On the Outskirts of Manhattan

Ava couldn't get over the fact that her bones were stronger than everyone else's, and her muscles were smaller and stronger than everyone else's, and her pain receptors were dulled so that her being stronger than everyone else wouldn't be distracted with the fact that stubbing her toe hurt to high hell. She just couldn't get over it that she was made to be stronger than everyone else. And that, Dawson noted, was her problem. She wasn't afraid of the guards. One at a time, she could take them on without contacting her inner wolf; she flipped them quickly and easily, pinning them to the ground just like she had been trained. He could see Greyson's training in her: his easy laid back moves, his fighting stance, his entire fighting demeanour; they were all portrayed in Ava. She took them on in a more feminine and compulsive way, but underlying all of her actions was Greyson. Dawson knew he shouldn't bother him; they had been destined to be together, a connection that can't be broken. But a small part of him was jealous of Greyson. He was jealous of a dead man. A dead man that had never officially become her mate.

Dawson knew exactly what her inner wolf could do; he had seen it when she had sought out Logan. He knew everything she was doing to protect herself and defend herself against a soldier's attack was simply her human half defending herself with the basic knowledge she had gained from Greyson.

“Okay, everyone take a break!” Dawson called. “Ava, come over here.”

Ava jogged up to him as the men converged in a group; many of them watched her run over to their boss who sent glares their way while she tied her shoe.

Once she stood up, Dawson handed her a water bottle. She was hardly winded even though she had single handedly fought every male in the courtyard. As she was taking a sip Dawson took a swing at her. She ducked, spun and jumped back several steps, finishing her gulp of water.

“What are you doing?” she giggled out as he walked closer to her. When he took another swing at her, Ava was forced to drop the water bottle and protect herself. He didn't pause after every swing like the other men were doing; what they had been doing was like they had been making sure that she was okay to continue after every attack they put on her. He needed to show them that she wasn't fragile. They knew that she was a dominant wolf, and therefore naturally good at fighting. He needed to show them that she could hold her own; she could kill them if she wanted to. He needed to show them that she was their competition.

Dawson kept swinging, kicking and eventually had her back pressed agains this front and his arm around her neck in a chokehold. He knew this was the time that the soldiers wanted to move in; to serve and protect a damsel in distress. He also knew that this was the moment she would prove to them she was in no kind of distress. At all. She took a breath, rammed her elbow back into his stomach and when he continued to tighten his hold on her neck, she turned to face him, then as his arm naturally loosened a bit from her motion, she slipped out and skipped back a couple of steps. “What the hell Dawson?!” Not what he was expecting, although several of the soldiers in front of him had failed to escape his chokehold on many occasions.

He didn't say a word in response to her questioning; he simply advanced toward her until finally she struck out at him. She growled then, slammed her fist into the side of his face, kneed him in the stomach and used her leverage from his pain to push him onto the ground and pin him there. “What is wrong with you?!” she finally screamed at him.

“They were going too easy on you,” he chuckled. She was sitting on his stomach and had her tiny hands holding his arms to the ground, but when he tried to move his hands, he found that her tiny hands were stronger than they looked or felt. He reminded himself about her physical alterations. “Let me up?” he questioned. He was pleased at the look and determination crossing a number of the soldiers' faces. They knew that their trainer never let anyone beat him. Even if that someone was a girl.

“I'm not going to let you up if you're just going to attack me without a word!” Ava insisted.

“That's what they're going to do when you're fighting them,” he told her, suddenly realizing that she might need a bit of mental training for the event as well. The men and woman who were going to be attacking her in the real battle would gladly rip her to shreds; continuing without a word. “They want to eat humans, one tiny woman isn't going to stop them. They're not going to give you a warning. You can't stay in your human frame of mind. You have to get into your wolf frame of mind. Stop being afraid to hurt us. I saw a bit of it there when you finally fought back against me. But if you're going to actually be committed to this then you're going to have to get attacked and fight with everything you have. You have to stop being afraid of your wolf!” Dawson insisted, and flipped them over so that he had her pinned down instead. She struggled for a few seconds, then glared at him.

