Tangled

1 Ava Grey, Pack Defect”

Author Note: The first two chapters have had a

complete overhaul, for a better reading experience. Please enjoy. [May 28, 2024]

What are you supposed to do when your pack–your family–has decided you’re worthless?

Get a job.

Save money.

Dream of getting the hell out of there.

It’s a futile thing to hope for, but it’s the only thing I have that keeps me going.

Until then? I’m just me. Ava Grey. Wolfless. Weak. The shame of the Grey family.

Which is why I’m spending another Friday night working at Beaniverse, a popular coffeeshop in the middle of White Peak, a solid hour’s drive away from

pack land. No shifters, no drama, no bullying; the only people I run into all day are humans with a caffeine addiction. Or social media addictions. People love to

1 Ava Grey, Pack Defect

use our lobby as a backdrop for their latest reel.

“Come out with me tonight.”

Lisa pops her head into my field of view as I wipe down the espresso machine.

I have no major attachments to my job outside of my pay, but it is my favorite place to be because of her. Lisa is my best friend–okay, my only friend–and she makes me dream of something more than the Blackwood Pack and my uncertain future in it.

“Can’t. Dad wants me home as soon as I can.”

The grimace that twists her face gives me a warm little tingle in my chest. At least someone gets me.

Even if she’s a human and has no idea that I come from a family of wolves.

Dad–our pack beta and an expert at curt text

messages demanding my presence home–only allowed me to get a job because he was tired of seeing me at home, I’m pretty sure.

And because every single cent of my paychecks that didn’t go to gas went to the thousand dollars I’d borrowed for my beat–up old clunker Taurus in the

1 Ava Grey, Pack Defect

parking lot. It’s my baby, and I love it, but I’m one weird splutter away from wrecking on the highway.

Still—the little freedom it allows me is worth it.

Anything is better than being home.

“You should just move out. We can get an apartment together and party all night.” Lisa says this just about every day we work together, and it never grows old. I want that life, too. I don’t even need the partying. I just want to get away from my pack.

But wolf shifters don’t just let go of their own. Even wolfless defects like me.

I shove my glasses up the bridge of my nose, hating how they slide. I probably need a new prescription, but I haven’t had the time–or extra money–to pour into that. I’m still wearing the same glasses Mom got me (much to her disgust) several years ago.

It’s like a neon sign saying she doesn’t belong with us.

shifter has bad eyesight. It’s like a gift from our

wolves.

have

dirty towel in

Grey, Pack Defect

if I could, and you know it. Aren’t you supposed to

one night of telling him to fuck off won’t hurt. Maybe it’ll teach your parents that you’re an adult and

Hah.

ever happen.

acknowledged me as an independent adult, I’d still have to do what he says. The

thing,” I mutter, and she drops it.

now.

me apartments for rent, coming up with mock budgets, even discussing our school schedules. Lisa’s

person to notice the control my family has over me.

Groy. Pack

first person to

that I still can’t admit out

loud.

family is abusive. Who the

age and they realized I had no wolf at

warm memories. Sweet

Memories of Mom when

when I cried. Memories of Dad when he

his shoulders and tell me I

when they would call me their baby sister, and show me off proudly to anyone they saw.

Good times.

Gone times.

it would hurt a little less if it hadn’t simply… disappeared. If Mom’s blue eyes hadn’t gone from warm like a lake in summer to frigid winter skies. If Dad hadn’t thrown me into the

no food and no shelter

C

Ava Grey, Pack Defect

me what I wanted most,

My wolf.

alert–it didn’t work. He’s still mad about

***

I’m safely on the road, half in worry that my car will break down (and honestly, I have

she could have the same things happen, she

I love her.

even with my one and only friend, my ride–or–die girl, I have yet to admit that I’m a shifter. I haven’t explained to her that I’m from the

just thinks I’m neglected and abused from a

14:32

6/11

Grey,

human family, and I have to convince her

week.

able to do

has different laws. No part of the government would interfere

my fated mate in another. I dream about

sometimes it hurts to even think about

that

new pack

crisp scent of rain is carried on the breeze, telling us all that a temperature

scenery changes from the bright, artificially lit business strip to the quiet neighborhoods of White Peak, occasionally lit

14:33

7/11

Grey,

buildings give way to an unlit rural road that leads into the Blackwood Pack

territory.

familiar; I’ve driven it countless times in my life,

under the waxing crescent moon. The trees seem to close in on me, casting long shadows across the road. My grip tightens on the steering wheel as I

suffocating. My eyes dart to the rearview mirror every few seconds, half expecting to

the pack punching bag. One of the young wolves‘ favorite pastimes is