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.

throat tightens with a sudden

night, closer than before. My heart stutters, but I don’t falter.

13:00 –

418

An Old

Wolves willing to risk their lives by

the city of White Peak.

foot.

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

so close. So damn close.

chilling resonance that raises the hairs on the back of my neck. The wolves are gaining,

and Vester crowd

tidal wave of energy that propels me forward with impossible velocity. The city is closer with every passing heartbeat, the details

side, a massive force that drives the air from my lungs and

gorahhling against

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Ava: An Old Enemy

fight to stop my momentum.

snarls and growls, of vicious, inhuman noises

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

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

-saliva flying in glistening arcs. The ground trembles with the force of their collisions, each impact punctuated by deep, guttural growls that reverberate through my bones. The scent of earth and rage hangs thick in the air, mingling with

blood.

faces.

Ag

An Old

battle rages on.

then I have something far worse to worry about.

scramble backward, my hands clawing at the earth as a familiar wolf emerges from the shadows, its golden eyes locked on

predator sizing up

its wake. The euphoria of my newfound freedom has been replaced by a visceral

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

that’s somehow more terrifying than any snarl

a promise of brutality in past and

present.

13.00

<

Ava: An

wolf–yellow eyes that seems to strip away every last shred of my humanity, reducing me

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