When Ava finally left her photography class, it was not empty handed. Tucked in her back pocket was a scrap of paper with Camilla’s number on it, scrawled hastily after the bell rang to release them, and accompanied by a soft smile.

Camilla had darted off quickly after that, and Ava made to leave as well, only to bump into Ry. She scowled at him, but, remembering Abigail’s words, strove to keep her face carefully neutral. He didn’t seem impressed by her effort, and she quickly let the act fall.

“What do you want?” Ava asked, not entirely hostile, but not kindly. His green eyes met hers and she fought the urge to shrink back from his piercing gaze. It was off-putting in a way she couldn’t quite place.

“Abigail invited my sister and me over to your house,” Ry told her, holding up his cell phone. “Didn’t get the memo?”

“No,” Ava said curtly, checking her phone, unsurprised to find that Abigail hadn’t texted her about her plans. She hardly ever informed people about what she was doing until it was already in full swing. “You drive?” Ry nodded. Ava sighed through her nose and stalked out of the classroom, not checking to see if he followed, half hoping he didn’t.

“Hey, wait up,” Ry called, though he caught up to her with ease. Ava shot him a look out of the corner of her eyes, not slowing down. He reached out a hand as if he was going to grab her arm, but stopped a couple inches away.

It was enough to get Ava’s attention, though, and she stopped, not moving when he narrowly avoided crashing into her. She just stared at him, watching him stumble as he tried not to slam into her, smirking when he glared at her.

“What the hell’s your problem?” Ry demanded. “What did I ever do to you, aside from stick up for your ungrateful ass?”

“That’s my problem,” Ava snapped back. “I can stand up for myself. I don’t need you to do it for me.”

“No one gives a damn if you can stand up for yourself,” Ry said coldly. “The people here want to see you lose your temper. They want you to pick fights and argue with jackasses and threaten people because that means they were right. That means they can hold you up as an example and say ‘look what a danger they are, we have to get rid of them.’

“If you had been the one arguing with Jeoffrey, it would have ruined this whole thing on the first fucking day. He would have told everyone you threatened to kill him, even if you didn’t. Because he wants to see you fail, just like they all do.

“Get over yourself for one goddamn minute and think about how your actions affect your packmates,” Ry said cruelly. “They want this to work. If you give a damn about them you’ll make it work. Be pissed at me all you want, but in the end, I’m one of the only people here who’s actually rooting for you. Remember that,” he added, turning and leaving Ava standing speechlessly.

***

An hour after Ry’s tirade, Ava sat in stony silence in the alpha den living room, listening to Abigail talk to Diana and Ry. Abigail had long since stopped trying to get Ava to participate in the conversation, and Ava was content to stay silent, still fuming over what Ry said earlier.

“So what’s it like living in the pack?” Diana asked, eyes wide, leaning forward in her seat. Ava finally looked up from her phone to listen to Abigail’s response.

“It’s the best thing I’ve ever experienced,” Abigail said, starting slowly. “It’s like a family, but a good one. One where everyone is looking out for you, and you can be yourself no matter what. Everyone loves each other, and we’d do anything for our packmates. Right, Ava?” She added, meeting Ava’s gaze.

“Right,” Ava said, finally joining the conversation, though she didn’t add anything to Abigail’s explanation. She didn’t need too, if Diana’s wistful expression was anything to go by.

“Why do you have so many kinds of Inhumans are in the pack? Aren’t packs for werewolves?” Ry asked, face blank. This time, Ava answered him, to Abigail's surprise.

“Some packs are only werewolves, but we’re a mixed pack,” Ava explained. “That means we take in anyone who needs us. Be them shapeshifter, Fae, witch, mermaid, anything. Argent doesn’t care what you are, and she’ll love you as much as she does her birth sons.” Ry nodded at this and leaned back in his seat, eyes boring into Ava.

“Fae?” Diana asked, looking between Ava and Abigail. “You mean like fairies?”

“No, not exactly,” Abigail said. “The Fae are kinda hard to explain,” she added, looking helplessly at Ava. “It’s like… Dogs, I guess. They’re all dogs but there’s many different kinds.”

“Not sure how much they’d like that explanation,” Ava said teasingly. Abigail narrowed her eyes at Ava and gestured for her to continue. “Abigail’s explanation was spot on, though. There are many kinds of Fae, and only one of those kinds is fairies. We have two Fae in our pack, elves to be exact, one seelie and one unseelie.”

“Sorry,” Diana interrupted, “what does that mean? Seelie? Unseelie? I’ve never heard those words before.” Ava paused, thinking of a way to explain it.

“I guess it’s kind of like political parties, except to them it’s a lifestyle. The seelie believe in inter-mingling amongst species, Fae and not. The unseelie feel that everyone should stick to their own kind. Fairies date fairies, elves date elves, and no one interacts with humans or any other kind of Inhuman.” Diana seemed to be pleased by Ava’s explanation. Ry, however, had some questions.

“Why is there an unseelie in your pack, then? I thought they were against this sort of thing.”

“They normally are, but this one is a special case,” Ava said, running a hand through her hair. “He’s an elf, and the soulmate of a seelie elf in the pack. He left the unseelie to follow her to the pack.”

“Soulmate?” Diana piped up, eyes burning into Ava. “Do all Inhumans have those? How do they know? What’s it like?” Ava couldn’t help but smile at the flurry of questions, and Diana’s innocent curiosity.

“No, it’s not an Inhuman thing,” Ava explained. “It’s not even a Fae thing. It’s unique to elves.”

“It’s fascinating,” Abigail said, smiling wistfully. “You’ll have to ask Erin about it some time, she’ll explain it far better than I ever could.” Diana nodded, changing the subject again.

“Do you have any fairies in the pack?” She asked. Ava tensed, eyes darkening, faint smile vanishing.

“Not anymore,” Abigail said softly. Diana hesitated, opening her mouth as if she was going to ask, but Ry beat her to it.

“What happened?” Ava was surprised by how gentle his voice was, especially after their argument in the hall. When she looked at him, she found him staring at her, eyes full of concern. Abigail didn’t look up to explaining, so Ava took over.

“Dahlia was our only fairy member, until last summer, when a Hunter found us,” Ava said. She struggled to meet Ry’s gaze as she continued. “He attacked while she was out by herself. She tried to fight back, but that didn’t help. He shredded her wings before leaving her to die on our doorstep.” Diana sucked in a breath, wrapping her arms around herself. Abigail’s eyes were trained on the floor. Ry was the only one able to meet Ava’s gaze.

“I’m sorry,” Ry said quietly. Ava saw the sincerity written on his face, but she wasn’t looking for an apology, didn't want his pity. She was just giving a small piece of herself, showing him why she was so angry with his kind, why she found it so hard to trust them. Humans had hurt too many of the people she loved.