Tangled
195

195 Ava: A Familiar Face

. "Ma'am, can you explain how you entered pack lands without detection? And how you made it all the way to the alpha lodge?"

There's suspicion thick in his voice, and I see Vanessa tense from the corner of my eye. Mrs. Elkins looks around at the hostile faces, bewilderment plain on her features. "Ava, dear, are you in some sort of trouble?"

Glancing at my guards, all on alert and intent on saving me even from a little old woman, I sigh.

Their questions are imminently reasonable, and I'm wondering the

same things. Not to mention-Selene's hiding under the bench is beyond suspicious.

I can't shake the feeling that I'm about to hear answers I'll regret having heard.

No matter how I look at this situation, for an old woman to have

accidentally stumbled onto me here, a thousand miles away, without knowing my true identity...

There's something more going on.

Straightening my shoulders, I take a deep breath, ready to side with my bodyguards against the sweetest woman in the world.

"No, Mrs. Elkins. But we are going to need some answers."

She hugs her parcel a

little closer to her chest, looking over each of my bodyguards in turn, before nodding to herself. Her faded eyes crinkle at the corners as she offers them a placating smile. "I didn't walk through your pack lands,

I never expected to add my former boss being held up by a flock of bodyguards, a solid thousand miles from Cedarwood, to my list of fucked up shit that happened today. O

So it takes a minute for me to process what I'm hearing.

"Mrs. Elkins?"

Selene flattens against the ground, her ears going back as she belly-crawls her way to my bench.

Her bizarre demeanor doesn't even register in my head, because- well, frankly, she's been weird as hell for the past several hours.

"Ava! My dear girl."

Those familiar rheumy eyes and her welcoming smile have me so intensely, terribly homesick for Cedarwood that I have to blink like a maniac to keep the tears at bay. "Mrs. Elkins, how did you get here? And o Vanessa follows behind as I push my way through the bodyguards, who refuse to let me get too close.

"Calm down, boys. She's a friend of our Luna."

Vanessa's at least forty years younger than any of these men, but they respond to her words anyway, letting me through their -human barricade.

I've got to figure out how to wield whatever flimsy authority I have. Even Vanessa gets people to listen to her. Granted, she's a healer- no one wants to get on a healer's bad side. Not even the alpha.

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195 Ava, A Familiar Face

Reaching the old woman, I can see that she's carrying a huge parcel, hugging it to her chest.

"Ava, my dear. Are you all right?"

Her hand shakes as she reaches for my face, as though reassuring herself I'm really alive.

"I'm fine."

I grasp Mrs. Elkins' hand in mine. It's delicate and fragile, her paper-thin skin soft against my palm. My mind is still working at wrapping itself around her being here, in the flesh, a thousand miles from home. "How did you get here, Mrs. Elkins? I mean, not that I'm not happy to see you, but... how?"

She sighs, the sound weary and drawn out. "Oh, Ava, it's a story for the ages. But that can wait." Her eyes, sharp despite their age, sweep over me with a critical gleam. "You've lost weight, Ava. Have you been eating properly?"

I shake my head, a rueful smile tugging at my lips. "Actually, I've gained weight. Even though I look skinnier. Must be all the muscle I've put on during training."

Her brows knit together in concern. "And you're here of your own will? These people..." She glances warily at the stoic bodyguards flanking us.

"No, no, Mrs. Elkins," I assure her quickly. "None of these people are the ones who took me from Cedarwood. I promise."

She frowns at the bodyguards, their impassive stares unwavering

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195 Ava: A Familiar Face

under her scrutiny. Vanessa mutters something about bull-headed men before turning to Mrs. Elkins with a polite smile. "Why don't we head inside? I'm sure you've had a long journey." The bodyguards tense, their postures shifting subtly to block the path. Vanessa's eyes narrow, and she takes a moment, her gaze unfocused. Mind-linking, I realize. Probably with Jericho. "Jericho will be here shortly," she explains to Mrs. Elkins, her tone apologetic. "But I'm afraid we can't let you inside without approval from the head of security. Protocol, you understand." Mrs. Elkins titters, waving a hand. "Of course, of course. I

understand completely." She reaches into her pocket, pulling out a small ziplock bag. "Here, Ava. I brought you some of your favorite cookies. Homemade, of course."

My heart swells at the gesture, and I reach for the bag with a smile. "Thank you, Mrs. Elkins. You have no idea how much I've missed-"

Before my fingers can close around the bag, it's snatched out of my hands.

you w

I whirl on the bodyguard in question. "What the hell? Give that back!"

He meets my glare with a stoic expression. "I'm sorry, Luna, but we'll have to check these for safety before you can have them."

"Safety?" I echo, disbelief coloring my tone. "Mrs. Elkins would never hurt me. She saved me in Cedarwood. She's a genuinely good person." Another guard steps forward, professional and blank-faced as he

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195 Ava. A Familiar Face

addresses Mrs. Elkins't

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105 Ava. A Familiar Face

run into anyone on my way here.

My brows knit together in confusion. If she didn't walk through the pack lands, then how did she get here? There's no way she could have made it to the lodge without someone stopping her. The bodyguards share my bewilderment, their postures tense and

wary.

Vanessa steps forward, her voice gentle but firm. "Mrs. Elkins, I'm afraid we don't understand. How did you get to the alpha lodge if not through the pack lands?"

Mrs. Elkins chuckles, the sound warm and familiar, and I feel a pang of homesickness so intense it steals my breath. "Oh, I came directly from Cedarwood, of course. Straight to the alpha lodge." Straight from Cedarwood? That's impossible. Cedarwood is a thousand miles away. There's no way she could have just appeared here, unless...

My thoughts are interrupted by Mrs. Elkins' voice, soft and knowing. "Ava, dear."

I meet her gaze, and there's a glimmer in her eyes that I can't quite place. Something ancient and wise, a secret knowledge that I'm not privy to.

"Did the necklace return to you safely?"

The necklace. My hand flies to my throat, where the amethyst pendant once rested against my skin. The same necklace that had been lost, only to reappear in my suitcase, broken and

bloodstained.

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195 Ava, A Familiar Face

It's not on me now, but the ghostly weight of it remains.

"How did you know about the necklace?" My voice is barely above a whisper, my heart pounding so hard that it deafens my ears.

Mrs. Elkins smiles, and it's a smile I've seen a thousand times before. Warm, comforting, and tinged with a hint of mischief. "Oh, Ava. There's so much you don't know. So much I couldn't tell you

before."

She steps closer, and my security team goes tense, ready to intervene. But Mrs. Elkins pays them no mind, her focus solely on