Tangled

77 Ava: Running

The haunting howls of wolves echo through the night, sending fear deep into my soul.

I shudder.

The strange shifter with the drugs curses under his breath. “They’re on the hunt,” he says, his voice low and urgent.

Lucas‘ arms tighten as he runs. It’s not the most comfortable, with all the jostling, but he manages to run while holding me as though my extra burden

doesn’t affect him at all.

How long has it been? Hours? That he’s maintained his pace without faltering. I can’t help but admire it, even

as I worry.

“It’s going to be okay,” he murmurs, his tone cold with

determination.

We pick up the pace, the shadows of the forest

seeming to press in around us as we hurry along. The howls grow louder, closer, sending icy tendrils of fear slithering through my veins.

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77 Ava: Running

“How much farther?” I ask, my voice a hushed whisper.

Lucas‘ subordinate’s response is grim. “Too far to be comfortable.” There are a few grunts of agreement among the other wolves. “We should have shifted. We would be there by now.”

Lucas just growls. “Not an option.”

The weight of his words settles over me, and I realize with a pang that he knows–he knows I can’t shift.

I swallow hard. How long has he known?

It isn’t as though it was a secret in our pack.

But it still hurts.

trees, the sound itself nipping at our heels. Anxiety spikes my pulse and I cling to Lucas,

comes from our left, and Lucas‘ head whips around. He signals to the others,

1. us.

air, thick and palpable,

The forest seems to hold its breath with

13.08

217

Ava: Running

in this agonizing moment.

glowing like embers in the darkness. It snarls, baring

fluid motion, he sets me down and steps forward, planting himself between the wolf and

growls, his voice laced with

wolf hesitates, its hackles raised, but something in Lucas‘ unwavering presence seems to give it pause. For a long, tense moment, they regard each other, locked in a silent battle of

wolf’s snarl fades, and it lowers its head in a

back to me, his expression softening ever so slightly as he scoops me up once more.

a rogue,” he says, like that’s nothing.

his arms until he lets me down. “I can’t shift, but I can run.

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77 Ava: Running

make better time if you

that he wants to protest, but he thinks better of it. “Fine. Let’s

howl. I nod. “Okay.”

trail, but they’re getting closer. We’re

at my hand, squeezing it in reassurance. My lips quirk

this. I have

my feet from the ill–fitting sneakers is a distant concern. My heart pounds, but not from exertion–not yet. Terror still grips me, its icy tendrils constricting my lungs with every rasping breath. But each footfall on the forest floor kindles a tiny spark of hope within

Freedom.

push harder, faster. The men around me struggle to

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77 Ava Running

Lucas warns, his

concern.

head, unable to spare the breath for a reply. Selene’s words ring in

it sound like it would

if I

And it is.

thrumming beneath my skin, like electricity crackling through my veins.

knowing deep inside that I’m right.

stride falters, and he grips my arm, pulling me -to an abrupt

swirling in their golden depths–disbelief, confusion, worry. Sᴇaʀch Thᴇ FɪndNovᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early

a long moment, we’re frozen, the world around us fading into a blur of shadows and silence. It’s

finally, he nods.