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.

Until my parents,

always watching.

"You're sorry?" Anger surges through me, hot and bitter, fueling my

understand, none of us could help you. Please." She grabs at

Ah. She needs something.

No wonder she's here.

continues to boil 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

head. "I am hired to clean

From

fill with tears. "Please, Ava. Think of your pack. So many of us are separated now. Taken from our mates. Forced to

have no intention of helping you or

face contorts, her features twisting into an ugly mask of

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

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

instantly. She straightens,

again later," she says, her tone clipped. "We can talk when you've settled in."

turns to me, curiosity etched on her face. "Who was

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

316

From

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

as I tremble, overwhelmed by the unexpected confrontation with

emotional. The sinking realization that no

doesn't stop the flood of emotions. Fear, anger, betrayal-they swirl

breaks through the chaos. "Are

my heart, slowing down. Meeting her concerned

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

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

From the

of

had to face that, she says, her voice a gentle caress in my mind. But you handled it with strength

laugh escapes me. "Strength? I'm shaking

head-on,