Reclaimed and Restored

Fighting Back

“Back off,” Ava demanded through gritted teeth before either of her brothers could. Ben had always been an asshole, but his words hinted at something that both scared and enraged her.

“You need to get the hell away from our sister before I break that ugly ass face of yours,” Thomas said as he and Daniel stood, the legs of their chairs squeaking loudly against the tiled floor.

Ava’s eyes widened in shock. Her brothers were the sweetest guys she knew, but right then, they looked seconds away from ripping Ben’s head off and spitting on his corpse.

“Relax,” Ben said, and to her relief, he lifted his palms from the table and took a step back from her. “Your sister is hot as f**k, and I wouldn’t mind having a taste of her, but I have a mate, remember. You don’t need to worry about me defiling her sweet virgin p―”

Her brothers were making their way around the table, but Ava beat them to it. She wasn’t a violent person―except for that one slap, of course―but nobody got to talk about her like that. It was disgusting.

She was out of her chair and kneeing him between the legs before he could get the rest of the word out. Not satisfied with the girlish scream that he let out and fueled by more anger than she’d ever felt before, Ava removed her empty plate from her tray and swung the piece of plastic at the side of his head.

The tray made contact with a resounding and disturbingly satisfying c***k, doing more damage than Ava had expected.

Ben clutched his now-bleeding face while hurling obscenities at her, and the sight of the blood dripping from his cut cheek made Ava realize that she might have gone a teensy bit too far. She dropped the plastic tray, shocked but not exactly guilty over what she’d done. She might never have been the type to keep her head down and let people’s nasty comments slide, but even she had to admit she might have let her temper get the better of her this time.

“What is your problem?” a female voice screeched, her shout echoing around the now-silent dining hall.

Ava groaned as Ben’s equally unpleasant mate, Violet, ran up to them, her stormy eyes promising murder. The woman was at least a head taller than her, and her muscular build meant that Ava probably had no hope in a fight with her. Thankfully, the twins had reached her side, and their presence made it unlikely that Violet would cause any trouble.

“Your mate is a sleazebag,” Ava explained, praying that, in this case, honesty really was the best policy. “That’s my problem.”

Violet’s face reddened with rage. “You slut,” she spat before kneeling next to her lousy excuse of a mate and helping him straighten.

Ava blinked. “Your mate had the audacity to call me ‘hot as f**k’ and talk about my lady bits, and I’m somehow the bad guy?” she asked, genuinely confused about the woman’s logic.

One of her brothers coughed, and it sounded distinctly like he had choked on his own spit. It was probably Ava’s saying the words ‘lady bits’ that had caused that reaction.

“You’re a lying psycho,” Ben choked out, one of his hands still cradling his junk.

“Say one more word, and I’ll finish what Ava started,” Daniel warned as he stepped forward and shoved Ben.

Ben roared in outrage and flung himself at Daniel, and the next thing Ava knew, her brother was ducking under Ben’s fist while Violet set her hate-filled eyes on her. Much as she wished she had better reflexes, Ava could only lift her hands and flinch as Violet’s knuckles soared toward her face. She instinctively closed her eyes and braced herself for the punch.

But it never came. Ava’s eyes slowly opened and what she saw made her draw in a sharp breath. Dark brown eyes met hers, and everything around her seemed to fall away as she was pulled into their depths.

Marcus released his grip on Violet’s wrist, and Ben’s mate didn’t hesitate to scramble away.

“You okay?” he asked Ava, those sharp eyes of his searching her face with a searing focus.

His voice was somehow both rough and soft, a gentle growl that had goosebumps rising on Ava’s skin, and he was so close to her that she could feel the warmth of his body and smell his clean and slightly spicy scent.

“I’m fine,” she replied in a voice that was just a bit too breathy.

An almost imperceptible raise of his eyebrows and a slight twitch of his lips was Marcus’s only reaction. There was something dangerous about the way his muscles were still tensed and ready to strike, but Ava didn’t feel the least bit scared as she looked up at a man who could probably snap her like a twig.

“Alright, break it up!”

Ava gulped as the angry shout bounced off the walls, and the high she’d felt after kicking Ben’s ass came crashing down. Technically speaking, she’d had no right to physically attack Ben, no matter what he’d said to her. Fights sometimes happened within the Council, but physical violence was met with punishment for those involved, usually in the form of a fine or at least a week’s worth of community service that involved helping out and cleaning up in the gym and training rooms.

