Tangled

<79 Ava: Fighting Back

79 Ava: Fighting Back

Todd’s wolf form prowls closer, his hackles bristling with menace. His eyes burn with a feral hunger that sends tremors through me. Anticipation hums in the

air between us.

The tree trunk is rough against my back as I use it for support, forcing my body to its feet. The cool weight of the pocketknife in my hand keeps me centered.

I will not cower.

The mysterious energy from before, that primal force filling my veins, is gone. It’s a fleeting whisper of the past, eluding my grasp no matter how desperately I

search for it.

All I have is my training and the small knife I’d stolen from home.

I flip open the blade with a flick of my thumb, the soft click lost amidst the snarls and growls of the ongoing battle around us. At least, I hope it’s lost. I know wolf hearing is keen, but I don’t know its limitations.

Todd’s lips peel back in a vicious snarl, revealing

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79 Ava: Fighting Back

yellowed canines. It figures that even his wolf’s teeth

would need some work. His breath had always smelled

like those tuna sandwiches he eats.

He lunges, a blur of ruddy fur and gnashing jaws.

Instinct has me diving to the side, scrabbling for purchase on the uneven ground. He whirls to face me as I roll to my knees, gripping the knife tightly as I swipe at his muzzle. The blade catches a superficial level of skin and fur, drawing a thin line of crimson that only seems to enrage him further.

deafening snarl rips from his throat and I dash to the side, my heart pounding in frantic rhythm. The rush

my

churns in my belly, courtesy of his rancid

the knife again, the blade slicing through fur and flesh. A

with all the force of a large

my lungs as I hit

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Ava: Fighting

my vision before it fades, just

back in a rush. I’m pinned beneath Todd’s paws, pressing down on my shoulders with crushing force. His hot breath washes

stench, his muzzle inches from my

claws are like miniature daggers digging into my skin, immovable

unyielding.

manage to free one arm and lash out blindly, my

don’t hit my mark,

giving me a

the side, scrambling for the knife as he

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I’m bleeding. The scent of my blood mingles with the earthy aroma

Fighting Back

Faster, damn it.

where I’d been lying just moments before. His jaws snap shut with a

shallow gash across his ear, his neck. A guttural yelp rips from his throat as he snaps at my arm, ripping skin as I dash backward, scrambling to

weapons. The other wolves are still involved in their own struggles several feet away. How many have set upon us? Too many to count. Did the entire pack make

worry about

to deal

lunges again, his body slamming into mine like a fucking freight train. I stumble, gasping for air as his claws

Agony.

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Fighting

against the pain, I stab into anything I can, wild jabs of my hand. I hit something, because blood coats my hilt

with a wide movement of his head and upper body somehow and I backpedal, my heel catching on a

with a startled scream, and he’s on me again.

in no position to dodge. I have no time to think.

ground beneath him. My fingers scrabble against the knife as I yank it out and stab again and

hands in slick streaks of crimson. A strangled whine escapes his muzzle before he finally goes limp, his full

his rancid breath. There’s no breath at all. Only blood