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.

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

my ears.

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

the knife again, the blade slicing through fur and flesh. A guttural yelp tears from his throat, but

large adult wolf and

whooshes from my lungs as I hit the ground,

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Fighting Back

from my grasp. Stars explode across my vision

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

inches from my

but his claws are like

unyielding.

burst of adrenaline–fueled strength, I manage to free one arm and lash out blindly, my

my mark, but it

giving me a moment

side, scrambling for

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glinting in the moonlight. I’m bleeding. The scent of

Ava: Fighting

Faster, damn it.

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

grip, I lash out wildly, the blade slicing 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

no escape route. No other weapons. The other wolves are still involved in their own struggles several feet away. How many have set upon us? Too many to

worry about

to deal with Todd.

his body slamming into mine like a fucking freight train. I stumble, gasping for air as his claws rake across my abdomen, tearing

Agony.

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Ava: Fighting

jabs of my hand. I hit something, because blood coats

me to the ground with a wide movement of his head and upper body

sprawl back with a startled scream,

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

arm to protect my face as I stab low and blind, grunting as his weight slams me into the ground beneath him. My fingers scrabble against the knife as I yank it out

slick streaks of crimson. A strangled whine escapes his muzzle before he finally goes limp, his full weight collapsing atop

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