Tangled

181 Ava: Twenty Laps Around the Track

Muddy Blue Eyes turns back in my direction, and while I can't sense any sort of real respect or care, he at least reclaims a

professional air when he addresses me.

Before he can ask anything important, I have an odd, niggling little bug in my car from what he'd said a few moments ago. "Five miles around the track is twenty laps?" I ask, with a faint frown. 1-what? His confusion is clear in his wrinkled brow and hesitation. "Yes. Twenty laps."

"Not twelve?"

"No. It's twenty. Four laps to a mile

My memory is very clear of my torture during training, and I know that can't be right. "Jericho told us to run five miles, and it was always twelve laps."All rights © NôvelDrama.Org.

"Beta-Mentor Ashbourne?" Muddy-Blue Eyes looks astonished, his brows rising. "Only twelve laps? Are you sure?"

"Positive. He had us count them. The memory of my jello-legs after each lap have me shuddering. "It was torture."

"Torture? She's been blessed by the Moon Goddess for his favor, and she calls it torture," Muddy-

Blue Eyes' partner mutters, looking out the window and bringing his hand to his lips in a gesture of faith I've seen often in Westwood, but almost never in Blackwood. It's always the older wolves who do it. "Pertaps Beta Mentor Ashbourne

oft on newbies? I suggest

soft

and Muddy Blue Eyes shakes his head in a firm negative. Then ! pause, rolling that name over in my head. "Wait. Ashbourne... isn't that Kellan's family name?

"Beta Mentor Jericho is Beta Kellan's father, Muddy Blue Eyes confirms. "When he stepped down as beta to focus on training young wolves, Beta Kellan took his place."

Ah.

The odd feeling between them now makes sense. It doesn't seem like a favorable father-son connection, somehow.

"I see." In a few minutes, I've learned more about the man who spent ages training me and Lisa for hours every day than I did. when he was training us.

Another eye-opening experience.

Thinking of how he cut our laps nearly in half, instead of forcing us to run the full five miles-while Lisa and I bemoaned every mile, thinking we were really running five miles- I rub my thighs, fighting against the remembered aches and pains.

The cantankerous old man's ranking in my heart rises significantly.

Five real miles might have actually killed us.

"He's very kind," I say after a while, realizing both men seem to be waiting on some sort of response.

The other two have long since left, and I shift uncomfortably on the bed. It seems their constant presence has been replaced with these two, which somehow makes everything worse. At least the other ones hated me and I didn't feel obligated to try and strike up conversation with them.

These two...

I've seen them before. I know they've guarded Lisa's apartment

more than once.

And I don't even know their names

Muddy Blue Eyes snorts, before walking to the window and peering outside. "Kind isn't a word anyone uses to describe the Beta

Mentor.

Nodding in silence, I can only agree. Kind is not really a word that fits his crotchety personality.

But it's there, hidden in his gruff words and demands for more,

Both men stiffen, turning to glance at each other. Neither of them say a word, but their faces show how distracted they are inside their heads.

My shoulders tense again, and Selene perks her cars. Something's happening. Maybe they'll explain it when they're done talking.

Without thinking, I twist one of her ears. I don't mean to; my fingers have been fiddling with them for a while, and my skyrocketing anxiety brought it to a new level. Ouch!

I wince as her claws dig into my thigh. Sorry. But my stomach is churning, acid eating through its lining as we wait.

When Muddy Blue Eyes seems to be done talking, I lean forward.

"What's going on?"

He glances toward me and shakes his head. "No one's injured. that's what you're worried about

Well, that's good

But that doesn't answer my question.

Both men seem on edge, taking station on either end of the room Muddy Blue Eyes stays near the window, scanning outside without

pause.

His partner stays by the door, opening it only when someone approaches. It must be the new guards, because he shares a few quick words before closing it again, and their footsteps don't leave back down the hall.

Every movement is tense. Jerky. Restless.

Whatever happened-it's significant.

"What's going on?" I press, unable to ignore the palpable shift in the atmosphere.

The guard by the door finally speaks up, his words clipped and devoid of emotion. "The bodies were taken."

My heart lurches in my chest. "How is that even possible?!"

The guards remain silent, their faces unreadable. Selene shifts beside me, her hackles raised, sensing the unease permeating the

room.

She was right, that dhampir. This is far worse than expected.

Selene's grim words only give me the urge to vomit.

What could they possibly want with the bodies?

13

151 Avariwal, Lane wound the Tygak

The words hang in my throat, choking me, until I can barely breathe. My mind races, desperate for understanding, but any possible motive is an clusive wisp of smoke, leaving nothing

behind.

The guard's gaze darts around the room. "We don't have details yet. Just that the pyres were disturbed and the bodies are gone."

Gone. The word echoes in my head, bouncing off the walls of my skull until it's all I can hear. Those wolves, those lives lost because

of my actions, my choices... and now even their final rest has been

violated.

Selene presses closer to me, her warmth a small comfort against the icy dread seeping through my veins. It's not your fault, Ava, she murmurs in my mind, but I can't bring myself to believe her.

All those families. All the loved ones who will now be denied even the small solace of a proper farewell. The weight of it...

So heavy. Overwhelming.

There are no words for this pressure crushing every bit of my soul.

"How could this happen?" I whisper, more to myself than the guards. "For so many bodies to disappear, how many are involved?" Muddy-Blue Eyes shakes his head, his jaw tight. "We're looking into it. Alpha Westwood is handling the situation. Just relax until they

return."

I

Lucas. The thought of him out there, dealing with this new horror on top of everything else, makes my heart ache. I know he'll blame himself.

I'm utterly useless. What good is my identity, my supposed power, if i can't even protect my own pack?

Selene nuzzles my hand, sensing my spiraling thoughts. You're not useless, Ava. You're doing what you can, what you must.

But it doesn't feel like enough. It feels like I'm sitting on the sidelines while everyone else fights my battles for me. While Lisa suffers, while the pack grieves, while Lucas carries the weight of leadership alone.

close my eyes, trying to center myself, to find some shreds of calm amidst the chaos. But all I can see are the faces of the dead, the accusations in their lifeless eyes. Your fault, they seem to whisper. Your fault.

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