Chapter 3

                                                ~NOAH'S POV~

I fell to the floor with a thud and a dull ache rang in the back of my head. My heart pounded against my ribcage and it took the intervention of the goddess for me not to have a stroke.

"Is that all you got, Richards?"

I jolted up at the sound of that high-pitched voice and resumed the battle stance I held minutes ago.

"I'm not even tired.”

The smirk on her face dropped and her pouty lips drew into a line. 

In this pack, there are two important rules that you must follow in your life. The first is to never mess with the alpha  and the second is to never anger Ava Miller.

And I didn't just anger her, I pissed her off.

She circled me as a predator would do to its prey and I did the same, both our eyes became instruments of observation and intimidation.

The arena cleared in seconds, the tension in our bubble drew the attention of everyone else and in no time whispers began to fly.

"Don't they ever get tired of this?"

"How can they get so serious five minutes into training?"

"How can a single fight be so predictable and yet so exhilarating at the same time?"

Before our onlookers could take their next breath, we pounced on each other, and what started as a simple training session quickly turned into a fight filled with blood and tension.

But that's what excites me.

In the pack, people fought me as though their lives depended on it, meaning that they would run for the hills if the fight lasted more than four minutes. It was fun at first but after the first three days, it got boring and very uneventful.

But with Ava, she fights as though her honor is on the line and that's the difference.

She isn't the kind of person to surrender because of the title you possess. She isn't the kind of person to give the upper hand to an adversary in power and she isn't the type of person to give up when there's no way out.

But she is the type of woman who would keep fighting for the course she believes in even if it costs her the air she breathes or the blood that flows through her veins. 

She is honest, Just, loyal, and a woman I trust with everything I value more than my own life. Unlike a certain woman, I know.

Anger clouded my judgment and my reaction time was slow causing me to unintentionally create an opening that I almost couldn't recover from.

Ava charged in and just as she was about to land her finishing blow, I pulled a fast one on her and then slammed her petite form into the floor. A goddess-awful sound filled the room and I didn't need a degree to tell me that those were the sounds of her bones.

"Surrender,"  I spoke in an authoritative voice and she reluctantly bowed her head admitting defeat through gritted teeth.

A round of applause sounded throughout the arena and just as I was helping Ava back to her feet, the unthinkable happened. Something so unexpected that not even our omniscience goddess could have seen it coming.

My heart got abnormally tight and it got harder to breathe with each second that passed.

This can't be happening.

I fell to my knees and panting laboriously, desperate to force air into my exhausted lungs.

"Everybody out, Now!!" I heard Ava's voice followed by the sounds of retreating footsteps but it was only after the arena had obtained a deafening silence that  Ava knelt by my side and aced my head on her lap.

"Listen to the sound of my voice, Noah. I need you to snap out of it, okay?"

I nodded my head as best as I could and concentrated on anything that wasn't the throbbing pain in my chest.

The hand gently ran through my hair. The sound of Ava's soothing voice and the feeling of how lucky I am to have her by my side.

Slowly, the dreadful pain faded and my breathing got back to normal. I peeled myself from her warmth and sat on the floor beside her. 

"What did the new doctor say about your illness?"

"The same thing every other doctor said."

It's no secret that I have battled with this illness since I was young and it's also no secret that the omegas which is the legislature of the pack tried to take it away from me but it would have to be a rainy day in hell before I allow that.

I pulled my legs to my chest and placed my head on my knees. If any other person saw me like this, then they would gorge out their eyes and take it to a blacksmith for cleaning. 

But it isn't anyone else, it's Ava, the only person I trust.

"I wish you were my mate, Ava."

She turned to me and a sad smile formed on her lips as an unfamiliar emotion ran through her eyes, but it was gone before I could decipher it.

Yes, I wish the woman we accused of being a spy for the Celix pack was my mate, instead of the monster I have to break for massacring half of the pack and my entire family.

***************

              CIARA’S POV                                                  

"Stop laughing at me!"

"I'm sorry, I just can't help it."

My chest hurts from all the laughing I had done if it hadn't been for the restraint holding up. Seconds later, Ava joined me and we laughed as though our lives depended on it.

I was here when she was caught for being a spy to the Celix pack, our biggest rival whose alpha is Anthony Richards, Noah's younger brother and the man who would have had my head if it wasn't for Ava, and brought into the cell, she escaped days later and tried to free me too but being the prideful bitch I am, I said no and missed my chance of freedom.

Now she is the training buddy to my mate and I'm here rotting in an unclean cell and yet, she not once forgot about me and the realization almost makes my eyes water.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

I looked at her beautiful face and in seconds a sincere smile was plastered on my lips.

"It's nothing,  I'm just thinking of how lucky I am to have you."

She returned the smile and stared out the only window in this stupid cell and it was then that I made up my mind and spoke.

"I need to tell you something, Ava."

She turned to me and her carefree eyes hardened telling me that she was more than ready to be serious.

"What is it, Ciara?"

My heart rate quickened and my breathing accelerated but the moment she held my hand and gave me a reassuring smile, I knew that there was nothing I couldn't do.

"I need to tell you that I…"