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

my ears.

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

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

large adult wolf and an

lungs as I hit the ground, the

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Ava: Fighting Back

my vision before it fades, just for a moment.

beneath Todd’s paws, pressing down on my shoulders with crushing force. His hot

his muzzle inches from

but his claws are like miniature daggers digging into my skin, immovable

unyielding.

manage to free one arm and lash out blindly, my nails raking across his muzzle

hit my mark, but it

rears back with a snort, giving me a moment of opportunity.

for the knife

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I’m bleeding. The scent of my blood mingles with the earthy aroma of the forest floor, a sickly metallic tang that pushes me to move faster.

Ava: Fighting

Faster, damn it.

lying just moments before. His jaws snap shut with a resounding

his neck. A guttural yelp rips from his throat as he snaps at my arm, ripping skin as I dash

other 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

can’t worry

to deal

fucking freight train. I stumble, gasping for air as his claws rake

Agony.

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Fighting

pain, I stab into anything I can, wild jabs of my hand. I hit something, because

me to the ground with a wide movement of his head and upper body somehow and I backpedal, my heel catching on a gnarled

back with a startled scream,

to dodge. I have no time to

grunting as his weight slams me into the ground beneath him. My fingers scrabble against the knife as I

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

by his rancid breath. There’s no breath