LOGINAVA’S POV. Lisa had stopped crying, and we both sat quietly in the stuffy janitor’s room, saying nothing more. She had just revealed that Jessica ousted her from their friend group, harshly branding her as useless and a loser. “I’m so sorry for being a coward, Ava,” Lisa sniffed. “All my life, I have been unable to stand up for myself, always feeling like a loser and worthless.” “You should not talk about yourself like that,” I said gently, stroking her hair. Even though Lisa had treated me poorly in the past, I felt sorry for her. “You have been a good friend to me, and I betrayed you. I know I should not ask for your forgiveness, but I’m sorry,” Lisa said, holding my hands. I didn’t say anything, only stared at her in silence. “I miss how things were before high school, before all of this,” Lisa said softly. “Me too,” I nodded slowly. “Things were so much easier then.” Lisa nodded. Maybe it was because I still missed our friendship, or maybe I was just feeling lonely, but
AVA’S POV. I hurriedly made my way to class and saw that Dante was not in class yet. I have been paranoid since I found out that Piper has been following me around. Early this morning, I kept looking out of my window to check if she was stalking me, but I never saw her. I barely had any good sleep; I was so paranoid that I had a nightmare. I flinched in fear when I felt a touch on my shoulder. I quickly turned around to see it was my classmate, who gave me a weird look before asking if she could borrow my eraser. “Sure,” I murmured, handing it to her. Mrs. Danny entered the class and began writing on the whiteboard. I glanced at the clock; it was already ten past eight, and Dante was nowhere to be found. I wanted to apologise for running off like that when he asked me to be his girlfriend. I was so scared and didn’t know how to react. I guess my reaction must have hurt him a lot because he has been offline throughout the weekend. Thirty minutes into the class, Dante finally ope
AVA’S POV. I walked along the lonely road barefoot, feeling as though my heart was being ripped out of my chest. Maybe I shouldn’t have run away, but everything had happened so fast, and I didn’t know how to react when he asked me to be his girlfriend. I love Dante. I have liked him for a while. But it just seemed like everything was happening too fast and far too perfectly that I was sure I was going to mess it up. My life was a mess. It had always been a mess, and even though most of my debt had reduced, I still owed Josh, and I did not want to exploit my mate’s love for me to pay him back. It just felt too cruel. If I said yes to him, I didn’t want him to think it was because of the money. Plus, part of me worried that he might not be able to handle me being human once the whole pack knew we were together. I had met his father, and I knew what he was like. I heard a car honking at me, and I moved to the side of the road to let whoever was driving pass. But the honking continue
DANTE’S POV. I pulled up at Ava’s home and then rang the doorbell twice before Ava opened the door. “Hi, what are you doing here?” Ava asked, surprised to see me in her home. “I came to see you, pumpkin,” I said, stroking her cheeks. Ava closed her eyes at my touch before slowly opening them again. “I just was not expecting you. You could have at least called,” she murmured. “I miss you terribly that I could not think of anything else but to be by your side,” I pouted. “Don’t blame me; it’s your charm that has made me this way.” “Oh, okay… Come in then,” she said, opening the door wider to let me in. “No,” I shook my head. Ava raised her eyebrows, looking confused. “You don’t like my home?” she asked defensively. I smiled, letting her know I had no problem coming into her home, but I had prepared a little surprise for her, and she could come with me. Ava made to go upstairs to change, but I told her there would be no need, as she was perfect just the way she was. Besides, I
TIANA’S POV The trip was a total disaster. I dragged my fingers through my hair before collapsing onto my pink bed, letting out a silent scream into the pillow. At the very least, I should’ve been relieved to be back. No more mountains or mosquitoes. But I was panicking because soon enough, Kris’s father would call me in and ask why I failed. And I didn’t have a good answer. I wasn’t exactly a murderer. I could say that because of Ava disappearance and the triplets being paranoid over it and insisting me came back earlier than planned was the reason why I couldn’t do it but I doubted he would want to hear that, I exhaled sharply and rolled onto my side. “God… I’m not cut out for this,” I muttered. I’m really not a Luna. My phone beeped. I blinked and reached for it immediately. Mark. My heart skipped. I opened the messages and saw a string of texts waiting for me. A small smile pulled at my lips as I read them. I typed back a quick “Hey.” Within seconds, my phone rang.
AVA’S POV“Everyone! Ava’s back!”Piper’s scream echoed through the village, instantly drawing attention.I blinked against the sunlight, my head pounding. Brian must’ve drugged me before dumping me near the mountain. My entire body felt heavy, and even standing upright took effort.“Ava, oh my God.” Piper rushed toward me and pulled me into a tight hug. “I’m so happy you’re okay.”I barely managed to stay on my feet, leaning against her for support. The gas Brian’s men had sprayed still left me dizzy and nauseous.Collin spotted me the second we reached the village.“Ava!”He ran toward me, scooping me up into his arms so suddenly I let out a weak laugh. He spun me around before setting me back down carefully and kissing my forehead.“I missed you so much, Princess,” he said, relief written all over his face. “I couldn’t sleep knowing you were out there somewhere.”Dante and Kris appeared seconds later.Before I could even react, they pulled me into another hug, both talking over eac
AVA’S POV.“I’m not going, leave me alone,” I grumbled, pulling the duvet over my head.“Please, I can’t go to the ball alone,” Lisa begged, yanking the duvet off me.“No matter how much you try, I am not budging. That is your punishment for ignoring my call. You have no idea how humiliating it was
AVA’S POV.I arrived at school the next day, and people began whispering and giggling as I walked past, but I tried to ignore it. I noticed they were slowly following me, and when I stopped at my locker, the whispering intensified, and they started recording on their phones. I knew something was up
THIRD PERSON POV.Dante’s fists slammed repeatedly against the punching bag, his rage increasing with each strike. He could not get over the audacity of that new girl questioning his authority and humiliating him in front of the entire school, something that had never happened in his entire life. W
AVA’S POV. “She will do no such thing,” I yelled, redirecting his attention to me. “Why are you being so unreasonable? Do you honestly think she would want to waste good food on you?” “You again,” he scoffed. “When will you learn to respect your place, you filthy human?” “I would not stand by a







