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.

side, my heart pounding in frantic rhythm. The rush of blood overcomes all sound

my ears.

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

knife again, the blade slicing through fur and flesh.

with all the force of a large adult wolf and an

whooshes from my lungs as I hit the ground, the

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Fighting

grasp. Stars explode across my vision before it fades, just for a moment.

Todd’s paws, pressing down on my shoulders with crushing

inches from

are like

unyielding.

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

mark, but it startles him.

a snort, giving

for the knife as he

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the moonlight. I’m bleeding. The scent of my blood mingles with the earthy aroma of the forest floor, a sickly metallic tang

Fighting

Faster, damn it.

onto my back just as Todd crashes down where I’d been lying just

his ear, his neck. A guttural yelp rips from his throat as

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

worry about them.

have to deal with

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

Agony.

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Ava: Fighting

into anything I can, wild jabs of my hand. I hit something, because blood coats my hilt and

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

sprawl back with a startled scream, and

position to dodge. I have

scrabble against the knife as I yank it out and stab

of crimson. A strangled whine escapes his muzzle before he finally goes limp, his

suffocated by his rancid breath. There’s no breath at all. Only