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.

eyesight. It’s like a

wolves.

don’t have a wolf.

the dirty towel in her direction, watching

Ava Grey,

jump back. “I would if I could, and you know it. Aren’t you supposed to be restocking our cups? Our dinner rush is going to come in any minute.”

off won’t hurt.

Hah.

ever happen.

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

I mutter,

now.

apartments for rent, coming up with mock budgets, even discussing our school schedules. Lisa’s pushy in the sweetest way, where she’s just desperate for me to become

the first person to notice the control my family has over me.

Ava Groy. Pack Defect

person to care.

say words that

loud.

Who

Before I came of age and they

warm memories. Sweet memories.

times. Memories of Mom when she used to

when I cried. Memories of Dad when he

his shoulders

the stars. Memories of Jessa and Phoenix 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 I hadn’t shared that affection with them once. Maybe it would hurt a little less if it hadn’t simply… disappeared. If Mom’s blue eyes hadn’t gone

olathas no food

C

Ava Grey,

me what I wanted most, what I was missing.

My wolf.

work. He’s still mad about it.

***

Lisa never leaves until I’m safely on the road, half in worry that my car will break down (and

out to her months ago that she could have the same things happen, she grabbed my hand and said seriously, “You would help

I love her.

only friend, my ride–or–die girl, I have yet to admit that I’m a shifter. I haven’t

I’m neglected and abused from

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6/11

Grey, Pack

have to convince her not

a week. Especially when I show up with

wouldn’t be able to do

part of

and pack is to find my fated mate in another. I dream about it–we all do. It’s a fantasy I can’t let

hurts to

the chance that I have no fated mate.

in a new pack is just like my life

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

quiet neighborhoods of White Peak, occasionally lit by a

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7/11

Grey, Pack

unlit rural road that leads into the

territory.

it countless times in my life, but

to close in on me, casting long shadows across the road. My grip tightens on the steering wheel as I navigate the twists and turns, feeling my anxiety wriggle about in

palpable, almost suffocating. My eyes dart to the rearview mirror every few seconds, half expecting to see glowing eyes or shadows lurking in the darkness behind

you’re also the pack punching bag. One of the young wolves‘ favorite