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 my body.

heard of crystals having magical properties, but Dad

not.

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

neck.

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Ava: Settling In

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

Novel Grind’s building, and a sign on

the door.

premises for the next 48 hours. This is to facilitate bonding with your new dog and to rest from your

yips, and I swear she sounds amused. I’ve learned in these past few days that I can’t stop attributing human emotions

side effect of being raised with wolf shifters. They do have their human emotions when shifted into their

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Ava: Settling in

disconnect from that.

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

must look like a fish as my mouth opens and closes as all my arguments dissipate in

see Selene with her ears back and her eyes twice as large as normal. Or maybe it’s just in my

I sigh.

hate every

rest.”

Martha said it’s paid time off, for–um, I think

open my mouth, then close it

face. “Oh.

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Settling in

Martha says fur babies are still babies, so get out.” He winks before slamming the door in

course. It has a built–in soft close, because banging doors doesn’t fit a bookstore cafe’s ambience.

don’t know the area. With my luck, I’d get lost in the middle of miles of evergreens, with no access to any of the local rivers,

in that moment that I