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.

almost as if there’s some sort of barrier between it and

having magical properties, but Dad always said it was human nonsense. Huh.

not.

lifting it to the light to admire its colors. “Pretty. Think I should get a chain for this?”

neck.

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Settling In

the clock and I rush Selene out the door, telling her to find a place to potty as I get dressed in record time. She’s at my door again by the time I dash outside, finishing the messy bun I’d corralled my hair into. I’ve been pondering cutting and dyeing it to help hide my identity, but I figure if someone finds me, it’s probably not

a sign on the door has my pace slowing,

the door.

next 48 hours. This is to facilitate bonding with your new dog and to rest from your workaholic tendencies.

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

being raised with wolf shifters. They do have their human emotions when shifted into their wolf form, and it’s

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Ava: Settling

disconnect from that.

mouth opens, holding up a hand to stop my torrent of mild outrage. “Don’t even think about it, Ava. Martha agrees. You’re banned. Go home, relax, get to know

as all my arguments

cold nudges my hand, and I glance down to see Selene with her ears back and her eyes twice as large as normal. Or maybe it’s just

I sigh.

I’m going to hate every second

rest.”

possible, grew wider. “We figured. Martha said it’s paid time off, for–um, I think she called it maternity leave.”

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

fish face.

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Settling in (1)

you gave birth or something. But Mrs. Martha says fur babies are

actually slam, of course. It has a built–in soft close, because banging doors doesn’t fit a bookstore cafe’s ambience. It’s just the overall sentiment of the moment.

I going to do? I could go hiking, but I don’t know

me in that moment that