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.

to teach each other, too many lives were lost in the pursuit of the power within them. Do not open

trying to regain some of the warmth that fled my body

I say, shoving down the odd sense of loss. Magic would have been amazing to learn, of course. But—if Selene says it's too

bothering me from the beginning. "Selene,

Of course.

me? No shifter

born bonded with the ancient magic, she explains in that non-explaining way, where nothing is really answered. We are both

groan. "That makes no sense. You're being cryptic again. All shifters are bonded with ancient magic, and they don't have any 'separate', only 'one'. Why

almost picture her shaking

What are you, an English professor now? And what are we, exactly?

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

as if that somehow makes my brain work better. "How is that possible? Doesn't the curse

tone turning brisk. For now, it's more important that you take a cold shower before your heat starts back up. Clayton is

a shiver down my spine, and I can feel the first tendrils of heat

frantic state like yesterday. But I can't

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

understand yet. But trust me when I say that everything will be revealed in time. For now,

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 control before

One humiliation is enough.

off my hospital gown and tossing it on the ground as I go. Niceties are foregone; I just want to get control

a powerful wolf. I don't know how far they are, but they're close enough that I'm lifting my chin to sniff, trying to get their scent