Tangled

15 Ava: Settling In (I)

Waking up with a dog is both better and worse than waking to an alarm.

Selene starts with a cute little nose bumping against my hand. Then a head burrowing beneath it. Then her entire body on mine, as her dog breath–which smelled particularly fishy–assaults my nose.

She finishes it off with a low, mournful howl, and I

open my eyes with a groan. “I’m up. I’m up. Come on, Selene. You couldn’t let me sleep for fifteen more

minutes?”

Her huff sounds a lot like you slept for six hours, you’ll

be fine to me, but I rub her ears and roll out of bed anyway, only to screech a few seconds later when something sharp tries to murder my foot.

“Shit! Ow, ow, ow. Fuck. Oh, my God. I’m dying. Holy shit.” I fall back onto the bed and check the bottom of

my foot. Only a little bleeding where something sharp broke the skin, and a nice big scratch. I grab my glasses and peered at the floor, shocked to see a purple crystal there.

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15 Ava Settling in (1)

Selene must have gotten into something overnight, because that was not there last night.

I shoot her a dark look. “This is the thanks I get for giving you a home?”

My sweet little husky just tilts her head, staring at me like I’m stupid, and I sigh, tossing the crystal onto my night stand. For a second, I feel a tingle on my

fingertips, but when I grab it again and hold it in my palm, there’s nothing.

Weird.

chest seems subdued, almost as if there’s some

but Dad always said it was human nonsense. Huh.

not.

some gold encasing one tip of the long crystal, as if it is meant to hang off a chain. I spin the crystal around, lifting it to the light to admire its colors. “Pretty. Think I should get a chain for this?” I ask, as if a husky would care if I carry

neck.

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217

Ava: Settling

time I dash outside, finishing the messy bun I’d corralled

Grind’s building, and a sign on the door has my pace slowing, before I stop, staring slack–jawed at the message

the door.

bonding with your new dog and

she sounds amused. I’ve learned in these past few

They do have their human emotions when

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Settling in (1)

disconnect from that.

mouth opens, holding up a hand to stop my torrent of mild outrage. “Don’t even

look like a fish as my mouth opens and closes as all my arguments dissipate in the face of his loony smile and reasonable

down to see Selene with her ears back and her

I sigh.

I’m going to hate every second of my forced

rest.”

“We figured. Martha said it’s paid time off, for–um, I think she called it

my mouth, then close it again. Yup, I’m for sure

face.

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Ava. Settling

fur babies are

door doesn’t actually slam, of course. It has a built–in soft close, because banging doors doesn’t

look at Selene, then the door again. “I guess we can just… go home?” Because what else am I going to do? I could go hiking, but I don’t know the area. With my luck, I’d get lost in the middle of miles of evergreens, with no access to

that moment that I have