Tangled

63 Ava: Homecoming (V)

The next few days are agonizing.

1

There are shifters outside my house every hour of the

day.

Mom and Dad have disappeared, doing… Honestly, I don’t know what they’re doing.

Phoenix was never around much to begin with, so I’m not surprised that I don’t see him.

It occurs to me that I haven’t seen Jessa even once

since I’ve been home, but, again, not really surprised. It

isn’t like we were ever close.

So I pace in my childhood home, trapped, with no idea what’s coming next, building nightmare after

nightmare of assumptions in my mind. Sometimes I catch Selene’s show on TV and watch that. Other times I watch the news, a habit I’ve gotten used to since working at The Novel Grind. Mrs. Elkins often had it on in the background.

It’s amazing how sheltered I was from the human world, even when living in it. I see why Dad never let

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<63 Ava: Homecoming (V)

me watch the news; it’s enlightening to see how things. are outside of the views of your pack.

I always knew they were a little outdated. After being in the Aspen territory, I’ve learned that my family pack is barely out of the Dark Ages. Now that my eyes have been opened, there are so many details I can pick out that are just wrong.

The fact that I had a phone at all was a miracle–of course, I bought it with my own money.

Jessa begged Dad for one when she was twenty–one, and he relented. But so many women in the pack don’t have a cell phone at all. My dad is sometimes

considered a little too lenient on his women.

for me,

don’t go out much, and don’t have jobs. They’re stuck at

I would often see a father come in with his child, looking for a book or having them

home.

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Homecoming (V)

at Beaniverse, yes–but I don’t think I ever really

months of freedom

you.

and Franklin. Of Clayton and

long they’ll stay worried for, and when they’ll give up on

me wrong…

going to

just don’t know how quickly

I wrack my brain, I don’t know how to get anywhere without

but I can’t shift. They’d catch me within hours. The only way

take a boat, if we weren’t in the middle of

country.

the door interrupts my pacing, and I frown

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Ava: Homecoming (V)

without waiting for a response. Alpha Renard

eyes too calculating, his face too smarmy, his voice like poison to the little happiness I’ve managed to store

touch my arm. I fight the urge to recoil. “I trust

something predatory in the way he looks at me that makes my skin

good.” He nods, squeezing my arm. “I wanted to discuss a few things with you, now

swallow hard, bracing myself for whatever twisted scheme he has

discuss?”

widens, and he guides me toward the couch, his grip/firm enough

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Homecoming

a scene. “Please, have a seat. This might take

on the edge of the

#25

hide their trembling. Renard settles beside me, entirely too close for

begins, his tone deceptively gentle, “your situation is unique, to say the least. A woman of your age, unmated and unshifted–it’s quite the conundrum. You have no direction, no purpose. These are all things you need to get your mind off your lack of a wolf.” He clicks his tongue, his gaze hardening just a bit. “And then there’s the matter of

dalliances.”

giving him no reaction to latch onto.

wild–it’s no wonder you were drawn to them, in your confused state.