Page 25 of Ava: Part One

“Excuse me?”

“Lock the fucking door.”

It was time he showed the little human what she was in for if she stayed.

Chapter 18

Keep your head high. Remember your name.

Her father’s advice rang constantly through her mind when she had followed the Alpha, though she wasn’t sure if she could trust anything he had said to her now. But her fake confidence disappeared the moment she turned to lock the door.

This was so stupid. Why was she even listening to him? Why had she locked the door instead of opening it and getting to safety?

She still had her hand on the lock as she tried to think of a way out of this. The last place she wanted to be was in a locked room with an angry Alpha.

“Turn around,” Ezekiel growled. “Don’t even think about running because I’ll catch you, Ava. And we both won’t like the consequences.”

With a shaky breath, she turned around to face him, but she didn’t dare look into his eyes this time. She didn’t know if looking anywhere else was any better. Her brain fizzled and stopped working when she looked at his body. The guy was huge and built to perfection. He wore sweats that moulded his thick, muscular thighs and shaped other parts of his body, which made her eyes widen. And the T-shirt he wore should have been outlawed. She could see every muscle, every curve, and every indent. Among all the beautiful people in Phoenix Academy, this man still managed to stand out. He was truly a work of art.

And he had locked her in a room.

With that thought, her heart hammered again. She was in danger; this was not the time to ogle anyone.

“I warned you, Ava,” the wolf growled as he stepped forward. “You should have been gone.”

There was so much coldness and determination in his eyes that she forgot about her earlier thoughts as fear built up inside her. She stepped back but bumped into the door. There was nowhere to run.

“But if you want to play this game, then I’ll play,” he continued, taking another step forward.

“I’m not playing,” she said. She hated the wobble in her voice. “I tried, but the dean didn’t want to listen to me.”

“You should have tried harder.”

The Alpha closed the distance between them, and his movements were deliberate and slow, making her feel quitehunted. She felt like his prey, and if she made any move now, he would pounce.

“I’ll see him again tomorrow and every day after until he listens to me.”

Her courage had deserted her. Why had she even antagonised him when she had seen what he was like? She should have kept her head down and her mouth shut.

“That would be the best solution all around,” Ezekiel said.

There was hardly any space between them now. Her face was eye-level with his muscular chest; she didn’t dare look up to meet his gaze again. She struggled to get enough air into her lungs as her whole body became aware of his closeness. Maybe it was the fear that froze her to the spot; maybe it was the fear weakening her knees. It was like her body was confused about how to react to this threat, and none of the options were fight or flight. Her body wanted ridiculous things. She could feel the heat of his body, which sent sparks shooting through hers from where they were almost touching.

A twisted part of her brain wanted him to close that gap completely.

“Do you know why getting out of here would be the best thing you’ll ever do?” Ezekiel continued as he put his hands on the door on either side of her, caging her in.

Her heart pounded. This close, she could smell his spicy cologne as she had last night. Even with the fear, she couldn’t help taking a deep breath. If she ever got out of this place, she would hunt that cologne down and buy it by the truckloads.

“Do you?” he growled again.

Remembering the question he had asked, she wet her dry lips before she answered. Ezekiel growled, making her flinch and suck in a shaky breath.

“Because they’ll rip me apart,” she answered quickly.

“Oh, that’s not what you need to be scared of, little human,” Ezekiel said.

She could feel the heat of his breath above her. She could feel heat everywhere. Her body was probably trying to shut down, unable to cope with the fear, because she started to tremble uncontrollably.

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