Chapter 1
“Execute her–she tried to kill me!”
Serina’s scream echoed through the packhouse as Ava sat in chains, blood still fresh under her fingernails. Not Serina’s–her own, from clawing at the silver cuffs that burned like acid against her skin.]
Three hours later, they were still trying to break her.
“Did you slash Serina’s back? Admit it!“[]
Clint slammed his fist on the table, and Ava fought the urge to laugh. After everything she’d done for this pack–healing their wounds, stopping their wars–this was how it ended. This was the third time they’d grilled her, third time she’d told them the truth: she didn’t do it.[]
But Serina was the Beta female. Ava was just the “jealous ex–Seer.” Guess who they believed?[]
“Look at this.” Greg slid a photo across the scratched metal. Four claw marks, deep and angry against pale skin. “Recognize your work?“]
“Not mine.” She looked at their sweating, snarling faces and said with perfect calm.]
As a shifter, though she had been trapped in this little box for hours, endured hours of the same questions, same accusations, she had fought hard to keep her pacing wolf from losing her shit. And fought hard to suppress the memories of the last time she’d felt so trapped.
“Do you have any idea how bad this could get for you, Ava?” Clint leaned in close enough that she could smell his morning coffee. “You’re facing an execution here. Tell us the truth, and we can help you. We’ll reduce the penalty to banishment from the pack.“]
She snorted. Help? Just a lie.
They had already made up their minds that she was guilty; what they wanted was a confession.[]
“Continuing to maintain your innocence is pointless,” stated Clint, rising from his seat. “We have evidence“-no, they didn’t-“and we have witnesses.“[]
“You said those eight boys made a mess in your home.”
Eight kids. Right. Eight kids who worshipped Serina like she was their personal goddess. Eight kids who’d swear the sky was purple if she told them to.[]
And personAva, she wouldn’t call breaking her furniture, slashing her clothes, spray–painting insults on her walls, smashing her TV, and slinging the contents of the refrigerator around her home a mess.
“But according to the eight youths, they were just hanging around, minding their own business, when you came at them and accused them of breaking into your cabin.”
“They insist that you refused to listen, that you persisted in accusing them of breaking into your home at Serina’s request. Then you snarled, ‘I’m going to kill her!‘ before running off.“[]
Wow. Just more perfect bullshit.
They’re lying.”
“All of them?” Greg’s voice turned harder, louder, browbeating. “Just admit it, Ava.”
“You were so jealous because you lost Zarek to her. And you thought that if she was out of the picture, you would get him back. So your racked her down and attacked her from behind, slashing her back, giving her no chance to defend herself.” He slowly stalked to Ava’s other side as he continued, “She quickly righted herself and whirled on you, didn’t she? That was when you sucker punched her, knocking her out, and ran like the coward you are.”
Clint’s allegation couldn’t be more pathetic. And because Ava had a terrible habit of accidentAva speaking her thoughts aloud, she mocked, “Wow, you cracked this case wide open
But the truth? The truth was if she wanted Serina dead, she’d have gone at her from the front. And she’d have made sure she finished the job. Since she’d joined the Grunthorn Pack two years ago, Ava had only been involved in two duels. Both times, Ava had won. She fought hard and dirty, but she never attacked from behind. And she never ran off like a coward
The past few months had sucked big time. It had been a blow when her boyfriend found his true mate, but Ava was happy for Zarek. []
Unfortunately, her intuition had told her that Serina Lavin was going to be trouble… and it had been right. []
Despite Zarek not hesitating to claim Serina as his mate, the female had immediately embarked on a hate campaign with Ava as the target.[]
Ava had been shocked when Zarek berated her a few months ago for supposedly insulting his mate, Confused and riled, she’d sought out Serina… playing right into the woman’s hands, she later realized. Everyone had witnessed her yelling at the Beta female, who had remained calm and cool as she rebuked Ava and gave her pitying looks for her “jealousy.”
