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.

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

in my ears.

jaws snap shut inches from my face. Nausea churns

and flesh. A guttural

large adult wolf and an entire

lungs as

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Fighting Back

explode across my vision before it fades, just for a moment.

Todd’s paws, pressing down on my shoulders with crushing force. His hot breath washes over me in waves of

his muzzle inches from my face.

are like miniature

unyielding.

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

mark, but

with a snort, giving me a moment of

to the side, scrambling for

me again. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the FindNʘᴠᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of

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

Ava: Fighting

Faster, damn it.

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

A

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

can’t worry about them.

to deal with

slamming into mine like a fucking freight train. I stumble, gasping for air as his claws rake across my abdomen, tearing through

Agony.

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Fighting

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

his head and upper body somehow

startled scream, and he’s

position to dodge. I have no time to

fingers scrabble against the knife as I yank it out and

my hands 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 earth.