“Get off of me Dawson. If you want me properly trained, then teach your soldiers to fight me properly,” he let her up and she rolled away from him, standing up to dust herself off. She leaned over and picked up her water bottle then sat several feet away from him.

“Ava...?”

She ignored him.

“Ava.”

She ignored him. He sat down beside her. “You know I only did it to prove a point. One that you would have ignored if I went about it any other way. One they would have ignored. You need to be trained properly, not in a half-assed way.”

“Stop talking to me as if you know how I think and what I do! You don't know me Dawson! You don't know anything about me!” she paused, “except that stupid file.”

“Is that what this is about? You think I tell you things and care about you because of what I read in your file? You're mad because I didn't get to know you the normal, personal way?” Dawson questioned, leaning over and cupping her cheek so she would be forced to look at him.

Ava glanced at Dawson and let out a huff, still not replying to him.

Dawson chuckled, moving to sit closer to her and put his arm around her shoulders instead. Squeezing, he pulled her close to him and leaned his head on top of hers. “I only attacked because I want you to be as safe as possible; as prepared as possible. I can't be with you at all times. And I know you from what you have told and taught me. I like you because of what I've seen; not because of what's in your file. It's a rather to-the-point file if you'd like to read it?” Dawson offered.

Ava sighed and leaned into him. “Maybe we can start on group attacks? Since I don't feel like I'm in jeopardy, my wolf just sits quietly inside me, humming in content when I perform a move perfectly. Maybe more than one person on the attack will help her come out?” she mumbled into his chest. She was tired; tired of fighting with Dawson. Tired of moving. Simply tired.

“That's a good idea.” Dawson nodded.

“Why don't you try fighting in your wolf form?” Ava jumped at the voice coming from behind them. She had, of course, heard and felt Riley enter into the courtyard several minutes before, but once her brain eliminated him as a threat and accepted that he would be in the courtyard, it had released its mental tracking of the man. She mentally reminded herself to stop doing that. Everything and everyone was a threat now. Always.

“Using your wolf to fight will bring out the wolf in you. Once you get used to fighting in that form, it will be natural for your wolf to become active while you're fighting.” Riley slowly reached out and removed Dawson's arm from around Ava's shoulder. “Lets try.” He held his hand out to help Ava up off the ground.

Once she was standing, Riley motioned behind him to Gabriel who stood at the entrance to the courtyard. The dignified, yet incredibly fierce looking Council man walked forward, immediately changing into his wolf. It was a spectacle to see. Rather than bursting from his clothing, Gabriel seemed to magically transform before their eyes. His pure white, shimmering wolf's teeth were bared before them and his white and grey wolf lunged to attack. Ava lunged mid-transformation to knock Dawson out of the way. Gabriel had moved to attacked the man of course, knowing Ava's protective instincts. Should he have lunged for her, there would have been no guarantee that Ava would have transformed at all out of defiance to the authoritative man. Gabriel knew that Dawson was someone Riley suddenly found himself having a problem with and as a fellow Councilman, he couldn't help but to give the younger man a run for his money. Ava, on the other hand, was Riley's pride and joy. He didn't want to catch her too off guard.

Ava shifted her sleek black body to protect Dawson as he stood up and stepped back several steps. The soldiers at the bottom of the hill drew their attention towards the fighting wolves, intrigued by the way their forms seemed to change into something completely different than their human forms. It was typical for werewolves to transform into wolves with the same fur colour as their human form's natural hair colour. The two wolves before them did not follow this pattern. The two wolves before them were also projecting power out of their very pores.

Ava's teeth were bared; just as Gabriel lunged, she ducked and nipped at his throat, dancing around him to draw his attention toward her and away from all the innocent humans on the ground. That was how her wolf thought; any human or werewolf in human form were innocent and human, and someone she had to protect at all costs. In fact, many of the wolves were someone she considered important protect at all costs, even in their wolf forms.

