Tangled

58 Ava: Return Home

I settle into the chair beside Phoenix, my soul crushed under the weight of despair. The plane hums to life around us, a mechanical beast ready to whisk me back to the hell I’d escaped. Phoenix barely spares me a glance as he crowds me against the window, effectively trapping me in my seat. Even going to the bathroom will be impossible without him knowing

about it.

Selene’s whimpers echo in my mind, a mirror of my own anguish. Ava, I’m so sorry. I tried… I’m still trying…

I know, I whisper back, my heart clenching. It’s okay. It’s not your fault.

No matter how fast she is, a wolf can’t outrun a car.

And even if she did–what are we going to do, against the people under Phoenix’s control?

Honestly, it’s not okay. Nothing about this is okay. I’m being dragged back to the very place I’d fought so

hard to escape, and there’s not a damn thing I can do

about it.

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58 Ava: Return Home

Selene, listen to me. I picture my parents‘ house in my mind, every detail etched into my memory. The sprawling ranch–style home, the meticulously manicured lawn, the wrought–iron fence that always felt more like a cage than a boundary. This is where they’re taking me. The Blackwood pack territory. My parents‘ address is-

I rattle off the information, each word feeling like a nail in my coffin. Selene absorbs it all, her presence in my mind a flickering candle in the darkness.

I’ll find you, she promises, her voice fierce despite the tremor of fear. No matter how long it takes, no matter the distance. I’ll never stop looking.

Tears prick at the corners of my eyes, but I blink them back, refusing to let Phoenix see me cry. I know you will. But Selene, it’s far. Really, really far.

Even as I say it, I feel her running, her paws pounding against the pavement as she races toward the airport. But we both know it’s futile. She’ll never make it in

time.

care, Selene growls, her determination a living, breathing thing. I

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Return

+35

but I swallow it down. I won’t give up either, I

a way back to each other.

Somehow.

buckles me in,

are done, and I didn’t even notice. them happening. The plane’s moving. I close my eyes, feeling the distance between Selene and me growing with

love you, I whisper, pouring every ounce of my heart into those

whispers back, her presence fading as the plane gains speed.

the connection severed by miles

***

plane ride goes smoothly. I sleep for most of it, because there’s no point in being awake. I don’t want to see Phoenix’s face, much less talk

is just as silent, but as soon as I see the

home my stomach

mu alanahan

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317

Ava Return Home

here myself? How many times have I had pack members stalk me through the woods, waiting until I arrive home, just to taunt

remember. It’s impossible to remember. It’s happened so often, everything blurs together. It’s like asking about every time you ate lunch: You can’t count them all. You can’t keep track. It’s

my throat

to never see this

here.

had hackles, they’d be raised.

Selene, but the

throat as Phoenix escorts me inside the house that fills me with such dread. His lip curls in disgust as he sniffs me. “Get the Aspen stench off you before Dad gets home,” he orders. There isn’t

Ava: Return Homo

dawdle; Alpha Renard will be here

to snap back at him. Worried,

their rules and commands. Doing as he says. comes so naturally that my shoulders slump

I find myself missing my little wardrobe in Cedarwood. Or even the clothes Clayton and Ivy had gathered for me.

into the shower. The hot water stings my skin, but I welcome the pain, scrubbing furiously to remove any lingering traces of Clayton’s scent clinging to me. If they