Tangled

123 Ava: New Shifters

Lisa and I share a look before following Amara further into the gym. I can feel the eyes of the other shifters tracking our every move. Unease has my heart beating in rapid rhythm, like a frantic chicken flapping its wings. All the excitement I’d felt at meeting new people is now buried beneath the worries dashing through my mind.

Do they hate me?

Is their disapproval because I’m a Blackwood wolf?

Do they know I can’t shift?

Have there been complaints about me?

What have they been saying?

But, of course, I don’t have the answers, so I follow. behind with my mouth shut.

It will be fine, Selene assures me, but she’s very unconcerned about the thoughts of humans or shifters. In fact, I’m not sure she cares about anyone other than me. She isn’t even fond of our fated mate.

Selene snorts. Fated doesn’t mean inevitable.

13:42

123 Ava: New Shifters:

her

Once we reach the mats, Amara turns to face us, stance relaxed but ready. It’s hard not to focus on the lean muscles defined in her arms. I’d thought I was making improvement with my training, but compared to her? I look like a newborn baby, soft and squishy.

“Let’s start with some basic defensive moves and see

where you’re at.”

Amara launches into an explanation of a simple block and counter, demonstrating the moves with fluid grace. I focus on her words, trying to commit the steps.

to memory.

Then it’s our turn to try. Lisa goes first, her face set in concentration as she attempts to mirror Amara’s movements. It’s a little clumsy, but she executes the block successfully.

“Good,” Amara praises. “Remember to keep your weight centered and your arm firm.”

some miracle manages to keep himself from saying anything terrible.

step up next, taking a deep breath to center myself. Amara

13:42

28

New Shifters.

is solid, my stance steady. Amara’s eyebrows raise slightly, a

done,” she says. “You’ve clearly been practicing. Next time, commit to the movement. You’re

glance toward Jericho, who watches me in continued silence. Maybe I’m not as far behind as I feared? Maybe I can

showing us new moves and critiquing our form. It’s challenging, sweat dripping down my back as I push myself harder, striving to perfect each technique. I have to repeat. them multiple times, and despite

skills to the test. Lisa is a quick learner, her determination making up for any shortcomings. She gets me

3/8

123 Ava: New Shifters

else. Like my enhanced healing, and how I woke up from a three–week long coma no longer needing glasses

and my lungs

dead after

prickle of awareness runs along my spine. Glancing up, I find several of the male shifters watching me with interest. It makes me want to squirm, their gazes a

look away, focusing on Lisa instead as she chatters excitedly about everything we’ve learned. Her enthusiasm is

***

day was a fucking bait and

ús to Amara’s

dove wa’ra brutalizad and hanton to the mat

Ava: New

smiling anymore, and I no longer

at me with more

trying to bully me out of Westwood. Instead, she’s meticulous in explaining what she’s teaching me and what I’m

to complain

there’s just something, a subtle energy among the shifters, in their eyes and the way

are jealous, Selene opines, sounding distracted.

your trashy

course. I can sense her tail swishing despite our distance. It is very entertaining. Humans know how to tell a

Amara shouts, and I drag my head back to the situation at hand.

the other shifters, a younger male with a cocky swagger, is my opponent this morning. He’s one

Av Now Shifters

website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the

sense, knowing they think of me as their

worry about what they think. They are all beneath you. Selene’s natural arrogance is probably because of her Lycan soul; I don’t know how she cares so little about how other people think of me.

our pack, she says, without me asking. How they think of you is inconsequential. If they have something to say, they can do it through a

Still.

knowing how your pack feels on any given day