CALLUM
After that delightful meeting… I felt absolutely terrible, and I knew Oscar, Theo and Noah did too. I
couldn’t have told you what started it, why we thought it was the right thing to do… but like they
said, it had to have started somewhere. There must have been a catalyst.
Whether or not Ava still wanted to go away to the cabin after that though… I couldn’t blame her if she
didn’t want to. That was not a pleasant trip down memory lane for any of us, and definitely wouldn’t
have been for her.
The four of us were assholes as children. I know I felt untouchable because I’m one of the Beta’s
heirs, and I’m sure the others did too. It was probably even more extreme in Theo and Noah’s case
since they were the Alpha’s heirs.
Her having such bad self esteem issues until she started coming into her power would not have been
helped by us. The four people who are supposed to protect and care for her through everything… and
we put her through so much pain.
After that meeting, Ava stood and just walked out of the room, not even saying anything to anyone.
No one in the room had dry eyes after that, and I couldn’t blame them. Ava has gone through so much,
it’s just unfair in so many ways. How could life, the Moon Goddess, fate, whatever, do that to
someone?!
Especially to a child…
I ran after Ava, Oscar, Theo and Noah all just a few steps behind me as we left the room. The pile of
shredded clothes by the door to the packhouse said she’d shifted on the way out, not even caring that
she’d lose everything she was wearing.
“Fuck. She’s hiding her scent,” I growled.
I swapped to linking. “Ava… please. Where are you? You shouldn’t be alone.”
She didn’t reply. I could feel the block she’d put up to ignore everyone.
I tried Jeremiah. Fortunately, he did answer.
“Jeremiah, have you seen the Queen?”
“Yes, my King.”
“Is she with you?”
“Yes.”
“Can you tell us where you are?”
“I’m sorry, my King. The Queen said she wanted some space and to be alone for a little while.”
“Protect her.”
“I’d protect her with my life, my King.”
Fuck!
AVA
When I left the meeting, I’d run to my happy place by the lake. I’d linked Jeremiah on my way out of
the pack house. I knew he was easily the most fiercely loyal to me, and he’d have no problem
choosing me over the Kings. The others were loyal, yes, but they would be easily swayed.
“That was Callum, my Queen,” Jeremiah’s voice was calm, collected.
“Did you tell him where we are?”
He shook his head. “You asked me not to, my Queen.” He gave me a small smile.
“Thank you,” I smiled back. “I’ll talk to them later, but I just don’t particularly want to right now.”
“I understand, my Queen.”
I lay back on the shore, watching the clouds move across the sky. It was peaceful, I could almost
pretend I wasn’t actually the heir to the most powerful Lycan pack and the throne.
I could pretend I hadn’t been bullied my whole life and that I hadn’t just had a madman I was
betrothed to before I was born attempt to mark me against my will.
I let my eyes fall closed when I felt my eyes start to well up. I dropped the blocks on my emotions and
stopped Artemis hiding my scent.
“If they link you again, Jeremiah, let them come.”
He bowed his head. “Of course, my Queen.”
OSCAR
“She’s dropped her blocks,” I said, my voice relieved. “I know where she is.”
“Well then, what are we waiting for?” Callum smiled. “Let’s go get our girl.”
The four of us shifted and sprinted towards the lake, following Ava’s scent.
We found her by the lake, laying down watching the sky. Normally, I’d take the time to enjoy her
being in her birthday suit… but not today. I needed her to be okay more than anything. We needed her
to be okay.
She was our world, without her… we were nothing.
Jeremiah was sitting on a fallen log a respectful distance away, in the perfect position to see any
threats. “Ava…” my voice was low when we caught up to her.
“Boys,” she replied, her voice was vulnerable, and it broke my heart. Our strong, kick-ass Queen was
feeling vulnerable.
“Ava… I’m sorry.”
“It was a long time ago, Oscar.”
“I know, but even so, it wasn’t right. What any of us did wasn’t right.”
“No, it wasn’t right. But we need to work out if you were in fact all manipulated, and if so, who by.”
She sat up, holding her knees against her chest, her arms around them. “We need to know what
happened. Which means…” she sighed. “We need to know who said what, how the rumours spread…
where they came from and what whoever could have stood to gain.”
The four of us nodded, all still quiet.
“Ava…” Noah started. “I understand, and I’m sure the others will, if you don’t want to go away with
us all tomorrow.”
“We all deserve a break, we’ve all been through a lot,” she replied, voice still low. “But what we’re
talking about today happened a long time ago. It’s just… it’s not a pleasant walk down memory lane. I
just needed to step away for a while.”
She sighed. “A couple days away sounds like just what the doctor ordered. Until we come back,
problems schmoblems.”