Tangled

3 Ava: Danger

[WARNING: Sensitive content ahead.]

Days pass with little regard for the anxiety building in my belly every time I crawl into bed at night, watching the phases of the moon, wondering what this next

chapter of life will look like.

Aside from a brief shopping excursion with Jessa–who ignores me almost the entire time and scoffs at every dress I try on–I don’t leave the house except for school and work, trying to avoid trouble.

I spend any spare moment I can manage picking up extra shifts at Beaniverse to help pay for the atrocious bill at the mall. Who spends three hundred dollars on a dress? But Jessa insisted that it was the only one that didn’t make me look like I was wearing a silk potato sack.

Lisa’s busy, too, so our texts are few and far between, mostly complaining about work and school.

My family’s indifference weighs on me like a thick

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3 Ava: Danger

blanket, but beneath it, a tiny bud of hope sprouts- maybe, just maybe, I’ll make it to the gala without incident. A week remains before the event that could change my life, or just as likely, confirm my place as the outcast.

Today, like the rest of the past two weeks, appears to be yet another day of unsettling peace as I head home after class with groceries in my passenger seat.

Phoenix is stopping by for dinner, so I have his favorites on the menu–a creamy garlic and parmesan roasted chicken, paired with bacon–wrapped brussels sprouts tossed in maple syrup and balsamic vinaigrette.

It sounds fancier than it is, but it really is delicious, thanks to the internet recipes I’d found years ago.

As the appointed alpha heir to the Blackwood Pack, Mom always fawns on Phoenix. Dad was thrilled enough that he had a son with alpha potential, but when Alpha Renard’s last son was killed in a small skirmish with renegade wolves and Phoenix was named heir, he strutted more like a peacock than a wolf for at least a month afterward.

3 Ava: Danger

One day he will be Alpha Phoenix Blackwood, but for now, he’s still a Grey.

I juggle the flimsy plastic grocery bags with the grace of a dying fawn as I make my way into the empty house.

The peace of these past few weeks must have rotted the self preservation sphere of my brain, because I don’t pay any attention to my surroundings as I unlock the front door and walk in.

As I step further inside, a breeze tickles my neck and the door slams with a force that can only mean trouble, bringing a familiar and unwelcome scent to my nose.

Inside. With me. Right now. Ready to finish what he’d

my spine. I can’t even step

hoon nloving princess thinki

3 Ava: Danger

you as a mate.” His voice drips with malice as he steps forward, slapping a hand against my

with a dull thump, and Todd’s hand circles my neck, lifting

to the floor, and for a moment my idiot brain

bruised. We’ll have to eat

good enough for the gala, huh? You think you can ever escape our pack?” His breath is hot and tuna fresh on my face, and I

me to face him again. He growls every word, rejoicing as they stab into all my insecurities, bleeding me of all those precious hopes and dreams I’ve kept in secret. “Do you actually believe anyone would want you? A wolfless freak like you? You’d be

bird desperate for

3 Ava: Danger

struggle, and my mouth opens as I begin to pant for air.

I can feel his tongue flick over it. I shudder, bile rushing into my throat, making it even harder to bring air to my burning lungs. Punches, kicks, scratches–those, I’m

onto his forearm, scratching long, angry swathes down his skin. I try to kick, but he steps in closer, pinning

against my belly of exactly how much he’s enjoying this moment. “If any bruises show,

I come home with bruises, but now the gala is just around the corner. If his

flexing

3 Ava: Don

my way and plotting revenge. That was before I learned that real life is nothing like the

him it all day long. Whatever lets me live to tomorrow. Whatever keeps his dick in

little vibrato, as though I want to cry. I

that. His growl of approval sends revulsion shuddering through every millimeter of my skin, and I struggle to keep my face blank as he sniffs beneath

fish.

struggles to escape my body with force, but I

hand falls to my hip, tugging me closer, and I close my eyes, breathing through my

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need to make dinner.

me is beyond my control, and I slap at

but not before suckling a motherfucking hickey onto my skin. He grips my jaw, staring into my eyes, and I realize then that the game has somehow changed for him. For

tormentor grins at me in maniacal satisfaction. “You’ll never

defective piece of shit, but you belong here. There’s no prince on a white horse among our packs. There’s nothing to save you

my feet.

chuckles, squeezing my jaw harder. “You’ll be our little pack whore, Ava. Even without a wolf.”

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3 Ava: Danger

slowly down my neck, between my breasts, and rests gently against my belly, pushing in, before sliding a little farther to cup between my thighs and squeeze. “You won’t be good for much else, but at least we can

my body anymore. Everything is dark around the edges, but his words keep slithering

a pretty little defect, Ava. It won’t be too hard to use you.” He groans, rocking faster against me, pulling my legs around his hips. “Fuck, Ava. I’m going to breed you until you learn