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.

Until my parents, tired of my whining,

always watching.

step back. "You're sorry?" Anger surges through me, hot and bitter, fueling my words. "Why are you even saying

you. Please." She grabs at my arm again. "We need you to

Ah. She needs something.

No wonder she's here.

in 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

am hired to clean the lodge. I

Ava From the

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 alpha. Westwood is tearing us apart. They sh "No." My voice is

have no intention of helping you or anyone else.

her features twisting into an ugly mask of

into the room, her hackles.

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

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

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

turns to me,

"An old neighbor," I manage, my

316

Aws: From the

sympathy. She starts to say something, but I don't hear her. I'm

me as I tremble, overwhelmed

sinking realization that no one, not even our neighbors, would help me Breathe, Ava, Selene murmurs

doesn't stop the flood of emotions. Fear, anger, betrayal-they swirl inside me, a maelstrom threatening to

breaks through

slowing down. Meeting her concerned gaze, I give the

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 me. Everything will be kept

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

Ava: From the

edges of

a gentle caress in my mind. But you handled it with strength and

me. "Strength? I'm

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