Tangled

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158

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,

watching.

"You're sorry?" Anger surges through me, hot and bitter,

have to understand, none of us could help you. Please." She grabs at my arm again. "We need you to understand us.

Ah. She needs something.

No wonder she's here.

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 of "How did you know I was here?" I step back, avoiding her grip, and she stops

hired to clean the lodge. I

From

with tears. "Please, Ava. Think of your pack. So many of us are separated now. Taken from our mates. Forced to cut ties with

no intention of helping you or

an ugly

Selene stalks into the room, her hackles. raised,

amber. For a moment, I think she might actually shift and attack. My heart pounds against my ribs, adrenaline surging

changes instantly. She straightens, smoothing her expression

clipped. "We can talk when you've

to me, curiosity etched

swallow hard, trying to steady my racing heart. "An old neighbor," I manage, my voice shaking

316

From

sympathy. She starts to say something, but I don't hear her. I'm already sinking to my knees, burying my face in

as I tremble, overwhelmed by the unexpected

and emotional. The sinking realization that no one, not even our neighbors, would help me Breathe, Ava, Selene murmurs in my mind. You're safe

she's right, but it doesn't stop the flood of emotions. Fear,

Vanessa's gentle voice breaks through the chaos. "Are you

few beats of my heart, slowing down. Meeting her

pauses, then adds, "Therapy isn't something to be ashamed of. If you're interested, just talk to me. Everything will be kept be Gratitude wells up inside me, and

Vanessa leaves, I turn my attention back to Selene, running my fingers through her soft fur. Her presence is a

From

edges of my

sorry you had to face that, she says, her voice a gentle caress in my mind. But you handled

laugh escapes me. "Strength? I'm shaking like a

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