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.

and I dash to the side, my heart pounding in frantic rhythm. The rush of blood overcomes all sound in the

my

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

slicing through fur and flesh. A guttural yelp tears

a large adult wolf

lungs as I

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Fighting Back

clattering from my grasp. Stars explode across my

pressing down on my shoulders with crushing force. His hot breath washes over me in waves

stench, his muzzle inches from

but his claws are like miniature

unyielding.

one arm and lash out blindly, my nails raking across his muzzle

my mark, but it startles

a snort, giving

side, scrambling for the knife as

again. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the FindNʘᴠᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest

way as my fingers scrabble for the knife, its silver blade glinting in the moonlight. I’m bleeding. The scent of my

Fighting Back

Faster, damn it.

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

across his ear, his neck. A guttural yelp rips from

weapons. The other wolves are still involved in their own struggles several feet away. How many have set upon us?

worry about

to deal with Todd.

mine like a fucking freight train. I stumble, gasping for

Agony.

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Ava: Fighting

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

with a wide movement of his head and upper body somehow and I backpedal, my heel

scream, and he’s on

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

in slick streaks of crimson. A strangled whine escapes his muzzle before he finally

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