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.

throat and I dash to the side, my heart pounding in frantic rhythm. The rush of blood overcomes all sound

in my

Nausea churns

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

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

lungs as I hit the

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Fighting Back

Stars explode across my vision

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

muzzle inches from my face.

like miniature

unyielding.

I manage to free one arm and lash out blindly, my

hit my mark,

rears back with a snort, giving

the side, scrambling for the

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

Fighting Back

Faster, damn it.

the knife and whirl onto my back just as Todd crashes down where I’d been lying just

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 I dash backward,

No other weapons. The other wolves are still involved in their own struggles several feet away. How

worry about

have to deal with Todd.

fucking freight train. I stumble, gasping for air as his claws rake across my

Agony.

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Fighting Back

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

movement of his head and upper body

with a startled scream, and he’s on me again.

to dodge. I have no time to

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, in between shrieks.

streaks of crimson. A strangled whine escapes his muzzle before he

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