“Why?” Ava asks wearily. “To have another conversation where you tell me what’s best for me?” Fuck. She sounds… desolate.
“Ava,” Max stares at her in shock. “Youknowit’s not like that.” Ava shakes her head at him. “No,” she says forcefully, “Idon’t, Max.”
She takes a seat next to me, and Leah glances around before she gets up. “I’ll give you some space,” she says delicately, pausing to kiss Ava on the cheek and whispering something into her ear that makes Ava’s shoulders sag as she nods.
Her body tenses as she turns to Max. “Tell me what’s happening.”
Max rests his arms on the table, his eyes not straying from Ava’s face. “Rogue Winter messaged Luc this morning. He wants to talk about the Omega Compound.”
Ava flinches. “Why?”
I shake my head as she looks at me for an explanation. “We don’t know, love.”
Hating the uncertainty on her face, I reach out and lift her into my arms, ignoring her huff of disapproval. Stroking my hands down her spine, I pet her until her muscles soften and she rests against me. Max watches us with clear longing in his eyes, but Ava doesn’t meet his gaze as she looks around.
“It’s something to do with me, isn’t it? So we should call him back?” she asks plainly. Max recoils, and she turns to him with a glare. “I’m not a helpless child, Max,” she snaps. “I don’t have to hide away from every conversation.”
“I don’t think you’re helpless,” he pushes out. “God, Ava. I know you’re not. I just think that we need to think this through. We need to be careful about this.”
Everyone winces as Ava draws herself up. “Because I’m sounreasonable?” she hisses. “So incapable of making choices?”
“I never said you were incapable!” Max defends himself weakly.
“You didn’t have to!” Ava shouts. She pulls herself away from me and stalks towards Max, pointing her finger at him. “It’s your actions, Max. You told me you wanted me to stay, and then you showed me that my opinion means nothing compared to yours.” Her voice shakes.
Max looks like someone’s taken a knife to his insides. “I don’t think that,” he says hoarsely. “Of course I don’t.”
She shakes her head. “There’s noof courseabout it, Max. Not when you treat me like I have no idea how to make my own decisions. Just because I had my choices stolen from me does not mean that I’m incapable of making them now!”
“I don’t want to push you into something you’re not ready for,” he whispers. “That’s it, love. I told you that I wanted you to choose us, and I meant it—,”
“But Idid, Max,” Ava cries. “I did choose you. I begged you, and you walked away from me.”
She swipes angrily at the tears on her cheeks. Max looks like someone’s taken a cleaver to his insides, his face stricken.
“It wasn’t like that,” he croaks. Ava turns away from him.
“It was exactly like that, and ithurt,” she says. “I’ve chosen, Max. I chose you, and you said no. Now it’s your turn.”
She climbs onto Nikolai’s lap, and he wraps his arms around her as she tugs at her nails with her teeth. Max sinks back in his seat, his face white. Leaning in, I draw out Ava’s abused finger, noting the shaking in her hand.
“Hey,” I say quietly. “It’s going to be okay.”
She nods but stays silent as she leans her head on Nik’s shoulder. He runs a hand down her arm and gently over her midsection. “They’re growing,” he notes. Ava looks down at his hands, lifting her hand to cover his as her expression softens. “They are.”
The sudden clanging of footsteps clattering down the stairs in a hurry draws our attention to the door.
Bastien bursts into the kitchen, his face pale and eyes moving straight to Ava as we all stiffen.
“What?” I snap out.
Ava straightens in Nik’s lap as Bastien moves to her, cupping her face in his hands.
“Remember what I said,” he murmurs. “I will not let anything happen to you. Do you understand?”
She swallows. “Tell me?” she asks. A tremor shakes her arms, mirroring the heartbeat racing in my chest as I stare at my brother.
“The scanners,” my brother spits out. “They’ve picked up… well. You’re everywhere, love. You too, Max. Come and see.”
