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.

throat and I dash to the side, my heart pounding

in my

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

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

into me with all the force of a large adult wolf and an entire lifetime of

from my lungs as I hit

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Ava: Fighting

grasp. Stars explode across my vision before

I’m pinned beneath Todd’s paws, pressing down on my shoulders

stench, his muzzle inches from my

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

unyielding.

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

my mark,

snort, giving me a moment of

roll to the side, scrambling for the

to access chapters of

get in my way as my fingers scrabble for the knife, its silver blade glinting in the moonlight. 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 Back

Faster, damn it.

crashes down where I’d been lying just moments before. His jaws snap shut with a resounding clack. Flecks of spittle and

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

their own struggles several feet away. How many have set upon us? Too many to count. Did the entire pack make it here?

can’t worry about

to deal with Todd.

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

Agony.

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Ava: Fighting

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

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

a startled scream,

to dodge. I have no time to

and blind, grunting as his weight slams me into the ground beneath him. My fingers scrabble against the knife as I yank it out and stab again and again, even as he snaps and bites at my

A strangled whine escapes his

for air, no longer suffocated by his rancid breath. There’s no