Ava knew the night wasn't over yet.
She could feel it.
The tension still hung in the air, thick as fog, clinging to her skin like an unshakable shadow.
After dinner, she took a short walk with Jake on his way ho, his excitent still radiating off him.
The mont she turned the corner back toward the main building, she felt him before she saw him.
He was standing in her path, his stance deliberate, his dark eyes scanning her.
Ava ca to a stop, her muscles instinctively tensing.
Beside her, Zari moved imdiately, her body half-blocking Ava's in a protective stance.
Leon's lips twitched. "I just want to talk."
Ava placed a hand on Zari's shoulder, a silent command. "It's okay."
Zari didn't look convinced, but she stepped back.
Ava t Leon's gaze, unblinking. "What can I do for you, Alpha Leon?"
He tilted his head, studying her. "I just wanted to say that you look well."
Ava raised an eyebrow. That's the opener?
"...Thanks?"
Leon nodded, his expression unreadable. "Seems sending you with Lucas wasn't so bad after all."
Ava folded her arms. "You want to say thank you? Fine. Thank you."
Leon smirked, taking a step closer. "Also..." His voice dropped slightly, "Sharon is currently in holding, waiting for her sentence. Alpha Lucas wants her dead."
Ava clenched her fists. "It's less than she deserves."
Leon let out a slow breath. "Look, I know that you're not a bad person—"
Ava laughed.
A cold, bitter sound.
"I don't know. All the torture I survived from you, your wife, and her cronies may have changed that about ."
Leon flinched. Just slightly.
But Ava saw it.
"My point is," he continued, regaining his composure, "with your new influence, you can protect Crimson Pack from Lucas. You are, first and foremost, a Crimson before a Silver Luna."
Silence.
Ava's blood boiled.
She saw red.
"You want to protect this pack?" Her voice shook with fury. "The sa pack that watched as I was beaten, abused, spat on, humiliated, and insulted?"
Leon's jaw tensed.
"When did Crimson Pack ever protect ?" she demanded. "When did you ever protect ?"
Leon exhaled, looking at her with sothing close to regret. "Ava..."
"Do you know what the pain of rejection from your fated mate feels like?" Ava's voice dropped, dangerously quiet. "It feels like your heart is being squeezed out of your chest. Like your blood is draining from your body. For weeks."
Leon's face hardened.
"So no," she continued, eyes burning with conviction. "I will personally ensure that my Alpha conquers this pack and rules it appropriately."
Leon stepped closer, his voice sharp. "You think Lucas is better than ? Lucas kills people for sport! Is that who you've fallen in love with? A beast? A monster?"
Ava froze.
Love?
She didn't love Lucas.
...Did she?
A flicker of doubt crept in.
Leon noticed.
His lips curled in satisfaction. "You don't even know, do you?"
Ava's pulse raced.
She had never allowed herself to think about it. Not in those terms.
But Leon's words planted a seed of uncertainty, and it pissed her off.
She steeled her expression. "Lucas is a thousand tis the man you are, Leon."
Leon's smirk disappeared.
"He doesn't shrink away from problems," she continued coldly. "He doesn't look for shortcuts. And rember what you once said to ? That I was never fit to be Luna?"
Leon's eyes flickered with sothing unreadable.
Ava took a step forward, lowering her voice.
"Well, you were never fit to be Alpha either."
She turned on her heel and walked away.
Not looking back.
Not letting him see the way her hands trembled slightly at her sides.
Because deep down...
She wasn't sure if she was running from Leon... or from the truth he had just made her face.
*****
Ava had tried to sleep. She really had.
But sleep didn't co easily when your past walked right up to you and demanded a conversation.
She had stood face-to-face with Leon, the man who had once been her whole world, the man who had crushed her without a second thought. And she had felt nothing.
No longing. No nostalgia. Not even a spark of the old pain. Just contempt.
That should have been freeing. It should have given her peace.
And yet, sothing else clawed at her chest.
Leon's words had stuck to her like burrs on fur.
"You think Lucas is better than ? Is that who you've fallen for? A beast? A monster?"
Fallen?
That was ridiculous.
...Wasn't it?
She turned on her side, staring at the wall, listening to the distant howls of the night.
Lucas might be volatile but
He had taken her in.
He had protected her.
Not because fate had demanded it, not because so mystical bond tied them together, but because he had chosen to.
That thought had her slipping out of bed before she realized what she was doing. She wrapped her robe around her shoulders and padded quietly out into the dimly lit corridors, heading toward the one place that could bring her clarity.
The guards saw her approach but said nothing. They knew.
They knew she was his.
Lucas was sprawled on his bed, shirtless, his powerful body relaxed in sleep. Even in unconsciousness, he looked like a king.
His broad chest rose and fell in an unhurried rhythm, his dark lashes stark against his tanned skin. His arm was slung over his forehead, the other resting over his stomach, the blanket barely covering him.
For a man so feared, he looked almost... peaceful.
Ava knelt by his bed, her fingers hovering over the hard ridges of his abdon.
Lucas made her feel safe. He made her feel powerful. He made her feel wanted. That was all she needed to know that he was good for her.
Her fingertips grazed his chest.
Lucas's eyes snapped open, his hand shooting out to grab her wrist.
Lightning-fast.
She should have been scared.
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