Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 39 Ava: Her Identity

You have the potential, Selene says, her voice a cautious whisper in my mind. The arcane flows through your veins. But…

My breath escapes me in a giddy rush. Magic. Real magic. Human magic. It's something out of a fairy tale, not something that should exist in my life. Then again, supernaturals exist—and we're pretty nonstandard, ourselves.

It's not that simple, Selene continues, her tone growing more serious. Magic is not a toy, little one. It's a force of nature, raw and untamed. To wield it requires knowledge, discipline, and control.

I swallow hard, feeling the warning in her words. "But how do I learn? I don't even know where to start."

You would need a teacher, Selene explains, her voice tinged with hesitation. Someone well-versed in the arcane arts, who could guide you, show you how to harness and control your power. But magic is a lost art. Magicians were lost to the curse and became shifters.

Talk about a letdown.

"So, I won't be able to do magic." Is that how you say it? Do magic? Cast magic? Spell magic? Cast spells? It all feels weird in my mouth.

It is unlikely, Selene says, but she still has that cautious sound to her voice.

"If I tried, what's the worst that could happen?"

Death.

A simple word, bluntly given, with all the truth in the world behind it. I shudder at the matter-of-fact tone.

recklessness of their magical talent. Until magicians began to teach each other, too many lives were lost in the pursuit of the power

arms vigorously, trying to regain some of the warmth that fled my body as she

odd sense of loss. Magic would have been amazing to learn, of course. But—if Selene says it's too dangerous, I believe her. It isn't worth my life

that's been bothering me from the beginning. "Selene, you're

Of course.

why are you separate from me? No shifter has a wolf with a physical

mind. You were born bonded with the ancient magic, she explains in

makes no sense. You're being cryptic again. All shifters are bonded with ancient magic, and

is something that can't be helped, Selene sighs, and I can almost picture her shaking her head. It's the nature of

an English professor now? And what are we, exactly? Are you a Lycan or

says, her voice filled with a quiet pride. I came to be with

makes my brain work better. "How is that possible? Doesn't

more important that you

sends a shiver down my spine, and I can feel the first tendrils of heat starting to uncurl in my

yesterday. But I can't let this conversation go just yet. I'm

just choose to be with me? And what do you mean, we're separate and one at the same time? I don't

you don't understand yet. But trust me when I say that everything will be revealed in time. For now, focus

to demand answers, but the heat is building faster now, and I can feel my skin starting to prickle with sweat. I need to get this under

One humiliation is enough.

as I go. Niceties are foregone; I just

powerful wolf. I don't know how far they are, but they're close enough that I'm lifting my chin to