Page 16 of Ava: Part Three

She looked at the new rules first.

The first rule was that every student was to stay in the dorms allocated for their roles. All Omegas who had duties in the student residences were to move back into the dormitories and report for their duties by five every morning. That included the Omegas allocated to the Alpha houses. Rule breakers would be put in Isolation.

She knew that one was targeting her. She was being separated from her mate. How were they supposed to plan for the Council’s visit if their contact was limited? How was she supposed to stay safe from Claire, especially in the first-floor dorm room with the flimsy window? And how was she supposed to stay away from Zeke when she had already bonded with him?

This was seriously messed up.

The second rule was that everyone was to strictly adhere to the rules of their ranks. Proper respect was to be given to those ranked above them. For Omegas, that meant lowering their gazes when addressing anyone, doing as they were told, serving where needed and knowing their place. There would be no exception to the rules. Rule breakers would be put in Isolation.

Again, this one was directed at her. She knew it was the dean’s vindictiveness and pettiness showing through in every rule. He had not broken her in Isolation, so he would try another way. She had known he would retaliate for that meeting with her father, but she had assumed she would be gone by now.

She looked down the long list of new rules and sighed. No mixing in the dining hall. No holding hands.

She shook her head and clicked the next notice without reading the rest of the rules. And as she had expected, she had a meeting with the dean at lunchtime. She would bet everything that she would get punished for the weekend. She would spend time in Isolation, after all.

But maybe that was the safest place to be. It was somewhere Claire and her friends wouldn’t be able to reach her.

“Alright, everyone. Let’s begin.”

She put her tablet away and looked outside her window. Her dad was probably still on his way home, but she hoped he would understand why she’d had to send him away. Everything had gone wrong. There was nothing he or Zeke could do to protect her now.

Chapter 9

Zekesatonthebench in the Quad, watching the seven students standing in the middle of it. They weren't talking; they just stood there as if they were waiting for something.

Or someone.

He tilted his head and focused on each of them. Their wolves were still there, but he could barely sense them. So, did that mean they couldn't shift anymore?

The Council had found them when the dean and his guards had failed. Dead or alive? That was what he couldn't figure out. What the hell had been done to them? And was this Ava's doing or the Council?

Claire turned her head to look at the building behind them. Then they all turned.

Shadow snarled inside him because he knew what they could sense. Ava. Ava was in that building, still in her lessons, and her heart pumping away. Terrified. He had been tracking her all morning, on the verge of shifting at any little thing, waiting to run to her aid the moment she needed him.

If she needed him.

He pushed thoughts of the forest out of his mind and concentrated on the task at hand.

Claire turned back to her friends, who looked at her, too.

He frowned as he studied their body language. Shit. They were communicating, after all. They were mind-linking!

He didn't know which packs the others belonged to, but he knew only Claire and her two best friends were in the same pack. So, how had they even linked?

Someone appeared next to him on the bench so fast that he pulled his attention away from the students in front of him.

"This is pretty fucked up," Prince Gideon said.

"You have no idea," he answered.

The vampire was alone, but he could sense his entourage around. Probably watching the seven students like everyone else seemed to be doing.

The other students would also sense the dark change, but they would have no idea where it came from. And even if they thought the Council had something to do with it, no one would dare say that out loud. Speaking against the Council had consequences worse than death.

A team of guards came walking down one of the paths. Four of them, looking at every student as they passed them. Enforcing the new rules that were meant to keep him from his mate.

He growled, and all of them turned to look at him. But they didn't do anything else. They looked at him as if he was nothing and continued their patrol.

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