Tangled

91 Ava Clearing the Air (0)

91 Ava: Clearing the Air (I)

All my thoughts circle into some sort of insane melodrama right out of Selene’s favorite TV show, and I slap my hands against my face, rubbing hard against my cheeks, as though I can push the tears right back into my eyes.

“Sorry,” I say, as Lucas rests a worried hand against my back, stroking me like you would pet a puppy. It’s cute.

He doesn’t seem to know what to do with me, while

I’m just grateful that he’s trying.

Once I’m sure my tears are gone, I smile up at him. “I’m just frazzled.”

“You’ve been through a lot. Did I upset you when I took -the phone call?”

“No!” The word bursts from me in horror. Does he

think I’m that kind of person, who gets upset when he has to do important things instead of watching me sit in a hospital bed? “Not at all.”

He blows out a breath in what I’m sure is massive relief. No one wants a mate that high maintenance. “Are you upset that I have to leave?”

DE

91 Ava: Clearing the Air (1)

I cringe. “It isn’t that.” I just came to some insane levels of assumptions. “Why… do you have to go?”

“Ah.” Now he looks uncomfortable, and takes a seat on my bed, grabbing my hand.

Oh, God. This can’t be good.

“Once we were safe, Kellan–my beta–led a force of my men into the heart of the Blackwood pack.” I must not look devastated enough, because he clarifies, “In

an act of war.”

want some sort of input from me, I

Alpha Renard escaped, but the territory is

I nod again.

your pack,” he says,

care what happens to them.”

hospital. She’s in critical condition due to the wolfsbane

the Air (1)

feel a lot of things right now. Like sadness,

there’s a huge demon of vengeance in my soul that is happy at

show my possible future mate that I’m a raging psychopath. He’s treating me so carefully as he tells

rough fingers between mine. He must think I need comfort, and I’m not sure how to break it

lot of work to be done. We are working on disavowing every wolf from the Blackwood Pack and integrating them into ours, or letting them go as rogues. I’ll be back every few days. Right now, another alpha is helping me keep things in

don’t resist the urge to reach out and rub the lines on his brow. “You’ll do great,” I assure him. “But before you go,

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something.”

must be Clayton; that’s why he called. Maybe Clayton doesn’t

they’ll figure it out soon. I have to

watch. “I only have a few minutes. There’s a flight tonight that I have to

all I need. I just need you to promise to listen without getting

“Whatever you have

worry about them. “When I was taken from Cedarwood, it wasn’t

mine, and his brows come together

rogues in Cedarwood who caught my

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can you go into heat without

and I freeze.

do you know about that?”

the Gala, I’d been under the impression you were working with your family–with the alpha of your

why he looked at me with

into the pack to get the information, but I

face, and his thumb rubs over the back of my hand, over and over, in

contrition.

you back with me that night. You would have been safe. I was so focused on how I felt about