Ava, Part One (Phoenix Academy #1)

34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Z eke felt the pain as the silver cut into his body, but Shadow didn’t care. He tried to shift, but the silver already in his system stopped him. Thank the Goddess for that! The last thing anyone wanted was a deranged beast running through the campus.

Shadow managed a partial shift as Derek and Myles came forward with extra chains. He growled and snapped his teeth at them as he struggled against the chains. The smell of burnt flesh was worse now, and the silver weakened him even more. But Shadow was stronger than most wolves. It would take more silver than that to keep him down.

“Release me!” Shadow growled again.

‘Use your head, you maniac! You will destroy everything!’ he shouted angrily in his head.

It was the worst feeling, being trapped in his mind while Shadow did whatever he wanted.

Derek and Myles dropped their chains. Shadow was not their Alpha, but his power surpassed his father’s. His commands could bring even the mightiest warriors among them to their knees. Derek and Myles were strong, but they were no match for him. He watched in horror as they both approached and, with shaky hands, started unlocking and unwrapping the numerous chains around his arms, torso, and legs.

Shadow didn’t wait for the last shackle on his ankle to be unlocked as he stood and broke the chain.

“The Council would get involved,” Derek said with his head down. “They will end this, and whatever you want will be lost to you forever.”

‘Listen to him,’ he begged.

But Shadow ran out of the back door into the woods, leaving his packmates in the house. He could not fully shift because of the silver in his blood, so he started running. Ava’s scent was so strong in this form that it was like a beacon, leading Shadow right to her.

The sun was still out. It was another beautiful day at the academy, so there were no shadows he could hide behind. In mere minutes, the day would turn into a nightmare for everyone. Though he was still in the woods, all the wildlife had already scattered and escaped the danger. It was so deathly quiet he couldn’t even hear the birds chirping. He could only hope that the people Shadow was hunting would scatter, too.

‘Please, Shadow. The Council will end us,’ he tried again.

“They can try,” Shadow growled.

The Council was made up of the most powerful beings from all over the world. Shadow would be dead in seconds if they decided to put him down, and he knew it.

But he was already coming out of the woods behind the Training Centre, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. He had thought it was the human who would cause his demise if she stayed here, but in the end, it was his demon that would get him killed.

Shadow followed Ava’s scent to the entrance but stopped before he could go in. Ava wasn’t in there. She had already been taken out. Her scent was leading him further down to the infirmary, and he could smell so much blood. His heart ached as he wondered if she was still alive. Even though he wanted her out of there, this stupid curse made him feel things he didn’t want to feel.

The reason for Shadow’s hesitation became clear when he also caught Claire’s scent. She was in the Training Centre with Ava’s blood all over her. Their scents were mingled in a way that made Shadow want to go in there and kill everyone on the spot. Claire for touching Ava. The coach for allowing it. Everyone else for not stopping it. But again, it was Ava whom Shadow was worried about right now.

Relief washed through his body when, for the second time in one day, Shadow chose his mate. He followed Ava’s scent until he stood outside the infirmary and opened up his senses. There was a lot of chaos inside, but his ears finally picked up the voices of the doctors working on Ava. And there was a heartbeat. It was faint, but it was there.

The sound of it made Shadow fall to his knees with relief, uncaring that the tarmac in the parking lot was biting into his bare knees. Zeke could admit that the sound brought him relief, too.

Shadow waited on his knees for what felt like forever, keeping track of everything the doctors did and not giving a shit that people had to walk or drive around him.

“Young man, you look badly injured. Shall I help you into the infirmary?”

Shadow looked at the doctor who had come to disturb him and growled. The doctor was a wolf. He looked down and stepped away from him, then immediately walked back into the infirmary.

It wasn’t until he heard them settle Ava into a room that he stood and brushed his stiff knees.

‘You’ll scare her,’ Zeke warned Shadow when he saw what he was about to do.

Shadow ignored him and walked in. He ignored the medics, attendants, nurses, and doctors who asked if they could help him as his nose led him straight to Ava’s room.

She was asleep and hooked up to several machines. The stench of her blood was heavy in the air, but somebody had cleaned her. She looked so peaceful like this. Untroubled. Her skin was so pale that her freckles stood out on her face, but she didn’t look like anyone who had just been seriously hurt in a training match.

Was the match not as bad as he had imagined it in his head? Had it not been like yesterday, with all that blood and all the punches? Why didn’t she have even a single bruise? They had healing potions here, but he’d had them before, and they weren’t that good. There would have been signs of injury for a while after taking it.

A thought struck him, but as he sniffed the air again, he knew he hadn’t made a mistake. Ava was very much human.

‘You would have killed people for nothing,’ he told Shadow.

‘They still deserve to die.’

And that was what he was afraid of. This diversion was just a reprieve for those who’d put their hands on Ava. Shadow was still going to hand out his brand of justice.

‘Tell me what I need to do.’

Negotiating with the devil was never a good thing. That was what dealing with Shadow felt like; he was a demon from the very depths of hell sent to torture him for the rest of his life. But this had to be done. They had to agree on something so he could get some sleep and rebuild his mental walls against Shadow.

‘She is mine,’ was all Shadow said.

‘Can we wait? Can you give me time to think of something to make us both happy?’

Shadow didn’t respond as he walked over to a chair in the corner and sat.

‘Why should I wait? She is yours, too,’ Shadow said. ‘I’m not the one who touched her. I’m not the one who kissed her until she burned for me. You can’t fight this, Ezekiel. Time won’t change anything.”