Tangled

125 Ava: Negotiating the Invitation

125 Ava: Negotiating the Invit tion

The ominous text halts me in place, and Lisa peers over my shoulder.

“A candle?” she asks, confused.

Oh, right–I haven’t spoken to her yet about my revelation of Sister Miriam’s words at our parting. Only

Selene knows.

Catching Lisa’s eye, I give a quick shake of my head and slide the phone into my pocket. Kellan’s in the distance, walking toward us.

Lisa, as quick–thinking as ever, grabs onto my arm again and returns to her ruminations about the party. By the time the beta’s near us, his face is

thunderclouds and lightning.

“No way,” he announces, before Lisa can even say anything.

Undeterred, Lisa stands straight, toe–to–toe with him in a way I see far too often. These two will never get along. “I’m not asking, Beta Ashbourne. I’m informing you. Friday will be busy. We’re going to a party.”

125 Ava: Negotiating the Invitation.

“Absolutely not.”

“Stop treating us like prisoners!”

“You aren’t prisoners,” he refutes immediately. “We’re doing our best to keep you safe. A party? That’s not safe.”

“That’s not safe,” she mimics, rolling her eyes. “So, what, we’re going to be stuck in my apartment forever? We can’t live at all? Can’t do anything? Because to me, it sounds like you’re saying Westwood is a bunch of weak–ass wolves who can’t protect two little girls in their own territory.”

She’s a spitfire, Selene approves, back in my head again. Her marathon must be over.

a way that I see far too often these days, and he gives up arguing with Lisa to turn to me, instead. “With

Blackwood…”

agree with Lisa,” Interrupting him before he can continue is the best way. While I’m doing better at standing up for myself, I’m not great at arguing when they bring up good points,

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Negotiating

compared to

I disagree. It’s just that I can’t live like this forever, and things need to change. Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ꜰindNʘvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access

away forever. It’s worse than being home. At least I used to have a job and some

familiar feel of guilt to my

my mind soft and soothing. You are not wrong in the words you speak. Do not walk them back. It’s okay to feel

were with me, I would pet her and hug her with gratitude. But she’s not, so I settle for sending her my intense feelings of love and appreciation through our bond.

a hand down his face. “Lucas is going to kill me,” he mutters

“He has no

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Negotiating

mate,”

against my nerves like sandpaper. “I’m not his mate, Kellan. How many times do I have to say it?”

exasperated. “Denial only goes so

Ava.”

to see me as anything other than my supposed rank. The one they’ve already decided on, despite my own feelings not being clear. I clench my jaw, standing my ground. “No. I’m sick of this. I’m sick of constantly being thought of as his

him.”

of me, heated and sharp. I’m so tired of my identity being tied to a man, a bond I never asked for. First, it was my father and my pack, dictating my every move. Now, it’s Lucas and his pack, treating me like I’m fragile, like I’m someone’s possession. Even Clayton’s

want to be Ava. A me without any

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Ava Negotiating the Invitation

judged by the standing of another

presence a comforting warmth. Stand

bolsters me, straightening my spine. I meet Kellan’s

you to back me up when Lucas loses his mind over

I say firmly. “Because he knows I’m right. He knows I’m more than just his…

I are complicated. We’re fated mates with an awkward history. The bond between us is undeniable, a living, breathing thing, and I can’t underestimate it. Like that day at the hospital, it will throw me into his arms in an

define me. I refuse

myself when I

Ava: Negotiating the