Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 26 Lucas: Watching

LUCAS

Her scent dances around me. Every breath I take fills my lungs with the sweet, honey and vanilla notes that have haunted my dreams since that fateful night at the Lunar Gala. Ava. Just the thought of her name sends a shiver down my spine.

For weeks, I've been watching her from the shadows, unable to resist the pull of her presence. The need to be near her has consumed me, driving me to break into her apartment just to bask in the lingering traces of her essence. I'm a desperate man, lost in the throes of an obsession I can't explain nor control.

As I stand before her now, my wolf howls with unbridled joy inside my head, reveling in her proximity. Part of me had hoped that the fact she didn't run when she realized I'd found her meant something more. An acknowledgement of the connection that binds us together.

But as her gaze meets mine, devoid of any emotion, I feel the weight of disappointment settle heavily in my chest. She regards me with the same polite indifference she would show any other customer, and the realization stings like a slap to the face.

Leaning over the counter, I can't help but ask, "How have you been? Are you okay?" The words tumble out, laced with concern and a hint of desperation that I can't quite mask.

For a fleeting moment, I see her falter, a crack in her impassive facade. But it's gone as quickly as it appeared, and she meets my gaze with a cool detachment that cuts deeper than any blade.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I need you to order or step aside for the other customers."

Her voice is clipped, professional, devoid of any warmth or recognition. It's as if our shared moment in the garden never happened, as if the connection that ignited between us was nothing more than a fleeting fantasy.

I want to protest, to demand that she acknowledges the bond that ties us together. But the words stick in my throat as I remember the look on her face right before she turned and ran. All I can do is nod mutely and order something random off the menu.

When I give her my card, our fingertips brush together, and the spark of our connection floods through me. My wolf yips and whines. My mate, he howls, and I can only apologize to him again.

our mate isn't in

glides behind the counter. Every movement she makes is fluid, almost hypnotic, drawing my gaze. The gentle sway of her hips as she leans over to grab a mug, the way her delicate fingers curl around it—it's all I can do to

as he watches the exchange, bristling at the familiarity between them. That asshole leans in, whispering something that makes Ava's lips quirk upwards in a

satisfying crunch of his nose breaking beneath my knuckles. It would be so easy, so deliciously satisfying to put him in his place and remind him that

to remain still, my nails digging crescents into my palms as I wrestle with the animalistic impulses raging within me. I can't afford to do anything that might jeopardize

back with a laugh, basking in the warmth of Ava's attention. Every fiber of my being screams at me to intervene, to stake my claim and remind her of the bond we share, no matter how tenuous it might

as if I'm invisible to her,

at the woman I want more than anything, an older woman approaches me with a warm smile, her eyes crinkling at the corners in a way that speaks of a lifetime spent laughing. "Good

polite smile in return. "No, thank you. I'm

chatting with the dickhead behind the counter. There's a knowing look in her eyes as she regards me, one that makes

her tone casual but

to deny any knowledge of her, knowing she's probably told these people nothing.

I admit quietly. "But I'm afraid I've done something terrible to her, and I'm not

Instead, she pulls out the chair across from me and settles into

is recognizing that you've made a mistake," she says sagely. "That's more

ruefully. "Trust me, it was more than just

betrayal in her eyes. The scent of her tears mingling with the sweet honey and vanilla that clings to her skin. The anguished howls of my wolf as our mate

She must

she wants nothing

thick with self-loathing. "Badly. And