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.

his throat and I dash to the side, my heart pounding in frantic rhythm. The rush of blood overcomes all sound in the

my

snap shut inches from my face. Nausea churns in my belly, courtesy of his rancid

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

force of a large adult wolf and

lungs as I hit the

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Ava: Fighting Back

from my grasp. Stars explode across my vision before it fades, just

paws, pressing down on my shoulders with crushing force. His

stench, his muzzle inches from

claws are like miniature daggers digging into my skin,

unyielding.

adrenaline–fueled strength, I manage to free one arm and lash out

mark, but it

snort, giving me

scrambling for the

to access chapters of novels early and in the highest

way as my fingers scrabble for the knife, its silver blade glinting in the moonlight. I’m bleeding. The scent

Fighting

Faster, damn it.

onto my back just as Todd crashes down where I’d been lying just moments before. His jaws

across his ear, his neck. A guttural yelp rips from his throat as he snaps at my arm, ripping

The other wolves are still involved in their own struggles several feet away. How many have set upon us? Too

can’t worry

have to deal with Todd.

I stumble, gasping for air as his claws rake across my abdomen, tearing through fabric and flesh alike.

Agony.

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Fighting Back

teeth against the pain, I stab into anything I can, wild jabs of my hand. I hit something,

head and upper body somehow and I backpedal, my heel catching on a gnarled root.

sprawl back with a startled scream, and

to dodge. I have no

and blind, grunting as his weight slams me into the ground beneath him. My fingers scrabble against the knife as I yank it out

coating my hands in slick streaks of crimson. A strangled whine escapes his muzzle before he finally goes

breath. There’s no breath at all. Only blood and