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I always knew they were a little outdated.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, of

have jobs. They’re stuck at the

in with his child, looking for a book or having them read while they

home.

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Ava: Homecoming

at Beaniverse, yes–but I don’t think

few months of freedom

you.

Carlos, and Franklin.

long they’ll stay worried for, and

me wrong…

going to escape.

know how quickly

much I wrack my brain, I

hours. The only way to

we

country.

interrupts my pacing, and

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Homecoming (V)

the door opens without waiting for a response. Alpha

like poison to the little happiness I’ve managed to store

fight the urge to recoil. “I

something predatory in the way he looks at me that makes my skin crawl. There’s no desire there, only a sick assumption of

my arm. “I wanted to discuss a few

he has in store.

discuss?”

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

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Ava: Homecoming

causing a scene. “Please, have a seat.

on the edge of the cushions, my

#25

beside me, entirely too close for

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.”

keep my expression blank, giving him no reaction to latch onto. Renard studies me

run wild–it’s no wonder you were drawn to them, in your confused state. And yet look at the lies they give.