Tangled

167

167

167 Ava: Mom's Stronger?

"Mom?" I ask in disbelief.

It can't be. How can Mom be stronger than the pack beta?

In another pack, your mother would have been a strong Luna candidate.

Wow.

I'd always known Mom had a strong presence, but I would have never guessed-never, in a million years, ever-that her wolf is stronger than Dad's.

I wonder how that worked out. Did Mom force her wolf to submit?

It is likely that the alpha did.

"Alpha Renard?"

Correct. An alpha's bond can force submission in any wolf, and change dynamics as he wishes.

I'd heard about things like that, of course. I knew we all had to submit, and I knew he had the power to force submission-but I don't think I've ever heard of him forcing wolves to submit to other wolves. It happens.

"Wow." Despite my visit with Mom yesterday, I feel a little sorry for

her.

A woman like her? With a strong wolf? She must have felt so stifled in this pack.

17:38

152 Ava Mom's Strompra?

Your mother is strong in wolf, but weak in human, she explains. Not all souls are well matched.

"You said she would be a strong Lupa candidate. Why can't strong female wolves be alphas?"

They can be. They used to be. Selene sounds frustrated. But today's wolves don't recognize it. An alpha today would have been King in

my era.

My mind jiggles. A Lycan King.

Wait a second.

"Sister Miriam called you-"

I was Queen, in my

open. "Wait, you were a queen? Like, an actual

sitting straight with her

I try to think of a way to end it without offending her. Because I'm so what? Selene tilts her head, those ice-blue eyes staring deep into my soul. In her dog form, it's

as she curls her lip over her teeth in a silent

Discerning tastes.

I try to

to

for the reprieve, I

to the packing

has a strong

That's crazy talk.

forms in

suitcase tucking

Vanessa about me, cutting through my

dang we're trying to keep you a secret."

don't take kindly to th I have no interest in spreading

be shared. It freedom

shirt into the suitcase, n I do so. "I don't know, Selene. What Vanessa might

been so warm and kind. 1 One of my few allies in Westwood; me with weighted stares and

firend

you Ava hist like

dore now

at the Butcher without really seeing them, I pick it all

Don't tell her Keep

to tell

always

guess that's a weakness of

or for my past. And Lucas... was angry at first, but he's been

supportive."

Ava. She deserves to

decision made. "Okay. We'll

be afraid to buck Lucas' rules if she agrees with me. The caveat being that she needs to agree with me, of course.

roots into my brain with insistence. "We'll talk to her when we

She sounds startled. Vanessa isn't

know that. That's not what

An idea?

to get some