The Wolf, The Bird and The Siren

SIX

One month later. 2 months before Noah’s birthday

Ava

“Ava, would you look at me for a second” Jada whispers and snatches the phone from my hands. I close my eyes and purse my lips. 

“J I told you to stop doing that” I snatch my phone back and continue typing 

“Babe you are obsessed, he is like right over there, you will see him in a second. Why don’t you focus on the moment at hand will you? They are about to call our row”

I let an exasperated breath out. The day is so hot that I am sweating in parts that should never sweat. The graduation cap is crushing my nice hairdo and the gown I wear on top of my cute summer dress is just making me sweat more. Rows of students sit eagerly waiting for their name to be called, this is an exciting rite of passage if you had something to do with your life. I had to work for a year just to see if I could afford college. At least I have that year before I get kicked out of home-sweet-hellhole. 

“Ava! Ava!” Jada’s furious whisper and elbow to my side wake me up from the trance I was on by staring at my phone screen.  

“What?!” I whisper back angrily 

“They just called our row! Stand the hell up” She whispers back.

Shit. I scramble to get up. I walk hurriedly to catch up to the girl in front of me, but my heels sink on the grass and I am sure I look like an i***t. I get in line behind another girl and look around to the crowd.

“He is sitting over there” Jada points with her chin and I follow. I spot him right away, he is already looking. He’s so handsome, is he even real? He stands among the crowd with his flashing smile and golden hair. He waves casually and winks, I wave back and wink too. His smile broadens and he blows me a kiss this time. I am about to do the same but Jada pushes forward.

“Ava! Stop flirting with Cleis and walk!” I look ahead of me and realize that the girl that was in front of me is already several steps ahead. I walk trying to avoid my heels from sinking into the grass again but it's pointless. Stupid grass. 

“I can’t believe he actually came to our graduation. Babe the boss is into you” Jada makes kissing sounds on my ear and I try to hide my dumb love-struck smile. 

“Stop calling him the boss J”. It sounds weird to me, but normal to her after working at his bar for a month. 

“What do you call him? Do you call him bae?” She teases me and I kinda like it 

“Ugh I hate that word.” We walk up the short steps of the stage and we are only a few feet away from the podium. This feels like just branding cattle. Here’s a diploma. Here’s a diploma. Here’s a diploma. I search the crowd again and I see he is still looking at me, a thin smile and shimmering eyes. 

“He is undressing you with that stare” Jada leans to whisper in my ear and I think if it weren’t this hot I might blush.

“Shh stop it” I try hard not to laugh. I suddenly have the intense feeling that someone else is watching me. I look across the stage and see the boy’s line moving steadily. I spot Noah there. His eyes are fixed on me and his fists are clenched by his sides. A shadow of warning settles over his features. How long has he been watching me? I break eye-contact and walk forward, reaching for the diploma as I hear my name. I mumble a ‘thank you’ and continue forward. I need to hurry up before Noah can catch up to us. Once I climb down the steps I break the line and move among the crowd, looking for Cleis. He is not where he was before. Ugh. 

“Why are you so frantic babe?” Jada startles me 

“Oh I am just trying to--”

“Avoid Noah and run off with Cleis?” this time I turn around to face her

“Don’t say that! I just don’t want trouble and--”

“And Noah is trouble? Yea I saw him too” Jada shakes her head in disagreement and I continue forward, looking for Cleis. The crowd is starting to make me uncomfortable and I push through people faster until I get to more open space. I look around, trying to find his face among the crowd.

“What are you searching for so intently?”

The smooth voice feels like a cool breeze on this scorching day. It feels amazing. I turn around and he’s standing there with that unforgettable charming smile. 

“I was looking for you” I manage the words out and he reaches for a hug. Pleasantly surprised I hug him back. 

“Congratulations Ava.” He holds onto me for a moment and I let him. I hear Jada fake a cough and I break the hug.

