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

watching.

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

She grabs at my

Ah. She needs something.

No wonder she's here.

part of me, almost miniscule, that was hopeful her apology was genuine. It's dead

shakes her head. "I am hired

From the

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

into an ugly mask of

off. Selene stalks into the room, her hackles. raised, teeth bared. She

I think she might actually shift and attack. My heart pounds against my ribs, adrenaline surging through

changes instantly. She straightens,

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

me, curiosity etched on her face.

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

316

Aws: From the

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

whines softly, nuzzling against me as I tremble, overwhelmed by the unexpected confrontation with

realization that no one, not even our neighbors, would

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

voice breaks through

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

ashamed of. If you're interested, just

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

From the

edges of my

a gentle caress in my mind. But you handled it

me. "Strength? I'm shaking like

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