Tangled

C

78 Ava: An Old Enemy

78 Ava: An Old Enemy

The terror that had gripped me so tightly finally begins to loosen its hold, washed away by the exhilarating rush of my feet pounding against the ground, the world flying past in my periphery.

It’s a simple rhythm.

One foot in front of the other.

Vault over an obstacle. Veer to avoid a tree. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ FindNøvᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

The wind against my skin is harsh, like a thousand icy whips snapping against my cheeks. But the pain is almost euphoric.

My feet pound against the forest floor, each step fueling the fire of freedom burning within me.

It’s a feeling unlike anything I’ve ever experienced- raw power, an almost frenetic energy, thrumming through my body with an intensity that steals my breath away. The trees zoom past in blurs of shadow.

I can hear the wolves keeping pace beside me, their breaths ragged growls that harmonize with the frantic beat of my heart. My unnatural speed helps me keep

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78 Ava: An Old Enemy

pace. I’m not faster than they are, but I’m far faster than their human forms.

They probably have questions.

I don’t know how to answer them.

But, that’s for another time. Right now, we need this.

There’s no fear now, no uncertainty. Only an overwhelming sense of freedom so pure and intoxicating that I want to lose myself in it forever. I am unleashed, unchained–a force of nature given

form.

My lungs burn with the effort, but I don’t slow. Can’t slow. This is what it means to be truly alive, to embrace what dwells within me. To hell with being human; right now, I am so much more.

see the faint glow of distant lights. Civilization. Safety. My throat tightens with a sudden surge of emotion–hope,

than before. My heart stutters, but

13:00 –

418

Ava: An Old

Wolves willing to risk their lives by entering enemy

of White

foot.

as I pour on even more speed, reveling in the

close. So damn close.

raises the hairs on the back of my neck. The wolves are gaining, closing the distance

I can tell by how Lucas and Vester

power within me surge, a tidal wave of energy that propels me forward with impossible velocity. The city is closer with every passing

me from the side, a massive force that drives the air from my lungs and sends me tumbling across the

gorahhling against the dirt and

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Ava: An Old

I fight to stop my momentum.

growls, of vicious, inhuman noises torn from the vocal chords of

finally grind to a halt, I’m breathless and disoriented, the world spinning around me. Twigs and leaves cling to my hair, my palms stinging from the impact. I

eerie shrieks of pain interspersed between the rumbles. Fur and fangs clash in a frenzied melee,

trembles with the force of their collisions, each impact punctuated by deep, guttural growls that reverberate

blood.

wolf faces. But they are mere flashes, lost in an instant as

Ag

An Old

rages on.

something far worse to worry

clawing at the earth as a familiar wolf emerges from the shadows, its golden eyes locked on me with an intensity that chills me to the

predator sizing up its

wake. The euphoria of my newfound freedom has

someone who can’t shift. I’ve seen

menacing silence that’s somehow more terrifying than any snarl or growl. The air around him

promise of

present.

13.00

<

An

a predatory gleam in his wolf–yellow eyes that seems to strip away every last shred of my humanity, reducing me to nothing more than a trembling rabbit for

the arrogant smirk that would