“Hey boss” she waves at him but looks elsewhere, avoiding his eyes. 

“Jada. Congratulations to you too.” He bows slightly

“Thanks” she mumbles, diverting his gaze again. O-kay?

“Thanks for coming,” I say. His piercing eyes refocus on me and I think I’m blinking too many times.

“Thank me after dinner. Ready to go?” He asks 

“Yea let’s—“

“Go where?” Out of nowhere Noah shows up and pushes me behind him like I’m a freaking child that needs protecting. Why does he do that?

“We are going to celebrate graduation with dinner” Cleis’s calm voice stands in stark contrast with Noah’s flaming stance. I push Noah aside and I see Emi has been with him the whole time, she’s always so quiet. She waves at Cleis and he waves back. 

“Noah I told you to stop doing that!”

It comes out louder than intended and I feel several eyes on me. 

“Do what chickadee?” He tilts his head like a freaking puppy dog and frowns. God why is he so perfect. I could just kiss that frown away. Wait what? I’m daydreaming again.

“Pushing her over Noah. You are not her f*****g bodyguard” Jada says so as she inspects her nails carefully. 

“Let’s go then” Cleis’s collected voice draws me back to him and I feel kind of ashamed that I was just thinking about kissing Noah. 

“First I need to speak with you Ava” Noah grabs my hand and practically drags me away from everyone.  

“Ouch, that hurts” I pull my hand away forcefully and glare at him. 

“Sorry I wasn’t trying to hurt you” he mumbles and I follow him just out of habit. We enter a little gazebo and he grabs my hand softly this time. He pulls it to his chest. Weird...

“Ava I don’t trust that guy” his eyes travel around my face. I think he may be actually concerned. 

“Noah there’s nothing to worry about. Honestly” I try to reassure him. 

“How much do you know about him though? And I don’t like the way he looks at you. Maybe you should just stay here” his hands tighten and it’s like he’s crushing my bones. I try to wiggle my hand out but instead he pulls me closer to him. 

“Could you stop that! You are smothering me.” I pull hard again and he loosens his grip, freeing my hands. “Listen, I have been talking to Cleis for a few weeks now and he wants to take me out. And I don’t need your permission.” I remove the stupid cap from my head and try to fix my hair. Actually, I have been talking to him every single day and this would be our second ‘date’ apart from the first day at the club. But Noah doesn’t need to know that.

“No. You are staying” it sounds like a decree and he crosses his arms, daring me to defy him. 

“And where will you be?? Where have you been all month besides avoiding me?” I try not to sound hurt but we always do everything together, yet he’s been avoiding me like the plague. He opens his mouth to say something but he doesn’t speak, so I continue “You have talked to me like twice, and now you want me to stay here?! No!” I begin to walk away but he grabs me from my waist and pulls me back into him, hugging me. I've never been this close to him this way. My back against his chest feels right. 

“Chickadee... stay with me” he murmurs in my ear and nuzzles my hair. Oh my God, what is happening? It feels like it should always be this way. Maybe this is where I belong. I ease into him but a voice breaks the spell 

“Noah? Baby?” 

Baby??? I open my eyes realizing they were closed. A random girl is standing there, I think her name is Sophia? 

“Oh... hi Sophia” he doesn’t let go of me and keeps his face on my neck, this is making me sweatier in a bad way. She plays with her hair, and not for a single moment looks at me. I wave, but she ignores me.  

“Yesterday was fun. You forgot this is in my room” she pulls a T-shirt from her bag. How does one 'forget’ a shirt? Annoyed, I swat his hands from my waist and take several steps away.

“Oh, thanks.” He walks to her and grabs the shirt. 

“No problem. So see you later right?” She asks eagerly and I think I’m going to vomit. I can’t believe I fell for his ‘stay with me’. Does he want my attention now that someone that likes me is not intimidated by him? I don’t think so. 

