No sense of taste

Ava came out of the bathroom, she was thankful that the bathroom was inside the room, the thought of bumping into Ryder with just a towel was a bit uncomfortable for her.

Helena had told her earlier that only Ryder, Jayden and her occupied the house along with any visiting werewolf or any of the pack members who had accommodation issues.

Her work wasn't that much, preparing food for the family, doing laundry and cleaning the house. It was a far better option than being shackled in creekwood pack and seeing Jax and Lily being lovey dovey every day. 

She saw that Helena had left some clothes on the bed for her.

She picked out a pair of jeans and a shirt and quickly put them on before putting the rest clothes in the wardrobe.

She left the room and went down the stairs, she found Helena in the kitchen making breakfast, she was accompanied by Jayden. 

Ava lingered in the door way unsure of how to interrupt them. Helena looked up and saw her,

"come here dear, don't act like a stranger" she said.

Ava walked up to them. Helena gave her a bowl of eggs to whisk them. Ava took the bowl and started to whisk the eggs.

"So Ava, what was your role when you were in creekwood?" Jayden asked.

"I was a member of the guard force" Ava replied.

"That means you must be good in fighting" Helena remarked.

"kind of" Ava said with a shrug.

They quickly made breakfast and served it. Jayden called Ryder down so he could eat.

They all sat down to eat except Ava who stood in the corner subserviently.

They started eating, Ryder tasted the food and was floored with surprise. He did his best to hide his surprise.

"who prepared this food, it's so delicious. When did Helena's cooking skills become so impressive?" he asked Jayden through the pack mind link.

The pack mind link was a ability werewolves who were members of one pack had to communicate with each other using their minds without talking out loud. Those who weren't members of the pack couldn't use this ability. 

Ryder asked this question because Helena wasn't a good cook. No matter how hard she learnt, cooking just wasn't her forte.

"it was Ava who prepared it not Helena" Jayden replied him through the pack mind link.

"So Ryder, how are you enjoying the food? It was Ava who made the food not me, and she did a good job, the food is do delicious." Helena asked Ryder.

"You should have prepared it, the food doesn't taste nice at all" Ryder said.

Jayden looked at Ryder and sighed, was he not the one that had just praised the food just now through the pack mind link.

"I think the food is delicious Ava" Jayden told Ava with a reassuring smile.

"You have no sense of taste" Ryder said.

Soon breakfast was over, they all went to their respective destinations while Ava cleared the dishes.

She was in the kitchen eating her breakfast when Ryder walked in.

"I have something to say to you" he said.

Ava looked up to hear what he had to say.

"I don't want anyone to know that we are mates. Is that understood?"

"Yes, it's understood." Ava replied.

"good, It's a very shameful thing which I don't want to be exposed."

Without waiting for Ava's reply, he stalked out of the room.

Ava pinched her palm, 'don't cry, don't cry' she muttered to herself.

Some few minutes later Helena entered the kitchen. "what's wrong Ava, you look upset".

"I am fine, nothing is wrong." Ava answered.

"are you sure?" Helena asked.

"I am okay" Ava assured her.

"I am going to pick some herbs in the forest, do you want to come along?"

"herbs? What do you need herbs for?" Ava asked in confusion.

"I am the physician of the pack, I need herbs to make medicines" Helena explained.

"oh! I see."

"so would you like to come with me to the forest?"

"of course" Ava answered.

The both of them left the house together, as they walked through the pack to the forest, they could hear a lot of whispering.

"isn't that the prisoner from creekwood?" someone asked in a whisper.

"yes, that's her. I heard she tried to kill our beloved Lily out of jealousy" someone replied.

"she was jealous that the alpha picked Lily over her"

"did she really try to compare herself with our beautiful Lily? What a joke, she is so ugly"

Helena cleared her throat and turned around to give the gossipers a stern look. They quickly dispersed.

Helena looked at Ava and patted her hand sympathetically. "don't pay any heed to them, they are just talkatives"

Ava nodded her head and the two proceeded on their way.

They had barely walked up to two minutes, when they heard a tiny voice hollering at them to stop.

They stopped and looked back, a little girl was running up to them with all her energy.

The girl stopped in front of them panting loudly.

"You didn't take me along" she stared at Helena accusingly.

"I thought you might be busy" Helena told the little girl.

The little girl looked at Helena distrustfully.

"really? You thought I was busy or you didn't call me because you already found a replacement" she then stared at Ava disdainfully.

"of course not, how could anybody replace you, nobody is qualified enough to do that" Helena said in an appeasing manner.

Helena turned to Ava, "this is Vivian, she wants to be a physician when she grows up so she follows me everywhere"

Ava looked down at Vivian who was currently glaring at her. She bent down to the little girl's height.

"Hey Vivian, I am Ava. Helena has told me so much about you and it is my honor to meet my senior apprentice, I hope you put me through and teach me things I don't understand" she said.

Vivian stared at Ava for some seconds and then her glaring face broke into a beaming smile.