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.

pain in my chest seems subdued, almost as if there’s some sort of barrier between

properties, but Dad always said it was human nonsense.

not.

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

neck.

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Settling 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

the stairs on the side of The Novel Grind’s building, and a sign on the door has my pace slowing, before I stop, staring slack–jawed at

the door.

bonding with your new dog and to rest from your workaholic

these past few days that I can’t stop attributing

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

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Settling in

disconnect from that.

starts talking as soon as my 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 your new roommate. You haven’t had a day off since she

all

I glance down to see Selene with her ears back and her eyes

I sigh.

to hate every second of my

rest.”

wider. “We figured. Martha said it’s paid time off,

open my mouth, then close it

face. “Oh. that’s…”

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Ava. Settling in (1)

or something. But Mrs. Martha says fur babies are still babies,

close, because banging doors doesn’t fit a bookstore cafe’s ambience. It’s just

what else am I going to do? I could go hiking, but I don’t know the area.

moment that I