Gabriel's brilliant white and grey wolf barked out a laugh. Dawson had stepped back several steps. He had an angry look on his face, but he wasn't doing anything to cease what Gabriel's actions. However, Gabriel noted, Ava still had substantial control of her wolf. The wolf hadn't taken over to attack him yet, simply to protect and that could be explained as a natural instinct to be in the same form as the attacking party.

Gabriel danced around again and lunged. Ava jumped out of the way. Gabriel pivoted to bite down on her front leg. Ava felt her wolf roar to life. She had simply been dozing before, but the full on attack of her body from the white and grey wolf before her woke up her own inner wolf. And her wolf wasn't a morning person.

Riley saw the change instantly. And within seconds, Ava lunged at Gabriel, pinned him to the ground. She was moving in for a kill bite when Dawson's hand rested on her shoulder, and Riley witnessed it again—the calm that suddenly and completely wrapped around Ava. With a simple touch from Dawson, Ava's furious wolf quieted and she was herself again. She pressed her nose to Gabriel's neck where his pulse throbbed, then calmly stepped away from him.

“Come on Ava, lets go find you some clothes so you can head home,” Dawson stated, then turned to the crowd of soldiers that had gathered. “Tomorrow morning we'll work on skills for group attacks to aid in Ava's training. I know you've been holding back oner, afraid to hurt her. But you just witnessed it. She can take you. Don't be afraid to hurt her. You'll be rewarded for it.” With that, Dawson and the sleek black she-wolf turned to leave the courtyard.

“Dawson?” Riley's voice reverberated across the field. Dawson and the wolf turned toward the powerful voice that walked toward them. Ava cringed. Gabriel strode toward them wearing absolutely nothing after transforming back into his human form. Most wolves were used to the sight of naked people within their pack, or within a werewolf community, but Ava grew up in the human world. Wearing clothing would always be natural to her, not the other way around.

Once Riley reached them, flanked by the naked man reached them, he turned to Dawson and spoke, “Ava's presence here is drawing attention to her. She is going to need protection overnight. I'm reluctant to let you protect her—”

“That's ridiculous!” Dawson roared. “I am a good soldier, I'm your best soldier! If you want your favourite asset protected, you would have me on the job, emotional connection or not!” Dawson barked.

Riley chuckled. “As I was saying, I'm reluctant for you to be her protector, however, it's becoming increasingly obvious that you are by far the best person for the job.” Riley paused, “Don't make me regret this decision.” With that, the man nodded, and he and the wolf left the confines of the courtyard.

Ava stuck close to Dawson's leg in her wolf form, being cautious and keeping her senses on high alert for intruders. That was just how her body worked when she was a wolf: always on high alert, always protective.

Dawson led her down a series of corridors, avoiding the main entrance to the building where there were bound to be several visitors, workers and people waiting for appointments with someone in the Council. All in all, it would be too many people to see her in her wolf form. As a human, she would seem like a visitor. As a wolf, someone would know what was up.

Finally, Dawson stopped before a closed door, produced a keycard from his front pocket and waved it in front of a scanner. The door opened and Dawson stepped aside to let Ava walk through.

She looked around upon entering. It was a distinctly male room with dark walls, dark bed sheets and dark clothes found in the hamper. There was a sort of office to the right of the door adjacent to a walk-in closet, and a large bed took up the majority of the room on the left. It smelt distinctly like Dawson. Ava became infinitely more comfortable within the confining room with the other man's smell permeating it.

“This is my room,” Dawson supplied as he walked into the closet. “I'm not sure anything in here will fit you...”

Ava knew she only felt confined because she was in her wolf form. Her wolf wanted to be running in the forest, not confined to a room. With Dawson in the closet, she went over to a long dress shirt covering his desk chair and transformed back into her human form, pushing her arms into the clean shirt's sleeves and doing up the buttons quickly. The shirt was long, went down almost to her knees. However, that was to be expected. Dawson was a large man, and Ava happened to be a fairly small girl.

“Do you have a belt?” she called out, walking out from behind the desk.

