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 frantic

in my

my face. Nausea churns in

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

the force of a large adult wolf and an entire lifetime of

lungs as I hit the

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Fighting Back

explode across my vision before it fades,

Todd’s paws, pressing down on my shoulders with crushing force. His hot breath washes

stench, his muzzle inches from my face.

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

unyielding.

of adrenaline–fueled strength, I manage to free one arm and lash out blindly, my nails raking across his muzzle

my mark, but it

back with a snort, giving

scrambling for the knife as he lunges

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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

Ava: Fighting

Faster, damn it.

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

neck. A guttural yelp rips from his throat as he snaps

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

worry

have to deal with

freight train. I stumble, gasping for air as his claws rake across my abdomen, tearing through

Agony.

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Fighting Back

into anything I can, wild jabs of my hand.

of his head and upper body somehow and I backpedal, my heel catching on

scream, and he’s on me

in no position to dodge. I have no

an 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 and stab again and again, even as he snaps and bites

streaks of crimson. A strangled whine escapes

breath. There’s no