Tangled

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158 Ava: From the Past

"Ava, is that you?"

The familiar rasp has me frozen, my heart lurching into my throat. Slowly, I turn around, coming face-to-face with a ghost from my

past.

Our neighbor. Margot Mitchell.

Her once vibrant auburn hair is streaked with silver, her face a

roadmap of wrinkles and scars. It's her eyes that haunt me. Piercing green eyes that see everything and do nothing.

"Margot," I greet, my voice tight with caution. "What are you doing

here?"

She limps

toward me, her gait uneven from some injury she incurred long before I was born. I remember asking about it once, and my mother slapped the back of my head, admonishing me for my rudeness. "Oh, Ava. I'm

I tense as she reaches out, half-expecting her to grab me, to drag me back to the hellscape I escaped. But she merely places a hand on my arm, her touch feather-light.

"I'm sorry," she whispers, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I'm so sorry for everything. For not intervening when..." She trails off, her gaze flickering to the ground.

The shame she tries to portray leaves me feeling dirty. Unclean from her mere presence.

Memories flash through my mind, unbidden. Margot's face in the

$2.00

150 As from the Pant

window, watching as I was taunted and beaten, even by her own son. Listening at the front door as my parents berated me, their voices carrying through the window. Her figure rushing inside. when I tried beggi I was thirteen.

He broke my wrist.

cried for hours that day. Hours. Until my parents, tired of my whining, finally dragged me to the

always watching.

my arm away, taking a step back. "You're sorry?" Anger surges through me, hot and bitter, fueling my words. "Why are you even saying that? What does

help you. Please." She grabs at my arm again. "We need you

Ah. She needs something.

No wonder she's here.

my veins, even as my stomach churns. There's a tiny part of me, almost miniscule, that was hopeful her apology was genuine. It's dead now, like so many other little parts

shakes her head. "I am hired

Ava From the

are separated now. Taken from our mates. Forced to cut

I repeat. "I have no intention of helping you or anyone else. from that pack.

an

growl cuts her off. Selene stalks into the room, her hackles. raised, teeth bared. She positions herself between Margot and

think she might actually shift and attack. My heart pounds

in, and Margot's demeanor changes instantly. She straightens, smoothing her expression into one of neutral

she says, her tone clipped. "We can talk when you've settled

to me, curiosity etched

to steady my racing heart. "An

316

From the

to say something, but I don't hear her. I'm already

tremble, overwhelmed

physical and emotional. The sinking realization that no one, not even our neighbors,

it doesn't stop the flood of emotions. Fear,

gentle voice breaks through the chaos. "Are you

my heart, slowing down. Meeting her concerned gaze, I give the faintest smile.

be in the other room if you need me." She pauses, then adds, "Therapy isn't something to be ashamed of. If you're interested, just talk to

to Selene, running my fingers through her soft fur. Her presence is a

From the

edges of my

that, she says, her voice a gentle caress in my mind. But you handled it with

me. "Strength? I'm shaking like

It's facing it head-on, even when it terrifies you. And that's