By the time they begin the drive to the airport, Avery feels like she's been dragged through a bush backwards.Once she finished training the teenagers, who were all rather upset and anxious about their Alpha being hurt, she had to go and pack a bag for Roman, as Ryan informed her he hadn't yet packed.Carolyn laughed at her the whole walk to Roman's room.While she packed a bag for him, Roman had been semi-conscious and found everything hilarious, including her looking horrified after finding some lacy unmentionables in his bedside table.As she slumped in the backseat of the seven-seater SUV, Avery is exhausted and can't wait to go to sleep that night."Silly donkey," Roman mutters, his head rolling to the other side as the car goes over a speedbump.Avery stares at him, as do all of the guards in the vehicle, who look like they're questioning their choices right about now."What the fuck?" She murmurs, before going back to her phone and continuing to text her brother, who's filling
The Connors pack is a very traditional one; few, if any, women hold important roles in this area, and that enrages Avery.She has refused to speak with Alpha Connors, the new or old one, in the past based on her values, and nobody argued with her over it.She never had a face to put to the former Alpha of this pack before, so at least something came out of that awkward encounter.They arrive at the packhouse, where rooms have been prepared for them to stay in.As soon as the door swings open, they are shown a woman who has her head down, staring at the ground as she greets them.Even Roman looks horrified, as he stares at the former Alpha Connors.The same woman, in a long, conservative black dress leads them up the stairs in utter silence, not even checking their names."Unfortunately, due to rumours that the Alpha Lancaster was coming with his mate, a single room was arranged for the two of you to share," the woman murmurs, "it will take us a while to organise a separate one, so we
The conference is boring, like they all are.Avery is shocked by the amount of packs present, as she had expected this to be a small meeting with just a few packs.The majority of the packs in the country are there, which makes for some mildly awkward conversations when Avery has to greet some of the men she's slept with.She gets a dirty look or two off some of the Lunas, but she brushes it off with ease, not particularly caring about their opinion of her. If they don't like the fact she slept with their mates - before they had been mated and marked - they had better be blaming their males just as much as they blame her.The packs are seated in alphabetical order at round tables, and Avery is tugged away with Roman to his spot, much to York's delight.There could only be two representatives per pack, usually the Alpha and his Luna, but since York was unmated and Avery hadn't been present, he had brought his father.Hence, Avery was exiled to the Lancaster table.Her presence drew som
After 'the incident', as everybody called it for the rest of the day, the conference went relatively well.The Council drafted a plan, and rogue attacks were discussed in detail."Myself and Deputy Alpha Wilcott of Rapid Rock were travelling to my pack a month ago and were ambushed by rogues in Alpha Michaels' pack lands. We still are unsure if it was a planned attack, or if it was one of convenience, but we believe they may have set up camp where the coven previously roosted," Roman announces when it's his go, and Avery nods grimly."Thank you, Alpha Lancaster. Alpha Michaels, have you found any evidence of this?" One of the older Council members asks, looking at the fat man at the table next to them."Yes, we found humans. Well, we found their bodies. They were used as blood banks, it seems like, rather than used with the intention of being turned. So we believe there may be vampires involved too," the man nods, and a groan goes around the room, everybody slumping backwards into the
"Shit," Avery mumbles, stumbling through the hallway as she holds onto the wall."Bye!" Meredith calls, before she falls back into her room, eyes half-closed and looking thoroughly out of it.Avery closes her eyes for a minute, and leans against the wall, blinking hard when she starts walking again."Almost there!" She nods and wanders down the hall to where she thinks her room might be.I'm not so sure about that, Sonya butts in, taking the reigns a little, and beginning to steer her in the opposite direction of where she was going."Thank you," Avery giggles out loud, drawing a weird look from a couple who are strolling down the hall. A door opens near her, and she spots Roman in his glasses."Ave?" He groans, taking in her very drunk figure."Mhmm," she beams, stumbling over to him and cuddling him tightly."Hello there," he chuckles, rubbing her back ruefully."I could have come and gotten you from her room, you didn't have to wander around trying to find it yourself," he adds, w
After slathering on a layer of concealer, Avery examines herself in the mirror."That's as good as it'll get," she mutters, and glances at her phone, noticing a text from York."Ugh," she mutters, glancing at the bathroom door, and rolling her eyes before she hops into a sky blue silk slip dress.Leaving her hair down in its waves from the day before, she adds a small pair of stud earrings into her lobes, and two rings in her second and third piercings.Popping her heels on, she grabs her purse, loading it with anything she could need for the day.Sonya growls as she comes back to life, the pain in Avery's head gone.Thank you, Avery chirps, grabbing a dark grey blazer to throw over her dress if she gets chilly.I hope you fall down a flight of stairs. Actually, I hope you don't, because I'll have to fix that too, Sonya grumbles, going back to ignoring Avery."Roman, I'm going down for breakfast," Avery shouts, before she stomps out of the room, keeping her ears sharp for any noise fr
Avery is half asleep, but in her defence, so is Lilith.The two women are leaning against each other, their heads resting on one another'."Have you ever seen your one so peaceful?" Roman asks in amusement, shaking his head at Avery as he pulls out his laptop and gets ready for the second half of the conference to begin."She's gorgeous," Zephyr sighs dreamily, holding Lilith's hand loosely."Are you happy?" Roman quietly questions, his eyes not leaving Avery's face."Happier than I've ever been in my life," Zephyr whispers, leaning in and kissing Lilith.Lilith jolts awake and slaps Zephyr across the face.Her jolting awake makes Avery bolt up, and now both women are alert and looking very pissed off."What the hell?" Avery groans, sitting back down and rubbing her face.She remembers she has makeup on, and then whips her hands away from her face, cursing everyone and everything she's ever known."Why did you do that?" Lilith whines, looking miserable."He was trying to be cute," Rom
Avery and Lilith are quickly moved to an office just off the dining hall, Council members hurrying them along.Alpha Petty is dragged with them, and Zephyr and Roman follow quickly, being turned away at the door.The three stand awkwardly in the office, Avery's hands covered in blood.She tries not to retch when she notices, and Lilith snatches a bottle of water off the desk, pouring it over her hands to get rid of some of the blood."You weren't as freaked when you did this to my face," Scott mumbles, and Avery glares at him."That boy was just a kid, and he was going to kill himself. He's innocent in all of this. You, however, were the opposite of innocent," she snaps, muttering her thanks to Lilith."So.. guilty?" Scott smirks, and Avery bares her teeth at him."Alpha Petty, you stay in your corner, and we'll stay in ours," Lilith announces, pulling Avery back to behind the desk, where she sits her down and stands behind her."At least you didn't get blood on your dress," Lilith s