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.

bad eyesight. It’s like a gift

wolves.

don’t have a wolf.

dirty towel in her direction, watching

Ava Grey,

supposed to be restocking our cups? Our dinner rush is going to

hurt. Maybe it’ll teach your parents that you’re an adult and

Hah.

won’t ever

The only person above him in the pack is our alpha- also not someone I’d like

a cultural thing,” I mutter, and she

now.

will come back to it. She always does. She’s been showing me apartments for rent, coming up with mock budgets, even discussing

the first person to notice the control

Groy. Pack

first person to care.

first person to say words that I still can’t

loud.

is abusive. Who the hell

I came of age and they realized I had no wolf at all.

warm memories.

my lowest times. Memories

I cried. Memories of

throw me onto his shoulders

would call me their baby sister, and show me off proudly to

Good times.

Gone times.

it hadn’t simply… disappeared. If Mom’s blue

no food and

C

Grey,

to survive. That the hardship would bring me

My wolf.

work. He’s still mad about it.

***

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

she could have the same things happen, she grabbed my hand and said seriously, “You would help me. So I’m going

I love her.

that 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

neglected and abused from

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6/11

Ava Grey, Pack

human family, and I have to convince

cops at least twice a week. Especially when I show up with

be able to do

has different laws. No part of the government would interfere

fated mate in another. I

it hurts to even think about

that I have no fated mate.

life in a new pack is just like my life here.

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

changes from the bright, artificially lit business strip to the quiet neighborhoods of White Peak, occasionally lit by a street lamp every block

14:33

7/11

Grey,

Eventually, those buildings give way to an unlit

territory.

driven it countless times in

tightens on the steering wheel as I navigate the twists and turns, feeling my

eyes dart to the rearview mirror every few seconds, half expecting to see

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