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.

day. Hours. Until my parents, tired of

always watching. Never

me, hot and bitter, fueling my words. "Why are you even saying that? What does that do

none of us could help you. Please." She grabs

Ah. She needs something.

No wonder she's here.

apology was genuine. It's dead now,

am hired to clean

From

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

helping you or anyone else. from that pack. Not after everything

twisting into an

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

might actually shift and attack. My heart pounds against my ribs,

instantly. She straightens, smoothing her expression into

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

me,

to steady my racing heart. "An old neighbor,"

316

From

in Vanessa's eyes, followed by sympathy. She starts to say something, but I don't hear her. I'm already sinking to

me as I tremble, overwhelmed by the unexpected confrontation with

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

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

breaks through the chaos. "Are you

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

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 be Gratitude

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

Ava: From the

of my

to face that, she says, her voice a gentle caress

escapes me. "Strength? I'm shaking like

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