For the past couple of weeks, Ryder had completely ignored Ava. It was as if to him, she did not exist.
As Ava washed the dishes that morning after breakfast, she pondered what had brought about this character change. She didn't know why but she missed his scalding remarks and glares. Now that the only thing she got was his indifference, she felt uncomfortable.
Or should she stir up trouble so that he would pay attention to her? She thought to herself.
But what could she do that would be sufficient enough to get his attention. She thought long and hard until she got a brilliant idea or so she thought.
She finished washing the dishes and arranged them. She dried her hands and went to implement her great plan.
Some few minutes later, Ava was outside taking a walk. This was against the rules. Ryder had warned her strictly not to come out on her own.
As Ava walked, she looked around. The few times she had come out, she hadn't been privileged to look around.
Now she had all the time and leisure to look around. Fireblood pack was much more bigger than creekwood pack and more modern. They had a shopping mall, lots of restaurants and a cinema too.
"I think you are lost bitch" someone said with a sneer blocking Ava's path.
Ava looked up to see a female werewolf blocking her path. Three others stood behind her.
"please excuse me" Ava said as she tried to walk past her.
The girl dragged Ava back by her hair.
"Where do you think you are going? I am still talking to you"
"Vero, maybe we should stop this and let her go" Hannah, a timid werewolf spoke up.
"and why should we do that?" Vero, the girl who had dragged Ava back asked.
"because alpha Ryder will be angry if we touch her, you remember how angry he was at your brother for hurting her?" Hannah reminded her.
"why else do you think I am doing this? Because of this bitch, my brother was scolded by alpha Ryder. I want to get my revenge." Vero said as she gripped Ava's hair even tighter causing her to cry out in pain.
"But what if alpha Ryder gets angry?" Hannah said worriedly.
"He only got angry because my brother was a male, we are females like her so this is fair"
Ava resisted the urge to roll her eyes. They were four and she was just one, how was this fair? But this was exactly what she wanted, for them to hurt her so Ryder could come rescue her and maybe he would finally show some emotion other than the nonchalant indifference he had been giving to her for the past couple of weeks.
"Look Hannah if you don't want to do it, you don't have to join, we all know you are a scared little kitten anyway" Vero told Hannah.
Hannah looked at the girls and Ava and then she stepped back.
"scared little kitty" Vero sneered.
The girls surrounded Ava and started to rain blows and punches on her.
..............................
Ryder was overseeing the guard force practice when he felt an uneasy feeling. Instantly he knew something was wrong with Ava.
"Keep practicing, I will be back" he ordered the guards.
He went back to the house, he saw Helena watching a movie with Vivian in the living room. Ava was nowhere to be found.
"Where is Ava?" he asked them.
"she said she wanted to rest in her room, she said she had a headache" Helena answered him.
Ryder went upstairs and knocked on Ava's door several times yet there was no answer. He opened the door and looked inside the room, there was no sign of her anywhere.
He went back downstairs, "she isn't in her room" he told Helena.
"are you sure?"
"Yes I am sure. I have checked the whole house, she isn't in this house" Ryder said.
"Maybe she went outside" Vivian said.
"but she knows she isn't allowed to go outside" Helena said worriedly.
"I am going out to look for her, two of you should wait here in case she comes back home" Ryder told them.
He went out to look for her, he was frantic with worry as he looked everywhere. He could feel that she was in lot of pain. What exactly had Ava gotten herself into this time?
He closed his eyes and focused on their mate bond to try and trace her.
Because they hadn't mated and marked each other, the mate bond was still weak. Ryder used all of his mental strength to try and find her through the mate bond.
He started walking in the direction that the bond showed him, soon he found her in a corner being beaten up by a group of girls while one of them stood in a corner looking worried.
"What is going on here?" he asked. The girls immediately left Ava alone. Ryder glanced at her where she lay on the ground, she looked bad. There were bruises all over her face and her body.
"I said what is going on here?" Ryder asked using his alpha command. The girls couldn't stand it and they immediately went on their knees with their neck bent in submission.
"she insulted us so we decided to fight with her to show her that a prisoner can't insult us and go scot free." Vero answered while trembling.
"So you call four people ganging up against one person fighting?" Ryder asked them.
They kept quiet and difficult say anything.
"I don't have time for this. What are your names?" he asked them.
"Vero, Sam, Jennie and Hannah" one of them answered.
"You shall be hearing from me soon, now get out of here" he ordered.
They ran away in fright. Ryder knelt down beside Ava. "Ava, can you hear me?" he asked, she moaned in response.
"Don't worry, I will take you back home and Helena will take care of you" Ryder said as he smoothed her hair back.
He stood up and carried her in his arms, he was careful not to hurt her. He started walking back to the pack house.
Ava rested in his arms snugly as he carried her back. Her plan had worked, she thought to herself.