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.

Hours. Until my parents, tired of my whining,

watching.

step back. "You're sorry?" Anger surges through me, hot and bitter, fueling my

She grabs at

Ah. She needs something.

No wonder she's here.

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

"I am hired to

From the

Think of your pack. So many of us are separated now. Taken from our mates. Forced to cut ties with the alpha. Westwood

have no intention of helping you or anyone else.

an

her off. Selene stalks into the room, her hackles. raised, teeth bared. She

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

demeanor changes instantly. She straightens, smoothing her expression into one

clipped. "We can talk when you've settled

her go, then turns to me, curiosity etched on her face. "Who

racing heart. "An old neighbor," I manage,

316

From the

She starts to say something, but I don't

as I tremble,

sinking realization

she's right, but it doesn't stop the flood of emotions. Fear, anger, betrayal-they swirl inside me, a

breaks through the chaos. "Are you

few beats of my heart, slowing down. Meeting her concerned gaze, I

her eyes. "I'll 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

attention back to Selene, running my

Ava: From

of my

her voice a gentle caress in my mind. But you

escapes me. "Strength? I'm shaking like

isn't the absence of fear, Ava. It's facing it head-on, even when it terrifies you. And