Chapter 6 The tension

Ava's POV

The light in the room was too bright when I woke.

I lay still, listening to the faint sounds drifting in from the pack house, their voices, boots on the wooden floors and laughter somewhere in the distance. It wasn't like Bloodfang, there was no shouting and no sharp commands thrown my way.

I pushed the covers back and sat up, running my fingers through my hair. My mind kept circling last night, Kane's lips on mine. Lucas's smirk and the way his voice slid under my skin.

One mate was supposed to be a blessing. Three? It felt like a storm brewing over my head.

A knock at my door pulled me from my thoughts.

"Ava," Kane's voice was deep and steady. "Get ready. You're meeting the pack today."

I blinked. "Meeting them?"

"They need to know you're here," he said from the other side. "And that you're mine."

His footsteps faded down the hall. I sat there for a moment, staring at the door. The word mine shouldn't make my chest feel warm but it did.

I dressed quickly, tugging on soft jeans and a plain shirt from the stack he'd left.

When I stepped into the main hall, Kane was already waiting. He looked powerful and impossibly handsome in a dark shirt rolled at the sleeves, his gaze locked on me the second I appeared.

"Stay close to me," he murmured, offering his arm. I took it, and he led me through the tall doors and out into the training grounds.

The walk out to the training grounds was short but the moment we stepped outside, I felt the shift. Dozens of eyes turned toward us, warriors with sweat-darkened shirts, omegas carrying baskets, a few elders watching from the sidelines. Their expressions were full of curiosity.

Kane stopped in the center of the open space. His voice carried, sharp enough to cut through the murmurs. "This is Ava Wynter. My mate."

Gasps, murmurs, even some hostile stares rippled through the gathering. I swallowed, wishing the ground could swallow me.

"She's from Bloodfang," someone muttered.

"I heard she-" another started, but cut off when Kane's gaze swept the crowd.

"Anyone who questions her," he said, his voice low and dangerous, "questions me."

I could hear the beat of my heart pounding, every stare felt like a weight pressing on my shoulders.

A slow clap broke the tension.

Lucas.

He walked toward us like he had all the time in the world, with a smirk on his face. "Well," he said, stopping a few feet away, "this is touching. I didn't get an invitation, Kane I'm hurt."

Kane's arm tensed under my hand. "Leave."

Lucas tilted his head. "You don't want me to greet our lovely mate?"

The word our made the crowd stir again, heads turning, whispers darting between them.

Before Kane could answer, another voice cut through the air, it was deep, cold and threaded with something sharp enough to make the hairs on my arms rise.

"Our mate?"

My head snapped toward the far end of the field. Zack was there, his eyes locked on me, his steps measured as he came closer.

The air seemed to thin. Wolves moved out of his way without a word.

Kane's stance shifted, his grip on me tightening. Lucas's smirk widened like he'd been waiting for this moment.

Zack stopped a few feet away. His eyes didn't leave mine. "Careful, Kane, you're parading around with what's mine."

Kane's voice was flat but I could feel the heat under it. "You rejected her."

For a second, Zack didn't speak. The space between us stretched tight, the mate bond pulling at me like a thread I didn't want to follow but couldn't ignore.

Then he said it.

"I've reconsidered."

Kane's POV

Zack's words hit the air like a spark in dry grass.

"I've reconsidered."

The crowd stiffened. I didn't need to look at them to know what they were thinking, Bloodfang's so-called wolfless girl now had two Alphas in a standoff over her.

I stepped forward, keeping Ava behind me. "You don't get to reconsider, Zack. You made your choice."

He didn't blink. "And now I'm making another."

Lucas gave a low laugh from my left. "Finally, I was wondering how long it would take you to admit you feel it too."

"Stay out of this, Lucas," I snapped.

"I am this," he shot back, his eyes cutting toward Ava.

She shifted uneasily behind me but I didn't move aside. My wolf was already pacing, hackles up, the bond to her humming hot in my chest. Zack's presence only made it burn hotter.

"You rejected her in front of everyone," I said, my voice low. "She's mine now."

Zack's gaze flicked to Ava and stayed there. "Doesn't look like she's yours, at least not completely."

The way he looked at her made my hands curl into fists. That pull between them was real, I could see it in the way her breathing changed when his eyes met hers. It made my wolf snarl.

Lucas stepped forward, grin sharp. "If we're done pretending, we can talk about how to handle-"

I cut him off. "You so much as touch her again without her wanting it and I'll make sure you can't."

His smirk didn't falter but I saw the edge in his eyes now.

Zack took another step toward us, ignoring Lucas entirely. "Ava."

She froze, her hand brushing my arm.

"Tell them," he said, his voice quieter now but no less commanding. "Tell them you feel it."

She didn't answer, her silence was a knife in my ribs. I told myself it was because she was confused, overwhelmed but the way her wolf stirred at his words made my own bristle.

"You had your chance," I said. "You don't get to come here and claim her like she's a possession you forgot about."

His eyes snapped to mine. "She's not yours alone."

The sound of the crowd faded under the pounding in my ears. My wolf was close, very close, pushing for a fight. I kept my voice even but every word was lined with steel.

"She stays with me."

Zack's mouth curved in the faintest of smiles but there was nothing warm in it. "We'll see."

The tension stretched so tight it was a wonder the ground didn't crack beneath us.

Lucas glanced between us, clearly enjoying the show but smart enough not to push further.

I turned slightly, enough to feel Ava's presence at my back. She was trembling but she didn't step away.

"Come on," I murmured to her, just loud enough for her to hear. "We're leaving."

For a moment, I thought Zack might block us but he didn't move.

As I walked her off the training grounds, I could still feel his gaze on her..on us.