Page 47 of Ava: Part Three

Zeke’s hand on her back brought her back to her senses. Some Omegas were rocking themselves and crying. Others looked shell-shocked.

“Let's go home,” Zeke said, helping her to her feet.

She avoided looking at Emily again, but she saw the coaches standing over her as if they were also struggling with what to do. And she saw Claire and her friends, still standing in formation as if they had been ordered to.

Was all of this just to make her like Claire? She didn’t understand why the Council was playing all these games. Why did they have to kill Emily?

Zeke led her out of the training room to the locker room, where she just grabbed her bag without bothering to wash the blood off her face and hands. And then he led her outside. Derek and Myles were already waiting in the car, still in their training kits. She could tell by their demeanour that Zeke had already told them what had happened. The Council had just killed someone in front of several witnesses and left her body for someone else to deal with.

Because they could get away with murder.

Thinking that made her realise how easily it could have been her on that floor.

The car stopped, and she saw they were already at Zeke’s house. He helped her out of the car, and they all looked at the guards still stationed across the road in front of the driveway. Still looking at them as if they were to report everything they said and did. The Council wasn’t even trying to be subtle.

Zeke led her straight to the kitchen, where he pulled a bottle of something out of the cupboard and four glasses. “For the shock,” he said. She drank the bitter liquid as if on autopilot and then grabbed her bag to walk to the basement.

She hadn’t even reached the bottom of the stairs when she put a fist to her mouth to stop herself from screaming. Then she remembered the blood on her fingers and removed it.

She had probably imagined killing Emily several times since the day she had sent her into an ambush. But watching her die...

She threw her bag down and screamed. Her screams turned to sobs as she sank to her knees.

Her fault. It was all her fault.

They said all she had to do was follow the rules. This was a warning to her. Follow the rules, or people would die.

When she looked up, Zeke was sitting on a bench in front of her.

Would he be the next to die?

No. No, she would fight next time. She would rather die first than watch anyone else die. She reached for her bag and emptied the contents on the floor to find what she was looking for. The little case fell out with a clatter, and she picked it up with her bloody, shaky hand.

Then she opened it and pulled out the vial. She poured the contents down her throat before Zeke could ask her what it was and then sat cross-legged on the floor.

Her wolf had to come. Only something as bloodthirsty and ruthless could stand up to the council. It was her only hope. Her dad's only hope.

Chapter 28

Therewassilenceinher head.

She’d sat for hours after taking that potion. It had indeed brought her clarity on what she had to do, but there was no whisper from her wolf. And that was frustrating because she knew she had changed because of her wolf.

She hadn’t imagined hearing Emily’s heartbeat. The night she had discovered her father in the basement, she’d caught his scent outside. And there was no denying that she was running faster now. Her body even felt different, so where was this wolf? Even just a hello would do.

But the silence in her head was so loud it was making her angry.

At least anger was better than numbness.

Derek parked the car, and then he and Myles looked back at her. It had been a long night for all of them in that basement because they had all realised the same thing. The Council could get any one of them anytime.

“Stay safe,” Derek said to her.

“Yeah. And don’t worry about us. Do whatever you need to do,” Myles added.

Derek tried calling his father last night to tell him what was happening, but there had been no dial tone. They were completely cut off from the world, so they had to figure things out by themselves.

They got out of the car, leaving her and Zeke in the back seat. He was looking out of his window, and his eyes flashed constantly as he looked at the guards watching the car. She put her hand over his larger one and gently squeezed him.

---