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.

my heart pounding

in my ears.

churns in my belly, courtesy of

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

all the force of a large

whooshes from my lungs as I hit the ground,

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Ava: Fighting Back

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

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

stench, his muzzle inches from

and writhe, but his claws are like miniature daggers digging

unyielding.

and lash out

don’t hit my mark, but

giving me a moment

to the side, scrambling for the

to access chapters of

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

Fighting Back

Faster, damn it.

the knife and whirl onto my back just as Todd crashes down where I’d been lying just moments before. His jaws snap shut with a resounding clack. Flecks

knife with a white–knuckled 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 to my

several feet away. How many have set upon us?

I can’t worry about them.

have to deal

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

Agony.

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Fighting

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

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

back with a startled scream, and he’s on me

in no position to dodge. I have no

beneath him. My fingers scrabble

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

air, no longer suffocated by his rancid breath. There’s no breath at all. Only blood and earth.