Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 1 Ava Grey, Pack Defect

Author Note: The first two chapters have had a complete overhaul, for a better reading experience. Please enjoy. [May 28, 2024]

________________

What are you supposed to do when your pack—your family—has decided you're worthless?

Get a job.

Save money.

Dream of getting the hell out of there.

It's a futile thing to hope for, but it's the only thing I have that keeps me going.

Until then? I'm just me. Ava Grey. Wolfless. Weak. The shame of the Grey family.

Which is why I'm spending another Friday night working at Beaniverse, a popular coffeeshop in the middle of White Peak, a solid hour's drive away from pack land. No shifters, no drama, no bullying; the only people I run into all day are humans with a caffeine addiction. Or social media addictions. People love to use our lobby as a backdrop for their latest reel.

"Come out with me tonight."

Lisa pops her head into my field of view as I wipe down the espresso machine.

I have no major attachments to my job outside of my pay, but it is my favorite place to be because of her. Lisa is my best friend—okay, my only friend—and she makes me dream of something more than the Blackwood Pack and my uncertain future in it.

"Can't. Dad wants me home as soon as I can."

The grimace that twists her face gives me a warm little tingle in my chest. At least someone gets me.

Even if she's a human and has no idea that I come from a family of wolves.

Dad—our pack beta and an expert at curt text messages demanding my presence home—only allowed me to get a job because he was tired of seeing me at home, I'm pretty sure.

And because every single cent of my paychecks that didn't go to gas went to the thousand dollars I'd borrowed for my beat-up old clunker Taurus in the parking lot. It's my baby, and I love it, but I'm one weird splutter away from wrecking on the highway.

Still—the little freedom it allows me is worth it.

Anything is better than being home.

"You should just move out. We can get an apartment together and party all night." Lisa says this just about every day we work together, and it never grows old. I want that life, too. I don't even need the partying. I just want to get away from my pack.

But wolf shifters don't just let go of their own. Even wolfless defects like me.

my nose, hating how they slide. I probably need a new prescription, but I haven't had the time—or extra money—to pour into that. I'm still wearing

neon sign saying she doesn't

has bad eyesight. It's like

don't have

back. "I would if I could, and you know it. Aren't you

night of telling him to fuck off won't hurt. Maybe it'll teach your parents

Hah.

That won't ever happen.

what he says. The only person above him

mutter, and she drops it. For

does. She's been showing me apartments for rent, coming up with mock budgets, even discussing our

the first person to notice

person to

say words that I still

Who the hell

once. Before I came of age

smile and laugh and rock me when I cried. Memories of Dad when he would throw me onto his shoulders and tell me I could reach the stars. Memories of Jessa and Phoenix when they would call me their baby sister, and show me off proudly to

Good times.

Gone times.

less if I hadn't shared that affection with them once. Maybe it would hurt a little less if it hadn't simply… disappeared. If Mom's blue eyes hadn't gone from

what

My wolf.

alert—it didn't work. He's still

* * *

production in the parking lot after closing. Lisa never leaves until I'm safely on the road, half in worry that my car will break down (and honestly, I

out to her months ago that she could have the same things happen, she grabbed my hand and said seriously, "You would help me.

I love her.

little guilt that even with my one and only friend, my ride-or-die girl, I have yet to

convince her not to call the cops at least twice a week. Especially when I show up

wouldn't be able to

has different laws. No part of the government would interfere in pack

and pack is to find my fated mate in another. I dream

it hurts to even think about the possibility, because there's always the

new pack

spring, but the crisp scent of rain is carried on the breeze, telling

strip to the quiet neighborhoods of White Peak, occasionally lit by a street

familiar; I've driven it countless times in my life, but tonight, it feels

trees seem to close in on me, casting long shadows across the road. My grip tightens on the steering wheel as

in my car is palpable, almost suffocating. My eyes dart to the rearview mirror every few seconds, half expecting to see glowing eyes or shadows lurking