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.

snarl rips from his throat and I dash to the side, my heart pounding in frantic rhythm. The

in my

churns in my belly, courtesy of

flesh. A guttural yelp tears from his throat, but

of a large adult wolf and an entire lifetime of anger issues.

as I hit the ground, the

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Fighting

from my grasp. Stars explode across my vision

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

stench, his muzzle inches from my face.

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

unyielding.

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

my mark, but it

giving me a moment

scrambling for the knife as he

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silver blade glinting in the moonlight. I’m bleeding. The scent

Ava: Fighting Back

Faster, damn it.

back just as Todd crashes down where I’d been lying just moments before. His jaws snap shut with

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,

other wolves are still involved in their own struggles several feet away. How many

I can’t worry about

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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Fighting Back

I can, wild jabs of my hand.

wide movement of his head and upper body somehow and I

a startled scream, and he’s on

in no position to dodge. I have no time

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

body shudders violently, his blood coating my hands in slick streaks of crimson. A strangled whine escapes his muzzle before he finally goes limp, his full weight collapsing

by his rancid breath. There’s no