Tangled

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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.

through the gaps I can see the faint glow of distant lights. Civilization. Safety. My throat tightens with

the night, closer than before. My

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An

to risk their

trees falls away, revealing the city of White Peak. An hour’s drive has taken much longer on

foot.

laugh escapes me as I pour on even more speed, reveling in the

so close. So damn

of my neck. The wolves are gaining, closing the distance with every second. I can sense

us. I can tell by how Lucas and Vester crowd into me,

forward with impossible velocity. The city

massive force that drives the air from my lungs and sends

fingernails gorahhling against the dirt and

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Ava: An Old

fight to stop

and growls, of vicious, inhuman noises

cling to my hair, my palms stinging from the impact. I blink tears from my eyes,

shadows everywhere, glints of white teeth in the darkness, and eerie shrieks of pain interspersed between the rumbles. Fur and fangs clash in a frenzied melee,

the force of their collisions, each impact punctuated by deep, guttural growls that reverberate through my bones. The scent of earth

blood.

I catch fleeting glimpses of familiar wolf faces. But they are mere flashes, lost in

Ag

Ava An Old Enemy

battle rages on.

then I have something far worse to

locked on me with an intensity

predator sizing up its prey.

through my veins mere. moments ago has evaporated, leaving me feeling weak and sluggish in its wake. The euphoria of my newfound freedom has been replaced by a visceral terror that seizes my lungs, making each

menacing to someone who can’t shift. I’ve seen him -hundreds of

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

promise of brutality in

present.

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<

Ava: An

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

ever closer. If he were human, I could envision the arrogant smirk that would be curving