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.

parents, tired of

always watching. Never

my arm away, taking a step back. "You're sorry?" Anger surges through me, hot and bitter, fueling my words. "Why

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

Ah. She needs something.

No wonder she's here.

was hopeful her apology was genuine. It's dead now, like so many other little parts

"I am hired to clean the

From

are separated now. 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

you or anyone else. from that pack. Not after

her features twisting into an ugly

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

she might actually shift and attack. My

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

when you've

watches her go, then turns to me,

swallow hard, trying to steady my racing heart. "An old

316

Aws: From

I don't hear her.

as I tremble, overwhelmed by the unexpected confrontation with my

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

flood of emotions. Fear, anger, betrayal-they swirl inside me, a maelstrom threatening to pull me

through the

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

something to be ashamed of. If you're interested, just talk to me.

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

From

edges of

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

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

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