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

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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.

Hours. Until my parents, tired of my whining, finally dragged me

watching. Never

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

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

Ah. She needs something.

No wonder she's here.

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

hired to clean

Ava From the

us are separated now. Taken from our mates. Forced to cut

repeat. "I have no intention of helping you or anyone else. from that pack.

her features twisting into an ugly mask of

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

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

instantly. She straightens, smoothing her expression into one of neutral

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

watches her go, then turns to me, curiosity etched on her face.

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

316

From

She starts to say something, but I don't hear her. I'm already sinking to my knees, burying

I tremble, overwhelmed by the unexpected confrontation with

me, vivid and visceral. The jeers and taunts of my packmates. The pain of their blows, both physical and emotional. The sinking realization that no

Fear, anger, betrayal-they swirl inside me, a maelstrom

gentle voice breaks through the chaos. "Are

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

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 wells

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

Ava: From

edges of

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

"Strength? I'm shaking

head-on, even when it terrifies you. And