My Mate? He Calls Me His Doom–but I Am Hus Last Chance
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Chapter 1
That was when the “Ava’s jealous” tripe had started. And she had quickly found that there wasn’t a good defense against that seventh–grade insult. If Ava ignored it, she was jealous. If she responded with a smart comeback, she was jealous. If she got pissed and told them to go eat shit, she was not only jealous but bitter too.
Shortly after that incident, her pack mates had slowly but surely pulled away from Ava. In the time she’d been part of the Grimthorn Pack, she’d healed several of them and had twice saved the pack from conflict through her visions… but all of that had ceased to mean anything.
In their defense, Serina was a very convincing liar. She’d made Ava an outsider in her own pack. And thanks to the heifer’s latest stunt, Ava might be cast out.
“And we have a witness who claims they saw you attack Serina.“]
“I doubt that.”
Clint straightened. “Oh, really? Why?”
“One, because the assault didn’t happen. Two, because if you did have a witness, you wouldn’t need a confession. As you said, it’s currently my word against Serina’s. People might trust her and like her, but that’s not enough to justify an execution. Particularly since there are some gaping holes in Serina’s little tale.“]]
“Such as?”
“Why would someone who wanted to kill her run away while she was unconscious? Wouldn’t they take advantage of that moment in which she was totAva helpless and deliver a killing blow, considering they were a ‘coward‘ and all?“]
Clint was quiet for a moment. “Maybe you heard someone coming. Or maybe you noticed someone was watching.“[]
“Or maybe Serina’s just talking out of her ass.” Again.
“You know what I think, Ava?” asked Greg.
“Oh, this is going to be good,” she muttered sardonically.[]
“I think that you didn’t really want to kill Serina. I think you just lost your temper at a weak moment. We’ve all acted impulsively with anger at some point, right?” []
“I think that you might have genuinely believed Serina had ordered the boys to trash your cabin. You were already very upset with her for taking Zarek from you. You’ve been feeling lost and alone. Jealousy has often gotten the better of you lately, and who could blame you for that?” Greg actually patted her hand.[]
Oh, for Christ’s sake, was she really supposed to buy this oh–so–caring act?]
“When you walked into the cabin and saw the chaos, it was the icing on the cake. You did what anybody would do in that situation. You snapped, and you tracked down -the person you convinced yourself was responsible. That was why you fled the scene after attacking Serina. Once you saw her unconscious on the ground, your anger
dimmed and you felt bad for what you did.”
“It’s either that,” began Clint, “or you went after Serina with the intention of killing her but then lost your confidence at the last moment. Which is it?“]]
“Just admit,” encouraged Greg. “Make things easier on yourself. As soon as you confess, this will all be over. Don’t you want this to be over?”
Yeah, she damn well did. Frick and Frack had kept her in this tiny room for over two hours, and her wolf was at serious risk of losing it. But making a false confession wasn’t on her list of things to do. “I’ve already told you what happened. I have nothing more to say.“]
Clint sighed. “Fine, if that’s how you want to play it.” He looked at Greg. “Call Matt. Maybe he’ll do the execution right here, right now.”
Hearing that, she gave a theatrical gasp. “What? Now? But the night is young, boys.“]
“Ava,” Clint gritted out.
“Bring out the cuffs, let’s have some fun.”
She threw up her arms. “All right, I confess… I ransacked my apartment for fun, falsely accused a bunch of well–meaning youths, attacked my Beta female, and then stuck around long enough to be detained and possibly executed.” She shrugged. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.“]]
e.“D
Clint’s face flushed again–most likely because when she put it like that, it became clear just how pitiful their argument really was. “Don’t get smart with me.”
She snickered. “Are you sure you’d know if I did?
“I’d say it’s time we- Greg paused, his face flushing red with rage. “You know what? I’m done with this shit.“[]
He lunged forward, silver cuffs glinting in his hand. “Maybe some real fear will loosen your tongue.“[]
Ava’s wolf snarled as she jerked back, but there was nowhere to go. Greg’s fingers caught the collar of her shirt, and for the first time in hours, real fear spiked through her
The door beland her slammed open(
