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.

side, my heart pounding

in my ears.

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

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

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

as I

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Fighting Back

my vision before it fades, just

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

stench, his muzzle inches from my face.

his claws are like miniature daggers digging

unyielding.

adrenaline–fueled strength, I manage to free one arm and lash out

mark, but

snort, giving me a moment

to the side, scrambling for the knife

Gøøglᴇ to

The scent of my blood mingles with the earthy aroma of the forest floor, a sickly metallic tang that pushes me to move faster.

Fighting

Faster, damn it.

whirl onto my back just as Todd crashes down where I’d been lying just moments before. His jaws

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

several feet away. How many have set upon us? Too many to count. Did the entire

worry

have to deal with

gasping for air as

Agony.

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Fighting

teeth against the pain, I stab into anything I can, wild jabs of my hand. I hit

and upper body somehow and I backpedal, my heel

with a startled scream,

I have no time to think.

fingers scrabble against the knife as I yank it out and stab again and again, even

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

no longer suffocated by his rancid breath. There’s no breath at all. Only blood