When Ava finally left the council meeting, she felt equal parts excited and tired. Starting tomorrow everything would be different and they would begin to implement her ideas.
She entered their room only to yelp and turn her back at once.
Adrian was in his towel.
Ava remembered the last time that he had been in his towel and she had mistakenly pulled it off and they had…
“What’s wrong, Ava?” He sounded worried and moved even nearer.
“Don’t come any closer!”
“Ava?”
“Just put on some clothes Adrian.”
It took a moment to dawn on him as well. “Goddess Ava, that was a one-time event.”
Ava could envision him rolling his eyes. “This is ridiculous, we share a room. Is this how you will continue to react whenever you see me in a towel?”
“How does that even matter? Just get dressed quickly, I need to use the bathroom.”
Adrian grabbed her hand and then turned her around to face him.
Ava caught off-guard yelped and nearly fell but Adrian held her in place and her hands went to his arms to steady herself.
“That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
Oh, but it was for her. His hair was wet from the shower and she had no idea she was into long hair until she saw it on him. His muscles rippled with every movement and his stomach tightened as he spoke, her eyes drifted down to his towel then she made herself look him in the eye, only that was also a trap.
His emerald green eyes glinted with humour and his kissable lips curved into a slight smile at having startled her. Unlike her, his mind wasn’t in the gutter while she was envisioning all sorts of things in her mind.
Her hands moved almost of their own accord, her hands drifting from his arms to his chest. Adrian’s eyes darkened and Ava gathered her strength to push him away slightly.
“Yeah, yeah. I was overreacting, laugh if you want to.” Ava forced a light tone trying to push back the image of Adrian pressing her up against the wall out of her head.
Ava walked towards the bathroom feeling Adrian’s eyes on her all the while. She wondered if this attraction would ever die down or if like their mating day, one day they wouldn’t be able to hold themselves back from consummating their bond.
********
Blood stained the broken glass and Ava’s head swam. She should move. She needed to get help, but how? Her hands shook and her legs refused to work.
She hadn’t felt so weak and helpless before as she put pressure on the wound praying for the goddess to keep death at bay for just a little bit more time till Adrian could come. Because surely he had felt her. He would come.
Ava closed her eyes.
Twelve Hours Before
“We are taking five.” Horace announced in his booming voice and Ava could see most of the pack collapsing sweat drenched and relieved.
Truth be told she was also out of breath. When she instituted training for the entire pack, she had seemingly forgotten that she would also participate in the training.
The pack would go in batches for an hour per batch as planned and would be paired up based on individual body size and weight with a member of the pack’s military as a trainer.
Being the Luna of the pack, no one would spar with her so she’d ended up with Adrian. Adrian was faster and more brutal than he’d been two years ago when they’d trained together briefly. Brendan lost count of the number of times he had knocked her to the ground.
Once the fights started, she was immediately on the defensive unable to get a hit in until he threw her. So she was more than happy about the break.
Adrian offered her his hand to help her get up, she threw him a dirty look and lifted herself up without his help.
“Want to grab something to drink?” Adrian offered his breath steady. He wasn’t even winded.
Ava scoffed. “Something to drink? When you almost killed me in there?”
“It wasn’t that bad. You got in a few hits too. Really impressive.” Adrian said stroking his clean-shaven jaw.
Ava stopped and looked at him. “Adrian. Everyone was staring at me. Literally, the whole pack watched me get my ass handed to me so many times. The ‘hits’ I got in were when I was trying to run away from you. What do you mean impressive? Except you mean it was impressive how much and quickly you got the drop on me.”
Adrian bit back a smile at her peeved tone. “It’s impressive because you didn’t keep up your training regimen while you were away yet you could hold your ground besides I am doing this for you. I want you to be prepared for anything and everything. The enemy won’t wait until you are prepared before they strike. Plus wasn’t it you who wanted us to be prepared for any attack?”
Ava fumed silently. She hated when her words were used against her.
Clusters of wolves who were taking a break stole glances at Adrian and Ava as they moved. Ava waved at them and while some waved back, most averted their gazes.
Ava looked at Adrian in confusion at this but Adrian hadn’t even noticed. As though this wasn’t enough, another cluster of young mature she-wolves stood. They looked around Ari’s age or slightly older. This cluster simply ogled Adrian.
Ava was surprised at the surge of jealousy within her. She tried to control herself. Besides, Adrian was looking extremely attractive today with his shorts and sleeveless top. His biceps contracted with every step he took, his stride was powerful and his dominance unquestionable. Of course, they would be drawn to these attributes of his like she was.
Ava linked her arm through his, plastering herself to his side. Adrian looked at her quizzically but she acted as though she couldn’t see him. They got energy drinks and snack bars. Nothing too heavy to hinder them from the upcoming fights.
The break was over in minutes and they went back to training or in Ava’s case, went back to being pummeled. Ava had planned to stay for all four batches of the training but now after just the first training, she was so weak on her feet that she just wanted to crash on any available surface.
“So, next round?” Adrian inquired as the wolves began to file out so that a new set could come in.
“I think I’ll just observe on this round. Get some perspective on how to move.” Ava nearly wheezed. At least now she knew what she was going to do with all her free time. She needed to get back in shape as soon as possible. Adrian was an Alpha but she should still have been able to stand head-on with him even if she couldn’t win.
“Are you sure?” Adrian asked seriously but Ava could tell that he was fighting back a laugh.
“Yes.” Because they were in public she couldn’t make a fuss about it but later, later she would take back her own pound of flesh.
A new set of people filed in and Ava looked for a place to watch the fights comfortably. She also needed to start getting familiar with the pack members so that they would feel comfortable enough to share their problems with her.
Ava went up the gallery and noted that from
above, she could see every inch of the training area for the fights. Which was how she was able to see when Gabrielle stepped in. Ava couldn’t stop herself from freezing, still barred from her parents’ home, it was easy to forget that her sister was still very much a member of the pack who would come for training.
To her surprise, she noticed that the pack members refused to spar with Gabrielle just as they had done with her. Ava didn’t know how to feel about that. Did they still view Gabrielle as a leader of the pack despite the failure of a mating ceremony that had occurred? What was the implication of that for her?
Gabrielle was left to spar with Adrian as Ava had been. Ava suddenly regretted leaving Adrian alone. Technically, Adrian had belonged to Ari first but that didn’t stop Ava from feeling possessive about him.
The sparring began and Ava was stunned at how well Ari and Adrian moved together. She realized that Adrian had been holding back on her. He obviously didn’t see a reason to with Ari. They fought dirty, no tackle was off-limits. The moment Adrian had Ari in his grasp, she was slipping out of it landing another hit.
Once she landed a hit with her foot, Adrian caught it and used it to flip her over. Ava winced, that must have hurt. But Ari was up almost immediately. Horace gave the 5-minute breather but Adrian and Gabrielle didn’t stop. It was as though they couldn’t hear him.
Ava felt her breath come faster as she watched the fight come to its climax. For a moment it was as though Ari would win then Adrian took her down with an ease that belied how much he had been easy on her. Ari looked at Adrian that was currently astride her, his body trapping hers with his elbow at her throat then she looked at the gallery where Ava stood like she could see her perfectly.
Then she tapped out in surrender and Adrian was off her in seconds. Ava noticed that the fight had drawn an audience and the wolves were whispering among themselves and watching Gabrielle as she stood up -Adrian didn’t offer her his hand- and walked out of the sparring area.