Tangled

158

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.

parents, tired of my

watching. Never

"You're sorry?" Anger surges through me, hot and bitter, fueling my words. "Why are you even saying that? What does that do for

you. Please." She grabs

Ah. She needs something.

No wonder she's here.

me, almost miniscule, that was hopeful her apology was genuine. It's dead now, like so many other little parts of

shakes her head. "I am hired to clean

Ava From

until I saw you." Her eyes fill with tears. "Please, Ava. Think of your pack. So many of us are separated now. Taken from our mates. Forced to cut ties with the

no intention of helping you or

into an ugly mask of

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

she might actually

demeanor changes instantly. She

later," she says, her tone clipped. "We can talk when you've settled in." With that, she turns and flees the room,

to me, curiosity etched on

"An old neighbor," I manage, my

316

Aws: From

I don't hear her. I'm

me as I tremble, overwhelmed by the unexpected confrontation with my

both physical and emotional. The sinking realization that no one, not even our neighbors, would help me Breathe, Ava,

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

gentle voice breaks through

beats of my heart, slowing down. Meeting her

to be ashamed of. If you're interested, just talk to me. Everything will be kept be Gratitude wells up

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

From

edges of my

a gentle caress in

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

head-on, even when it