Page 70 of Ava: Part Three

Heat rushed through his body as his mate wrapped herself around him.

And then he felt it.

That prickling. That uneasy feeling. And then the rush of wind.

He lifted his head from Ava’s and set her aside before he jumped out of the water and shifted. Shadow’s paws thudded on the paved poolside as he lunged towards the lounge chairs on the side of the pool.

But Andrei Dalca sped out of the way before his jaws could clamp around his neck.

His mate was naked! Andrew has no right to be anywhere near her. He shared Shadow’s rage as his eyes tracked the vampire to the other side of the pool. He didn't care that the vampire's strength was beyond anything he had fought before as the bloodlust took him over.

“Whoa, easy there, big guy,” Andrei said. “I didn’t realise I was dropping in at the wrong time.”

He was on him in one leap. He caught the vampire off guard and took a nip of his arm before Andrei zipped away again.

"Oh, you bastard! That's my favourite shirt!"

He lowered his head, and his hackles raised. The scent of the vampire’s blood brought a red haze over his vision as he locked in on his prey. His lips curled, and a growl came from deep within him as he prepared to unleash his fury on the councillor. He couldn’t control it. There had been too much shit that had happened, and he had been forced to hold all of it in.

And then he felt a wet hand on his flank. Ava's scent wrapped around him and cooled some of his anger.

“Shh. Calm down, Zeke,” Ava whispered as she touched him.

From the corner of his eye, he saw she had hastily thrown her T-shirt on, but her legs were still bare.

“Don’t make things worse,” she whispered again.

He sensed her fear but knew she wasn’t afraid of Shadow. She was afraid of the consequences of his actions. She was scared for her father.

He swore to himself as he leaned into her and let her soothe him. If anything happened to her father because of him, he knew their relationship would never be the same, bond or no bond.

Shadow retreated after promising he would get the vampire next time, allowing him to shift back. He was still full of rage and had no outlet for it. Ava came into his arms as if she could sense it, and he buried his nose in the crook of her shoulder.

It was only after he was calm enough to release her that he remembered that the vampire was still there. Watching them.

Andrei had a look on his face as if something had dawned on him, and he found himself praying to the Moon Goddess that he hadn’t just given away the nature of their bond.

Andrei's shirt was red where his blood had seeped through, but the vampire didn’t look concerned.

“It has been a long time since anyone has made me bleed,” Andrei said.

There was no grin on his face.

“And I’ve never seen anyone calm down a demon wolf caught in a rage,” the vampire mused. “When it happened at your mock evaluations, I thought it was just a coincidence.”

“What are you doing here?” he growled at the vampire.

Andrei seemed to pull himself back from whatever he was thinking, and the grin returned to his face.

“I was just coming to check on my favourite students,” he said.

And that was a lie. He didn’t know how he could sense that, but the vampire had come for a completely different reason. To speak to his mate?

He pulled Ava back to his side.

“I will make sure I tell you next time before I drop in. Imagine if I had been a few seconds later.”

He growled, and the vampire grinned before he disappeared.

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