Her voice startled Dawson. He knew that Ava didn't like to be naked and vulnerable after a transformation. He stuck his head out of the closet to see the girl rolling up the sleeves of one of his many dress shirts. He took the time to admire the way she looked in his clothing. She wore something he hadn't expected her to, making her look much more appealing to him than the gym shorts and t-shirt he had planned to give her.

“A belt?” she asked again. “Preferably one that has holes the entire way around it.”

Dawson stepped back into his closet and was followed closely by the woman. He opened a drawer in his closet where he kept belts. Ava's slim hand reached out and grabbed a well used belt. It took her less time to find it than it took him to open the drawer. And, true to her words, the belt had holes the entire way around it. She fastened it around her abdomen and before his eyes, Dawson watched his dark grey dress shirt transform into a dress on the woman.

“Lets go,” she said. “I wouldn't mind having dinner with my son,” she grabbed his arm and pulled him from the closet.

Dawson let her lead him down the hall, wondering how she knew which ways to turn considering he had taken multiple back hallways to get them there. It seemed her internal map of the building never left her brain—something else to add to her multiple amazing skills.

“I'm not wearing shoes, so you'll have to drive. Especially considering how you picked me up this morning. What's with Riley lately anyways? I said I'd do it. He knows I feel strongly about it. I just hate it!” Ava was babbling, using her hands to emphasize the words. She grabbed onto his arm as they reached the main entrance to the Council's Chambers, but kept talking.

Carly watched as Dawson, the strongest and by far the best looking of the soldiers that inhabited the Council's Chambers, walked out of the hall that connected to his own rooms with the pretty, petite brunette. She wore what appeared to be one of Dawson's overly long dress shirts with a belt around the middle. The woman wore it as a dress, and of course, Carly though, she looked gorgeous in it. Ava had no shoes on, and she still looked gorgeous. There was something about the young woman that had Carly jealous.

The couple were talking as they walked by the desk. Ava smiled and gave a wave as she spoke, but didn't stop talking as they passed. “I hate transforming like that. I really liked those shoes and everything. Riley's a jerk when he wants me to be superwoman...” her voice trailed off from Carly's hearing. But the phrase “superwoman” cause Carly's attention enough to start spinning wild stories in her head. Stories that would eventually lead to rumours, which would eventually leave the Council's campus. The werewolf community would know that Ava was superwoman in the matter of a few days.

***

“I just received some interesting news from a highly trusted associate,” Ryder looked up from his desk at the intrusion. He didn't enjoy intrusions. If he wanted to speak to someone, then he would seek them out. Not the other way around.

“What is it?” Ryder barked out. He had been in the middle of an intricate fantasy involving himself as the ruler of the werewolf world with a beautiful woman by his side. He was sure all the women would fall at his feet once he ruled the world. But he had his eye on one in particular.

“The secret weapon,” the man before him spoke. “They have the wolf in training as we speak. It would appear the Council has taken it upon themselves to train the most powerful wolf they know of.”

Ryder sat back in his chair to observe the man before him. He was a good worker, always seeking out new packs to join theirs which now held over five hundred members, some willing, some not so willing.

“Well, Malcolm, does your associate know who he is? Who they're training?” Ryder asked.

“She,” the man responded. “She is Ava Wilkinson.”

Ryder let out a growl. There went his fantasy. “Last I heard, she got injured while fighting an Alpha awhile back. How do they expect her to beat hundreds of wolves?” Ryder barked out.

“I hear that when they were fixing her broken bones, they took the time to enhance her body. She has become both stronger and more powerful each time I've seen her,” the blonde woman who had first informed him that the Council had a secret weapon stepped through the door, skipping over to Ryder and placing herself in his lap.

Ryder growled at her, threw her to the floor and stood, pacing, ignoring the gentle cries of the hurt woman.

“We need her on our side. Surely someone has insider information on her. Get me everything anyone knows about Ava Wilkinson. And get it to me now!” Ryder growled out, storming out of his office. He had some humans to hunt. He wasn't waiting any longer. It was the only thing that would calm him down. He needed the chase. He needed the fear. He needed the blood. He needed Ava.