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Ava immediately looked away from Ian. Dane noticed Ian staring at Ava. He turned to Ava and put his hand around “her shoulders.
“What happened?” he questioned, tilting his head.
As soon as Ava heard Dane’s voice, she shut all the mind links, including the mate link, and shook her head in
response.
“Nothing,” she mumbled.
“Not liking your own design?”
She turned her head to tell him that it was not like that, but their faces came so close to each other that she had to
shut her mouth in shock.
Flashlights that kept clicking the models and their costumes turned their direction. The camerarnen started to click photos of Dane and Ava.
“Dane, people-”
“Who cares about people? Tell me if you are all right,” he said, moving closer to her face.
The scene portrayed like they were going to kiss. The camera crew appeared delighted to capture the most exciting news of tomorrow morning.
Ava lightly pushed Dane, making him move away, and said,
“I am okay.”
Dane glanced at the other side of the stage and grinned at the man who was glaring at him.
“You know I am very concerned about you. So don’t let others ask you about it without me,” Dane said, placing his hand around Ava again.
Ava did not understand what he said, but she nodded her head.
The fashion show kept running, and it was time to represent the pack company of the Mystic Shadow Pack.
With the other models, Freya walked on the stage in a gorgeous dress. That was the main costume of their company. She was walking confidently.
Ava could say that Ian’s company and designer did an excellent job designing the dress.
Ava caught Freya looking at Dane as she passed by their side.
Freya turned her head and walked past with grace.
Ava noticed the dress was backless from behind, and Freya was wearing a back chain that looked stunning against her fair skin.
Ava felt the arm that was wrapped around her tighten. She turned her head to Dane and saw him glaring at Freya’s
back.
He did not seem to like seeing Freya in a revealing dress.
Dane felt a gaze on him from next to him. He turned his head and saw Ava staring at him. He loosened his grip as
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soon as he realized how tight it was.
“What’s wrong, Dane? You don’t look okay to me,” Ava mumbled, carefully observing him.
He broke eye contact, avoiding her gaze again. “What would happen to me?”
Ava’s gaze returned to Freya, who stood in the center of the stage, hands on her hips, and moved towards the
cameras.
“She looks hot,” she commented.
Dane snorted upon hearing that. Ava cast a glance at him, suspicious of his behavior.
“You said you no longer care about her,” Ava reminded him
“I care? Who said that? She is just my beta’s sister and her father had handed her responsibility to me, so I believe she is not good for that company. They don’t treat her well. She should not have worn such revealing clothing to represent this infamous pack.”
Ava tried to find out if he was cursing this pack or if he was having issues with Freya’s dress.
For some reason, she found his words to be caring toward Freya.
Her eyes fixed on Dane, wondering if he still had feelings for Freya. She recalled Freya’s words that Dane was the one who turned her down first just to get close to her.
When it was time for the announcement,
Ava was stressed out. Dane’s company depended on her for this project. Since he had shown so much trust in her, she did not want to disappoint him.
“And the winner is…” 1
The host opened the card to announce the winner. Ava’s gaze shifted to Ian, who was looking at her. Freya rushed out from behind the stage and took a seat next to Ian.
Ian did not look away from Ava as he stared at her. Ava assumed he was confident in winning the competition, and his gaze was mocking her.
“The winner of the annual ball competition is Designer Florence from the Thunder Howl Pack.”
Ava was stunned, and everyone clapped around her. She turned her attention to the stage. The host was clapping his hands and asking her and Dane to take the stage.
Dane grabbed her hand and stepped onto the stage. Ava was still in disbelief as happiness rushed inside her, shocking her.
The host presented Dane with an award and gave him the microphone to give a speech. Dane turned his head to hand it to Ava and said into the microphone,
“Congratulations, Designer Florence. You deserve this. It’s yours.”
Everyone’s heads turned to look at the person sitting there, staring at the stage with indifference. Since his rival stole the project from him, they were curious about his reaction.
Ian was calm. While others clapped, he clapped too, keeping his gaze fixed on Ava.
Beside him, Freya was staring at him.
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“You have lost your mind in love, Jan Dawson. We had the best design with unique fabric. The Thunder Howl Pack’s dress was not even close to what we had. That fabric was the game changer. But you…”
“She grumbled in anger and muttered again,
“You changed the plan at the last moment and stopped me from wearing that dress. You handed Dane the plate of victory just because you wanted this woman to win!”
