Page 147 of Second Chance Mates

She peeks her pretty brown eyes up at me, and I’m relieved the bruising on her face has improved with the help of the healers. I couldn’t stomach looking at her black eye and busted nose, knowing how much violence she had endured in the past.

My girl is a fighter, a damn warrior.

We pause outside Gemma’s office, and Ava sucks in a breath, shoulders raising as she stares at the door. “You want me to come in with you?” I offer.

“No. I can do this alone. Thank you, though. I like it when you come with me, but today, I want to do it by myself,” she answers with clarity in her tone.

I press a kiss to the crown of her head. “Proud of you.”

When she steps forward to knock and Gemma opens the door, she gives me one last glance over her shoulder with slight reservation in her eyes. “I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, baby. I’ll see you later.”

While Ava was in her session with Gemma it gave me some time to sit down with Kayden and complete Alpha duties that have been pushed to the side for far too long. He’s kept this pack going while my attention has been on Ava, and he always does an amazing job. I trust him with my life, even if he makes me question our friendship on a daily basis.

After a group training session and an early dinner, I find myself upstairs with Ava when it approaches seven o’clock. She still needs a good night's sleep to help her body fully recover with her pain medication.

I lay back on our bed with my hands behind my head. Ava’s been in the bathroom for the last twenty minutes, but I haven’t heard the shower turn on. I stare at the half-closed door and narrow my eyes.

“Ava?” I call out to her. “Everything okay?”

She doesn’t respond, which alarms me immediately. I hop off the bed and walk towards the en-suite. I rap my knuckles on the door and step inside to find her facing the mirror.

“Ava?”

It’s like I’m not here. She can’t hear me. She can’t sense me.

I lean on the doorframe and watch her for a moment. Her eyes are staring straight through her soul, her expression void of any emotion, and for a moment, it terrifies me. I’ve never seen her like this.

My wolf runs circles inside me and drags his claws through my insides. I slide a hand through my hair at the invasive feelings. He howls as if he’s desperate to tell me something, but I know we’re both concerned. Ava’s mind has been elsewhere.

Eventually, she dips her head and raises her arms, scanning them as if she’s looking for something embedded on her skin. I watch silently as she swipes her fingers over her wrists and across her forearms before reaching her elbows. She does it again and again.

She stops, freezes.

I shift on my feet but stay back.

Then, she starts pinching and pulling her skin before releasing them. At first, it’s slow and gentle, then it’s harder and aggressive, as if she’s trying to tear off her skin.

“Hey, hey,” I raise my voice and move closer. “Stop. What are you doing? Stop.”

Ava doesn’t acknowledge me whatsoever. I grip at her hands to stop her from hurting herself as red patches rise on her skin from where she’s been pinching too hard. But she attempts to bat my hands away and continue.

“Ava,” I rasp her name. “Stop it. You’re hurting yourself.”

Her head shakes, and she snaps herself out of whatever trance she was trapped in. “Jaxon–”

I stare at her for a long moment, and it’s clear as day that she doesn’t remember what happened. But her subconscious does. What was that about?

“Baby.” I drop her wrist and press my palm to her cheek. “Are you okay? Did something happen today with your session with Gemma?”

Ava furrows her brows. “I-I–” She licks her lips and pauses. “I’m okay.”

“Do you feel like you need to hurt yourself?”

“What?” she recoils. “No.”

I take a quiet breath. “Okay.”

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