“See ya Noah” I say quickly and walk off scanning the area with my eyes. I hear him say something to Sophia and then calling my name, but I ignore him. I spot Jada first and wave like a maniac, she seems upset. Cleis and Emi are close behind her. 

“Wait!” He catches up to me and spins me around. 

“Let go, big brute!” he holds my wrist captive and shakes his head

“Ava that girl meant nothing to me, none of them mean a single thing to--”

“That’s the problem. They do mean something. They are not just girls you can play with and then dump. I have never judged your choices, but honestly, you harassing me for trying to go on a date is getting old” I try to turn but he holds me tighter, his muscles tightening. 

“I didn’t mean it that way and you know it.” He looks at the sky and breathes out loudly “Ava there is something--”

“There you are babe!” Jada pushes Noah off of me and randomly hugs me. I hug her back. She’s such an affectionate weirdo. 

“Ready to go?” his silky voice causes a pleasant shudder down my spine and I let go of Jada. I wonder why I was even jealous of Noah’s choices a second ago. Cleis has not given a single girl a double take and he is not a possessive maniac. 

“Yea I am” I walk to his side and to my surprise he takes my hand on his. He hasn’t really shown much physical affection, we haven’t even kissed.

“I don’t think so” Noah growls and irritation crosses his face. He takes a step towards Cleis. My head turns sharply towards Cleis to watch for a matching aggressive reaction, but he remains cool and collected, only his eyebrows shoot up. 

“Back off Noah” Jada grabs his arm and she squeezes hard. She snarls and her teeth elongate.

“J! There are a lot of humans here” I look around to make sure no one is watching this ridiculous scene. My words register and Jada closes her eyes, letting go of Noah. 

“Sorry, my wolf has a thing for jerks. Go on guys, I think my baby brother needs some company from her big sis” She continues to look at Noah and he does too. Cleis takes the opportunity and pulls me away towards the parking lot. I should feel relieved but I actually feel the urge to run back into Noah’s arms. Oh God not again! I look over my shoulder and lock my eyes with Noah. Jada seems to be scolding him for something but he is looking at me instead. There is something in his eyes I can’t describe. I mouth a ‘sorry’ to Noah but he only shakes his head in defeat

“Is he always that aggressive with you? That’s not okay you know” I snap my head back. His voice eases my worry quickly, replacing anxiety with a warm serenity. 

“No, actually he has never been this way. I mean he is always protective, but I don’t know why he is acting like this lately…”

“How close is he to earning his wolf?” he asks 

“Like two months away. Do you think that’s why?”

“Depends, usually ranked werewolves tend to be more aggressive than Omegas. Is he ranked?” “Well they technically don’t have a pack, but he has Beta blood. Jada and Noah shared the same dad and a different mom, he was the Beta of a pack a long long time ago.” I frown to myself and wonder why I just said all that, it's definitely something Jada hates to talk about so we avoid it. 

“Oh it must be the Beta as he gets closer to his first shift. Maybe just give him some space until then” he sounds very reasonable and I am sure that’s it. 

“Yes you are right…” We find the car and walk to it

“On another note, I have official permission”

“Permission? for what?” I ask, puzzled. We climb into the backseat of the car and John sits in the driver’s seat, he waves a ‘hi’ unenthusiastically.  

“Permission to officially date you. I asked your legal guardian for consent because you are not 18 yet. I know you are close but I thought this was the right thing to do” his words sink in and I avoid his gaze. s**t I forgot about that completely

“You talked with Ms. Davidson?? When?” my voice comes out like a freaking alarm and I try to compose myself. I can't believe he did that.

“Earlier today. She gave her official consent. Do you know what that means?” 

“What?” I look at him this time, and his deep gaze makes my stomach flutter. 

“If you let me...” I bite my lower lip and wait for him to continue. His eyes drop to my lips “I can kiss you” his tempting words are alive on my skin. I nod an eager yes.