Page 6 of Ava: Part One

He looked back at his friends, and they shrugged.

“Tell us when you’re ready, then,” Myles said as he stopped at the door to his room. Derek stopped at the opposite one, and he carried on to the end of the hallway.

Shadow was still restless within him, obviously because of the visit from Jared. A run before lunch would soothe him. Tomorrow would be the first formal day of lessons; he needed to make sure he remained in control. Nothing could go wrong now when he was so close to everything he had worked hard for.

Chapter 4

When it was her turn, Ava finally lifted her head and looked towards the indicated room. She took a deep breath before grabbing the handle of her case and wheeling it behind her.

A woman was seated behind a large desk when she let herself in. She didn’t even look up when Ava closed the door and left the bags just inside. The woman was typing something on her computer, and Ava took the opportunity to study her.

Because she looked a little older than most supernaturals, Ava couldn’t tell what she was or if she was supernatural at all. She didn’t have the pale skin the vampires did, so she ruled that out. She dressed elegantly, and her greying hair was in a professional bun on top of her head. The name badge on the desk said, ‘Mrs. Benton, Student Welfare Coordinator.’

Ava stood nervously in front of the desk, unsure if she was to just sit or be polite and wait for an invitation. With nothing in her hands now, she could only wring them together while waiting for Mrs. Benton’s attention.

“Have a seat, please,” the woman said finally.

Ava gladly did as she was told. She was so tired from the trip and hiding her real emotions that sitting was welcome.

Mrs. Benton didn’t have a smile on her face as she pushed some paperwork in front of her.

“Name?” Mrs. Benton asked.

“Ava. Ava Morgan.”

A folder appeared in front of the older woman, making Ava almost jump out of her seat. Mrs. Benton stopped in the middle of opening the folder and raised her brow at her in question. She tried to calm her heartbeat as she gave an overly bright smile.

This wasn’t the first time she had seen magic being used. Even as remote as her pack was, there had been a witch or two that had passed through that she could remember. And since she’d had no social life, she had read pretty much all the books she could get her hands on about the other species. But seeing something conjured out of thin air? That was new. She realised she would see many new things here and had to get used to it, no matter how short her stay would be.

“Sorry,” she whispered.

Mrs. Benton kept her gaze on her a moment longer, and then she continued to flip through the file.

“Phone and any other electronics,” Mrs. Benton said, holding out her hand.

Ave scrambled to get her switched-off phone from her handbag. She hadn’t realised that when they said no phones, they actually took them. She didn’t know what to think as she placed her phone on the woman’s palm. And then, as the file had appeared, the phone just disappeared. Gone. She contained herself this time, but what the hell?!

“Ava Morgan. Omega. Work assignment to be determined. Here’s your dorm assignment, schedule, and welcome pack. There, you’ll find a map. Keys will be at the front desk in your dorm. Permitted electronics on your desk. There is a shopping centre not too far from here where you will be permitted to go if you get a pass,” she said as several more folders appeared on the desk. “Follow the rules or suffer the consequences. You may go.”

Ava almost had whiplash from how quickly she was being dismissed.

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand,” she started. “My file says I’m an Omega?”

Mrs. Benton had already gone back to typing something on her computer.

“That’s what it says,” the woman answered in a bored tone without even looking at her.

“But I’m...” Her voice trailed off when she realised how loud she was being, so she dropped it to a bare whisper. “But I’m human. I’m sure there was a mistake—”

“There are no mistakes,” Mrs. Benton cut in. “Find your room and familiarise yourself with everything before lessons tomorrow.”

“Ma’am. I’m sorry, but I’ve never even shifted. I have nothing that would indicate I’ll ever shift at all,” she continued urgently.

Mrs. Benton stopped typing, her fingers poised over her keyboard, and her eyes glowed as she looked at her again. Ava shrank back into her chair at the transformation from a harmless-looking woman to a crazy bitch who didn’t look like she was afraid to kill her on the spot.

“You may go,” Mrs Benton repeated.

Ava’s heart pounded as she quickly stood from the chair and grabbed the paperwork she had been given. She didn’t even try to hide how fast her heart was beating, keeping her eyes on the ground as she rushed past her new schoolmates with her bag in tow.

---