start accepting that that’s how it’s going to be from now on,” Dexter said quietly. “You’re different. Your wolf will demand respect, or she will see it as a challenge.”

“I don’t think she cares about that either,” she snorted.

“You beat me in the evaluations because I was a challenge for you,” Dexter said as he opened one of the textbooks he had borrowed for her.

“No, I beat you because you cheated, and you’re a bully. Big difference,” she pointed out.

Dexter’s notes were not making sense because of the mess in her head. She felt like he was challenging her even though he was still sitting non-threateningly across from her. So, was someone challenging Zeke? Maybe Dexter was right after all. Maybe she would have to make sure no one challenged her wolf, whatever her name was.

“Do you need to take a break?”

Derek pulled her thoughts back, and she realised she had broken the pencil in her hand. A break wouldn’t do any good. Zeke had to control himself and think logically about this.

Jared was an Alpha and could help them somehow in their fight with the Council. Not that she wanted to rely on him, but if it came down to it, she was sure he would do whatever he could to help. Didn’t they need allies right now?

“Ava?”

She’d spaced out again. This time, she felt the anger intensify. She sucked in a breath as she felt something unfurl in her. Her wolf. Would she react to this as if she was the one feeling the anger? Could her wolf tell whose emotions she was responding to? Or would her wolf be as confused as she was because she felt such rage... as if she would kill someone?

“Yes. Sorry. I’ll go and get a drink or something,” she said quickly.

As she walked out of the study room, she felt the eyes on her, but one in particular prickled on her skin. The librarian had looked at her oddly when she arrived, and she was doing it now.

But she had to get a grip on herself; she had no time to worry about that now.

She was still passing the librarian’s desk when she felt it. Fury. So much rage that it took her breath away. Her muscles tensed, and she felt things start to stretch and break.

She was shifting.

In the middle of a library full of innocent people!

She rushed out of the library while telling her wolf it was okay; she wasn’t in danger, but she only made it as far as the front steps before she fell to her hands and knees. Her claws scratched the stone steps, and her uniform started to rip along the seams.

What was wrong with Zeke? Were they trying to hurt him?

Red filled her vision, and this time, she knew it was hers. She was a terrible mate. How could she not have realised that Zeke needed her help?

She knew her shift was inevitable, so she mentally prepared herself for the pain.

But something snatched her from behind.

It happened so quickly that she didn’t know how she ended up in one of the study rooms, pinned against the wall. She couldn’t move.

She had already partially shifted; she could feel the change in her face when she tried to struggle against her invisible binds. Frustration had her snarling and growling, especially when she felt the source of that magic approach.

Was it time? Was he there to make her pick the sacrificial students? But she needed to get to Zeke! He wasn’t okay!

She turned her head to the door, and when it opened, Andrei and Iulia walked in.

But there was something strange about them as they quickly shut the door behind them, and Iulia chanted some sort of spell.

“Shh,” Andrei said. “You only have to fight it a little while longer. Trust me, Little One.”

She wanted to rip his head off. She would. The moment the magic released her, she would kill both of them for keeping her away from Zeke.

She would kill the whole fucking school.

“Let me go,” she growled.

But seconds later, there was nothing.

No rage.

It was just quiet.

And Zeke was...

She looked up in horror at the two Council members who had imprisoned her.

What had they done to her mate?