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I always knew they were a little outdated.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.

me, of course.

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

often see a father come in with his child, looking for a book or having them read while they

home.

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Homecoming (V)

don’t think I ever really noticed

what a few months of freedom

you.

think of Mrs. Elkins, and Carlos, and Franklin. Of Clayton and Ivy. Of

long they’ll stay worried for, and when

get me wrong…

going to escape.

just don’t know how quickly

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

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

boat, if we weren’t

country.

interrupts

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Homecoming (V)

without waiting for a response. Alpha Renard

too calculating, his face too smarmy, his voice like poison to the little happiness I’ve managed to store within my soul.

he croons, reaching out to touch my arm. I fight the urge to recoil. “I trust you’re

to cover myself, even though I’m fully dressed. There’s something predatory in the way he looks at me that makes my skin crawl. There’s no desire there, only a sick assumption of possession. Sᴇaʀ*ᴄh the FɪndNøvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the

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

whatever twisted scheme he has in store. “What did you

discuss?”

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

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4/7

Homecoming

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

edge of the

#25

Renard settles beside me, entirely too close for my liking, but I force myself

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 your recent

dalliances.”

heart pounds in my ears, but I keep my expression blank, giving him no reaction to latch onto. Renard studies me for a moment, then

Their willingness to consort with humans, to let their females run wild–it’s no wonder you were drawn to them, in