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 overcomes all sound

in my ears.

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

blade slicing through fur and flesh. A guttural yelp

all the force of a large adult wolf

lungs as

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Fighting Back

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

in a rush. I’m pinned beneath Todd’s paws, pressing down on my shoulders with

his muzzle inches

writhe, but his claws are like miniature daggers

unyielding.

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

don’t hit my mark, but it

snort, giving me a moment of

scrambling for the knife

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

Fighting

Faster, damn it.

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

wildly, 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 skin as

several feet away. How many have set upon us? Too many to

I can’t worry

to deal with

train. I stumble, gasping for

Agony.

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Fighting

jabs of my hand. I hit something, because blood coats my hilt

me to the ground with a wide movement of his head and upper body

a startled scream, and he’s on

in no position to dodge. I have no

weight slams me into the ground beneath him. My fingers scrabble against

shudders violently, his blood coating my hands in slick streaks of crimson. A strangled whine escapes his muzzle before he finally goes limp, his full

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