44

Chapter 44
Ava waved back at Mika enthusiastically, drawing herself back to reality as she walked over to her.
“I think we are getting old,” Ava said, panting when she got to the top, where Mika was.
“Why?” Mika asked, squinting her eyes at her, confused.
“It is getting harder and harder to get up here.” She said with a laugh, collapsing on the space beside her and taking the water bottle that Mika stretched to her.
“Speak for yourself woman” Mika started with a chuckle,” I am still very much young, okay?”
Ava could feel Mika’s eyes on her, she was curious, it was that obvious, and Ava could tell she was waiting for the perfect moment to ask her for details.
“So…” Mika started when she saw Ava set the water bottle aside.
“So?” Ava asked back like she did not know what Mika was implying.
“So what happened, you sounded pissed off and upset,” Mika asked again, I’m clear terms this time.
” I saw him kissing Princess.” Ava held back a Gaga as the words left her lips. She still felt very upset just from thinking about it.
Ava wondered where else his mouth and tongue had been, and she got even more gagged when she imagined it.
“Princess?” Mika asked the expression on her face holding shock.
“I was just as surprised.” It was all available could say, she could easily have seen the possibility of him making out with anyone, but Princess. She did not see that coming.
“Are you sure?” Mika asked more for confirmation than to put out the probability of her seeing wrong.
“Very much so,” Ava said, the Magee coming in a full flow over her again.
“You look outraged right now, Ava,” Mika said, changing her mind about that when she gazed at her eyes.
It was not just Ava anymore, it was her wolf and she looked very amateur, a little too much for comfort, but Mika knew she was not a violent one.
“Maybe he had his reasons?” Mika said more like a question than a statement. “How did you feel? How do you feel?”
“Shocked at first, and then slowly the anger set in. I was furious.” Ava confessed honestly. “I wanted to walk up to her and drag her out by the ear, but that would have been very inappropriate.”
“He is not even mine to have or to keep. Yes, we are mated, but sometimes I still hate him for what he did in the past, but at that moment it just felt like he was mine and like Princess was stealing him from me.”
“Did you talk to him about it? At any point, that is.” Mika asked, rubbing her back slowly in a kid to comfort her.
“No,” Ava said, “he did come up to me to explain, but I had just shut him up, told him he was a grown man and could do anyone and anything he wanted.”
“Okay, that was wrong. You should have listened to him, hear what he had to say.” Mika said.
“I would rather not hear him talk about how he now has feelings for Princess and wants to be with her instead.”
“You know it’s wrong of you to assume, you should have just listened to him,” Mika advised.
“Well, I did not, and here we are now,” Ava said shrugging. She would rather not discuss the alpha Damon issue anymore as it seemed.
She just wanted to sit with her best friend and enjoy the view that unfolded before them.
They…she and Mika…had found this spot in their second year of high school. It was just a random Wednesday, and they had both been out for a hint when they stumbled upon it.
It was a small hill, that had a single tree for shade at the top, and overlooked one of the most beautiful views they had ever seen in the entirety of West Wood.
Mika had suggested they kept it as their haven, their hide-out, and of course, Ava had concurred.
The next day they had both ventured back in again and this time with the plans of making it conducive for them. Which they did, finding a log for seats and carving their initials into it.
A smile filled her face at the memory, Mika had been in her life for so long, and she could not be more grateful for a friendship.
“What is that smile,” Mika asked.
“Just reminiscing on the old days…” Ava said, her smile getting bigger as she talked about it. “Remember how we found this place?”
“Of course, how could I forget,” Mika said with a chuckle.
“Remember the time you spent the night here because you did not want to go home and tell your parents what alpha Damon had been doing to you” Mika asked her expression now sad.
Ava smiled at the thought, remembering that one incident did not make her sad anymore, and she wished it were the same for Mika.
She… Ava had run away from home that day, in a bid to hide her bruises from the daily dose of alpha Damon’s bullying expands.
And she had run straight here, to take refuge. The one place she not only felt safe but also saw, one place she knew alpha Damon wouldn’t find her.
They had looked everywhere for her, searched major parts of West wood and the places they thought that they were more likely to find her.
Up until they had gone to Mika’s, where Mika had told them she would bring me back, and bring me she did. She explained in detail and gave me reasons to go back home.
Ava’s parents have thanked her so much and have taken appropriate actions to get her out of West Wood and that school as a whole.
“Penny for your thoughts,” Mika said, bumping shoulders with her and bringing her out of her thoughts.
“Thank you, Mika,” Ava said, suddenly economy emotional, she felt like she had not thanked her enough after that incident.
If it were not for her, Ava would not have had the courage to tell her parents about it and would have spent another few years enduring his bullying.
“For that evening, bringing me back home, to my family?” Ava said, “I figured I had not told you how grateful I was.”
“It’s fine,” Mika said, hugging her from the side.
They sat like that, hugging from the side while enjoying the view. Each lost in one beautiful or another, each scared of leaving the other.
Deciding to go home when they saw the yellow sun creep back to its hole, Ava helped Mika pack and they both headed back to where their cars were parked.
Ava muttered a “thank you for coming, I needed my best friend” as they hugged goodbye, while Mika squeezed her tight in return.
They parted ways, each heading in a different direction as they drove off. Ava felt more fulfilled and at ease, they had not done as much talking as she had expected but being in Mika’s presence even in silence was soul-refreshing.
And Ava was grateful that for a split second there, she had forgotten about her actual worry and was just at the moment.
Ava suddenly felt selfish and unreasonable, in all the times they had met it was because of her, to talk about her issues and failed to even ask about Mika’s life on both of those occasions.
Taking a mental note to ask about her life the next time they met, Ava sighed when she drove into mist wood.
She was counting the days until the project with West Wood was over, and then she would leave. Ava was tired of having to sneak around the house because she would rather not bump into alpha Jude.
She walked in and headed straight for her room, this time taking the regular route instead of moving in through the back, she walked by Alpha Jude’s study.
From the corner of her eye she could see that he was in, he never fully closed the door. More out of habit than out of will.
Grateful that he had minded his bison as not called her, Ava walked to her room and closed the door behind her, turning the knob to lock it.
She undressed and headed for the bathroom, in need of a cold bath to clear her head. Preparing her bath seemed foreign, but Ava was not ready to have any of the maids in yet so she went on with it anyway.
Submerging herself into the cold bubbly water, she sighed as goosebumps rose on her skin from the contact.
Her migraine seemed to slowly fade away a few minutes after answering, Ava was thankful she had chosen this.
Ava’s eyes felt heavy, and she closed them for a minute, and her head lulled back as she dozed off in the tub.