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.

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

watching. Never

surges through me, hot and

of us could help you. Please." She grabs at my arm again. "We need you to understand

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 of "How

hired

Ava From the

Taken from our mates. Forced to cut ties with the alpha. Westwood is tearing us apart. They sh "No." My voice is cold as I take another step

no intention of helping you or anyone else. from that pack.

contorts, her features twisting into an ugly mask

her hackles. raised, teeth bared. She positions herself between Margot and me, a

For a moment, I think she might actually shift

She straightens, smoothing

talk when you've settled in." With that, she turns and flees the room,

go, then turns to me,

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

316

Aws: From

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

nuzzling against me as I tremble, overwhelmed by the

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

right, but it doesn't stop the flood of emotions. Fear, anger, betrayal-they

breaks through

shuddering breath. A few beats of my heart, slowing down. Meeting her

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 me. Everything will

Vanessa leaves, I turn my attention back to Selene, running my

From the

edges of my

a gentle caress in my mind. But you handled

laugh escapes me. "Strength?

absence of fear, Ava. It's facing it head-on, even when