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.

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

my ears.

Nausea churns in

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

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

from my lungs as I

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Fighting

grasp. Stars explode across my vision before it fades, just

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

muzzle inches from

are like miniature daggers digging into my skin, immovable

unyielding.

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

my mark,

snort, giving me a moment

scrambling for the

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I’m bleeding. The scent of my blood mingles with the earthy aroma of the forest

Ava: Fighting

Faster, damn it.

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 of spittle and foam coat my cheeks.

across his ear, his neck. A guttural yelp rips from his throat as he

own struggles several feet away. How many have set upon

can’t worry about them.

have to deal with

stumble, gasping

Agony.

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Ava: Fighting

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

wide movement of his head and upper body somehow and I

with a startled scream,

in no position to dodge. I have

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 face, my shoulders,

streaks of crimson. A strangled whine escapes his

rancid breath. There’s no