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.

has bad eyesight. It’s like a

wolves.

have a

towel in her direction, watching

Ava Grey,

“I would if I could, and you know it. Aren’t you supposed to be restocking our cups? Our dinner rush is going to

off won’t hurt. Maybe it’ll teach your parents that

Hah.

won’t ever

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

mutter, and she drops

now.

She always does. She’s been showing me 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

was the first person to notice the

Ava Groy.

first person to

first person to say words that I still

loud.

Who

family loved me once. Before I came of age and they realized I had no wolf at all.

warm memories. Sweet memories. Memories

times. Memories of Mom when she

I cried. Memories

his shoulders

Memories of Jessa and Phoenix when they would call me their baby sister, and

Good times.

Gone times.

simply… disappeared. If

food and no shelter talling

C

Ava Grey, Pack Defect

the hardship would bring me what I wanted most, what I was

My wolf.

didn’t work. He’s still mad

***

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 honestly, I have the same fears), and the other half because she’s concerned

the same things happen, she grabbed my hand and said seriously, “You would help me. So

I love her.

my one and only friend, my ride–or–die girl, I have yet

neglected and abused from a

14:32

6/11

Ava Grey, Pack Defect

I have to

call the cops at least twice a week. Especially when I show up with new bruises.

able to do anything, anyway.

different laws. No part of the government would interfere

from my family and pack is to find my fated mate

it hurts to even think about

chance that I have no fated mate.

life in a new pack is

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

strip to the quiet neighborhoods of

14:33

7/11

Grey, Pack Defect

an unlit rural road

territory.

it countless times in my

darker than usual, 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

the rearview mirror every few seconds, half expecting to see glowing eyes or shadows lurking in the darkness behind

punching bag. One of the