Tangled

168

168

168 Ava: Riot

It isn't impossible, but it might kill her before we get any results. Her answer isn't quite hesitant, but not firm, either.

"You're not telling me something

It is hard to explain. Selene stands and shakes herself. The only thing we can do is try. But it is a great risk. We should talk to Vanessa before trying, I think, if you wish to have her renounce her pack. As a heal That makes sense, only-

Selene and I share a startled glance as the chaotic noises from outside crescendo into a cacophony of snarls and shouts. Terror seizes my throat, memories of the party flashing through my mind, but I push pas We rush to the window, and my heart nearly stops at the sight below.

It's a full-on brawl. Wolves. Shifters in their human form. They're all locked together, dozens of Blackwood wolves overwhelming the few guards at the lodge.

Ava, we need to go. Selene's voice is sharp in my mind, urging me into action.

We race downstairs, my pulse pounding in my ears. There are no bodyguards to stop me; they're in the fray.

Fuck. I'm going to end up with twenty of them after Lucas hears

17-

17

abean chit

Marra winch rises above the din, his face a

mut of forty as he grapples with a narling wolf.

Telore I can respond, movement catches my eye. A Blackwood. Someone I vaguely recognize.

He launches at me, his body twisting and contorting as he shifts in

midair.

But Selene is faster. She meets the wolf head-on, and her snarl sends ice through my bones as she knocks him down.

I guess her body isn't very domestic dog, after all.

Chaos erupts around me. Claws and teeth flash past, barely missing me as I dodge and weave, my bodyguards struggling to form a protective

wolves. Snippets of conversation reach

never going to submit-

deep and powerful. Clayton. Relief mingles with dread in my gut. He's on his way, but how far is

is a lifeline, anchoring me to

I can sense her in

of "traitor" and "bitch" assail me from

100 Avi Rest

a face from my nightmares. Todd Mason's mother, her eyes wild with grief and

shricks, as guilt and terror freeze me

close around my throat,

me, but my body reacts on instinct. A twist, a shove, and she's off me, my hands moving to flip her to the ground. But something goes wrong. The angle

against the parking stop with a sickening

God. What have

dull roar in my ears. I stumble back, my heart hammering against

air won't come, my lungs seizing in my chest

Mason's mother. Just like I killed

Ava! Get it together!

wolf before one of my bodyguards yanks him to

of shock threatening

17.08.

377

lunges at me. My body moves before my mind can fully process the danger, muscle memory from 1 sidestep the attack, grasping the

against my ribs. Is he dead? Did I just kill another one? But then I see the faint rise and

ПЕР

Just

time, knowing

piercing howl cuts through the chaos, and I whip around to see Clayton's massive wolf form bounding into the fray, flanked by several other wolves. Their arrival shifts

edge of my vision. I squint, trying

see that?

response is immediate, laced with a mix of curiosity and wariness.

4/7

108 Ava Ta

nod, even though she can't

we break away from the battle, darting toward

closer, adrenaline surging through my

a gut instinct that I can't. ignore. Selene runs at my

midst of the

into a figure. A person, hunched over and stumbling, as if injured. My breath catches in my throat as a