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

in my ears.

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

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

a large adult wolf and an entire lifetime of anger issues.

my lungs as I

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Ava: Fighting

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

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

his muzzle inches from my face.

his claws are like miniature daggers digging into my skin, immovable

unyielding.

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

my mark, but it

with a snort, giving

roll to the side, scrambling for

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its silver blade glinting in the moonlight. I’m bleeding. The scent of my blood mingles with the

Ava: Fighting

Faster, damn it.

the knife and whirl 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.

A guttural yelp rips from his throat as he snaps at my arm,

struggles several feet away. How many have set

worry about

deal

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

Agony.

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Fighting

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

of his head and

back with a startled scream, and he’s on me

no position to dodge. I have no time to think.

My fingers scrabble

strangled whine escapes his muzzle before he finally goes limp, his full weight collapsing atop

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