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

14:33

111

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.

and ever–present tormentor, is here. Inside. With me. Right now. Ready to finish what he’d started a couple weeks

face twisted into a sneer that chills my spine. I can’t even step away

hoon nloving

3 Ava: Danger

you as a mate.” His voice

my neck, lifting me until I’m standing on the

floor, and for a moment my

They’ll be bruised. We’ll have to eat them faster than I

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

all those

heart pounds against my ribcage, a trapped bird desperate for escape. His grip tightens in response to

3 Ava: Danger

mouth opens as I begin to pant for

hisses right into my ear, and 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

limbs as I grab onto his forearm, scratching long, angry swathes down his skin. I try to kick, but he

entire body and trying to ignore the hard evidence pushing against my belly of exactly how much

the gala is just around the corner. If his youngest daughter showed up with

fingers flexing around the

3 Ava: Don

time ago, I would refuse to submit, taking every abuse thrown my way and plotting revenge. That was before I learned that real life is nothing like the storybooks

me live to tomorrow. Whatever keeps his dick in

the sound with a little vibrato, as though I want to cry. I tilt my head further back, baring

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 my left ear, licking the

fish.

but I somehow manage to avoid puking in

His other hand falls to my hip, tugging me closer, and

6/11

3 Ava: Danger

the metallic tang behind my jaw. “I need to make dinner. Phoenix is

me is beyond my control, and I

my jaw, staring into my eyes, and I realize then that

beating, but instead my tormentor grins at me in maniacal satisfaction.

no prince on a white horse among our packs. There’s nothing to save you at the gala. You’ll be our little omega breeder soon enough, even

my feet. “Omega… breeder?”

Even without a wolf.”

14:34

7711

3 Ava: Danger

pushing in, before sliding a little farther to cup between my thighs and squeeze. “You won’t be good for much else, but at

up. I can’t even feel most of my body anymore. Everything is dark around the

enough to be 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