Tangled

110 Lisa: Ava’s Absence (III)

Lucas’s shoulders stiffen, and he turns to look at the

healer with a frown. “Still no answers?” he asks, his voice rough with disuse.

Vanessa sighs, her expression sympathetic. “I’m sorry, Alpha. We’re doing everything we can.”

Lucas nods curtly and turns back to Ava, his brow furrowed in thought. Vanessa catches my eye over his shoulder and gives me a subtle shake of her head.

At first, I’m confused. But then it hits me–she must be trying to tell me that Ava isn’t pregnant. A wave of relief washes over me, followed immediately by a pang of guilt. I shouldn’t be happy about this, not when Ava is still lying there unresponsive.

But at least it’s one less thing to worry about. One less complication in an already tangled web.

I slump back in my chair, suddenly exhausted. It’s been a long day, and the emotional roller coaster has taken. its toll. I close my eyes, just for a moment, and let the steady rhythm of Ava’s heartbeat lull me into a light

doze.

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110 Lisa: Ava’s Absence (1)

I’m not sure how much time passes before I’m startled awake by a soft knock at the door. Vanessa pokes her head in, her expression apologetic.

“Sorry to disturb you,” she says, keeping her voice low. “But I thought you might want to know–Kellan just arrived with Ava’s dog.”

I sit up straighter, blinking the sleep from my eyes.

“Selene’s here?”

in the waiting room. I can bring her in,

see the tension

he’s not

would be good for her,” I say, since he seems content with letting me make the

on a leash. For a moment, I’m not sure if it’s really Selene–she looks thinner than I remember from pictures, her fur matted and dull. But then she catches

hoonital had and late out

210

C

Lisa Ava’s

that breaks my heart.

Selene lunges forward, nearly yanking the leash out

her paws slipping on the crisp white sheets as she tries to get closer to Ava. Lucas starts to rise from his chair,

say, grabbing his wrist. His skin is hot beneath my fingers, and I can feel the tension thrumming through him like a live wire. “I think… I think it might be good for her. To have Selene close.” I can’t admit why, but I can at

his throat, and I feel my heart stutter in my chest. Oh God. What have I done? The look on his face… it’s like he’s barely holding himself back from

can’t back down now. Not when

wrist even as my

“Just let her stay.”

a moment

I

Lisa: Ava’s Absence

so tightly I’m afraid he might

slowly, he raises his free

it never

raised and her lips pulled back in a snarl. And she’s not just protecting Ava–she’s protecting

silent, the tension so thick I can barely breathe. Lucas and Selene stare each other

in Lucas’s arm bunch beneath my fingers, and for a second, I’m sure he’s going

leave Selene’s, but he lowers his hand, his fingers uncurling from

grits out, his voice tight

dog can stay. For