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 my whining, finally dragged me

watching. Never

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

could help you. Please." She grabs at my arm again. "We

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 parts of "How did you know I was here?" I step back, avoiding her grip, and she stops

shakes her head. "I am hired

From

of your pack. So many of us are separated now. Taken from our mates. Forced to cut ties with the alpha.

or anyone else. from that pack. Not after everything

into an ugly mask

stalks into the room, her hackles. raised, teeth bared. She positions herself

the growl, her eyes flashing amber. For a moment, I think she might actually shift and attack.

demeanor changes instantly. She straightens, smoothing her

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

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

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

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 my knees, burying my face in

me as I tremble, overwhelmed by the

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

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

gentle voice breaks through the chaos. "Are you

down. Meeting her concerned gaze, I give the faintest smile. "I'm

be ashamed of. If you're interested, just talk to me. Everything will be kept be Gratitude wells up

attention back to Selene, running my fingers through

Ava: From the

of

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

me. "Strength?

isn't the absence of fear, Ava. It's facing it head-on,