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.

pounding in frantic rhythm.

my

face. Nausea churns in my belly, courtesy of his rancid

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

force of a large adult wolf

lungs as I hit the ground,

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Fighting Back

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

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

stench, his muzzle inches from my

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

unyielding.

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

mark, but it startles

rears back with a snort, giving

to the side, scrambling for the knife as

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moonlight. I’m bleeding. The scent of my blood mingles with the earthy aroma of the forest floor, a sickly metallic tang

Ava: Fighting Back

Faster, damn it.

been lying just moments before. His jaws snap shut with a resounding clack.

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

own struggles several feet away. How many

I can’t worry

to deal with

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

Agony.

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Ava: Fighting

jabs of my hand. I hit something, because blood

the ground with a wide movement of his head and upper body somehow and I backpedal, my heel catching on a gnarled

scream, and he’s on me again.

in no position to dodge. I have

into the 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,

hands in slick streaks of crimson. A strangled whine escapes his muzzle before he finally goes limp, his full weight collapsing atop

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