Tangled

69 Ava: Sister Miriam (I)

Mom’s fingers deftly twist and turn my hair, pinning it into some sort of elaborate style. Her touch is clinical, devoid of any maternal warmth, as she secures each lock into place with sharp tugs.

She’s been doing this for hours, trying to figure out the best style for the mating ceremony. The only comfort I have is in knowing she’ll never have the chance to dress me as planned.

“Honestly, Ava, couldn’t you have made more of an effort with your appearance?” she chides, as

disapproving as always. “Your hair is little better than a

rat’s nest.”

This is something she’s said at least three other times in the hour she’s been here. I bite back the retort that hovers on my tongue, knowing better than to provoke

her ire.

A musical jingle causes her to pause, and she checks something on her phone for a second, before returning to her project. “It’s a good thing your worth isn’t tied to your looks,” she continues, her words

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69 Ava: Sister Miriam (1)

cutting deeper than any physical blow. “You should be

grateful that Alpha Renard has deigned to mate with you, despite your deficiencies.”

There’s a little chip in the paint of the wall above the mirror, and my eyes are drawn toward it. It’s

something to focus on as I tune out her nagging and cruel remarks. For a woman who’s capable of so much love toward her older children, it’s amazing how much

vitriol she can throw at another.

child by birth,

the likes of you. You’ll be a mate in name only. It’s still an honor, but the pack can never

to keep the bitter resentment

She’s almost manic in her quest for my acquaintance. “This is your duty, your obligation to the pack. You will

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Sister Miriam

Renard, and you will bear his children. That is the extent of your purpose.”

on strings. My mind, however, is already spinning, formulating a plan to escape this waking

pack, I’ll contact Lisa. We’ll run far away

with an elegant bearing and a bright, unsettling gleam in her eyes enters the room. She exudes an aura

Her eyes are a dark, glittering red and her hair is black without the faintest sheen of color in its highlights, adding to the otherworldly presence she

Miriam,” she greets

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Ava: Sistor Miriam (1)

honor is mine, Grace. Alpha Renard requested my expertise in a

over my skin. It’s hard to hold her gaze.

hackles, they’d

an existence that’s dangerous even to wolves. I can feel

she

voice a little tense. She’s affected, too. “Alpha Renard said you would be able

I don’t know what she can do that a pregnancy test can’t this early on, and I’m not sure I

approaches. “I am the most skilled in detecting the earliest signs of breeding. The alpha can rest assured that

my side, meeting my

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Sister

her teeth too white. It looks unnatural on her face, as though no other muscles move

for concern, child,” she says. Her voice is sweet in a way that should be

at the touch, something inside me protesting the close contact. It’s like my skin burns. where she

eyes.

collarbone, down my chest and finally coming to rest on my abdomen. “Tell me,

Tenderness?”

“No.”

against my stomach, and I flinch. Though her hands are cold, an unwelcome heat eats at my skin. It