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.

and I dash to the side, my heart pounding in frantic rhythm.

in my ears.

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

lash out with the knife again, the blade slicing through fur and flesh. A guttural yelp tears from his

of a large adult wolf and an entire lifetime of

lungs as I hit the

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Ava: Fighting

grasp. Stars explode across my vision before it

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

muzzle inches from my

his claws are like miniature

unyielding.

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

hit my mark,

a snort, giving

roll to the side, scrambling for the knife as he lunges

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

Ava: Fighting Back

Faster, damn it.

just moments before. His jaws snap shut with a resounding clack. Flecks of spittle and foam coat my cheeks.

I lash out wildly, the blade slicing a shallow gash across his ear, his neck. A guttural yelp rips from his throat

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

I can’t worry about them.

deal

I stumble, gasping for air as his claws rake across

Agony.

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Fighting

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

a wide movement of his head and upper body somehow and I

with a startled scream, and he’s on me

position to dodge. I have no time to think.

as I stab low and blind, grunting as his weight slams me 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

body shudders violently, his blood coating my hands in slick streaks of crimson. A strangled whine escapes

breath. There’s no breath at all. Only blood and earth.