Ava bit her lip nervously and turned her head to the side to see who would be responsible for handing out justice. She had to bite back a groan when she saw that a Council Master had witnessed her violent outburst. She was so dead.

“Master Kennedy,” her brothers greeted the older man respectfully, but Ava could hear the worry in their voices.

“Master Kennedy,” she managed to squeak out.

“Can someone please explain to me what happened here,” the man said, his eyes surprisingly kind as they landed on her.

“I was just talking to Ava, and she went crazy,” Ben yelled.

“That’s not what happened,” Thomas argued.

“Then what did happen?” the Master asked, his gaze still fixed on Ava.

“Ben, uh…well, he was talking about me in a way I didn’t like,” she explained nervously.

“What exactly did he say?” the man asked gently.

“Just some stuff about my body,” she replied evasively, not wanting to go into more detail than that when her brothers, Marcus, and those within earshot were intently listening in.

“What did he say, Ava,” he pressed. “You can tell me.”

She blushed and stammered over her answer, feeling the weight of everyone’s attention on her as she recounted what Ben had said to her almost word-for-word. After all, she wasn’t about to mention the word Ben had been about to say when she’d cut him off in front of a Master or Marcus.

She might have been hearing things, but she was sure that Marcus muttered the word ‘prick’, or something that rhymed with prick, under his breath once she was done.

Master Kennedy’s eyes had grown hard as Ava spoke, and when he turned his focus to Ben, his jaw clenched angrily. “We don’t condone violence within these walls,” he said, making Ava wince. “But we also don’t condone s****l harassment,” he added coldly.

“I didn’t even touch her,” Ben argued weakly, looking slightly scared.

“Your comments were more than enough,” Kennedy replied. “Which is why you will only receive half of your salary this month.”

Ava gaped, not quite believing that one of the Masters was taking her side over a Council member’s. It seemed that not all of the Masters were as bad as she’d thought. Probably as shocked as she was, the muscle in Ben’s jaw ticked, but he wisely kept his mouth shut and nodded his agreement.

“That being said, you did break one of our rules, Ava,” Kennedy continued as his gaze moved back to her. “But because of the circumstances, you will only be required to report to the training rooms for today.”

“No problem,” she replied without complaint.

Spending her eighteenth birthday cleaning up after sweaty werewolves wasn’t precisely what she’d had in mind, but she was simply grateful that she hadn’t been fined. Besides, it was a Saturday, so she couldn’t exactly use school as an excuse.

Of course, she’d wanted to spend time with Molly and her brothers, but she could try and meet up with them after she had served her sentence. Ava could only hope that her first shift into a wolf wouldn’t start until late into the night and after she’d gotten some time in with Molly and the twins―she would be able to control her shifts in the future, but the first one wasn’t exactly optional.

“I suggest you go back to your table now,” the Master said to Ben.

“Thank you, Master Kennedy,” Ava whispered as Violet and her mate retreated toward their group of friends. She could almost see the steam escaping from their flared nostrils.

The Master nodded and gave Ava a friendly smile before strolling back to his table. Marcus seemed to consider her for a few more seconds before he too walked back to his table without another word, but Ava could have sworn she saw a flicker of something that resembled approval in his eyes before he turned away.

“Damn,” Daniel sighed. “I guess it could have been worse, but this is not the eighteenth birthday we had in mind for you, sis.”

“On any other day, seeing you knee that asshat in the nuts would have been worth any punishment they gave you,” Thomas said, his light brown eyes alight with amusement.

“Oh, it was worth it,” Ava replied, her lips curving up into a smile. It was turning out to be the most eventful birthday she’d ever had, and, apart from the repulsive things that Ben had said, she couldn’t say she minded it.

“Not that I’m complaining or anything, but when the hell did you become so violent?” Thomas asked through a chuckle. “You went full-on Kill Bill there.”

Ava shrugged. “I’m eighteen now. My old age has changed me,” she joked.

Like a magnet, her eyes were drawn to Marcus again, and she was surprised to see his eyes fixed on her. He held her gaze for mere seconds before he looked away, but those seconds may as well have been hours with how much they affected her. Yes, it had definitely been worth it.