Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 75 Lucas: Going In

LUCAS

The air is thick with tension as we approach the heart of the Blackwood pack lands. Every step is calculated, every movement deliberate. One false move can jeopardize everything. A single shifter can alert an entire pack.

I can't afford that.

Not when Ava's life hangs in the balance.

Vester moves like a wraith beside me, his footfalls silent despite the underbrush beneath our boots. The four shifters flanking us are some of the most loyal and strongest members of the pack, well-versed in reconnaissance. Between their skills and the scent diffusers coating us to avoid detection, we make it through their territory without incident.

Our cars are still in White Peak, so getting Ava out will be an ordeal, especially since she can't shift. Alpha Xavier's offer of help has come in handy; once we get her, we just have to call in a distraction.

Hopefully by the time they realize what it is, we'll be in cars and on our way back to Westwood lands.

Nightfall cloaks our approach as we close in on the Grey home, a modest suburban home to the edge of the territory, as most high-ranking wolves are. No wolf likes to be enclosed on all sides by buildings.

Vester signals for us to hold position as he links with Ryder, who's already with the Silvermoon forces. With the Whispering Pines pack territory between Silvermoon and Blackwood, Xavier had to submit an informal request to the Whispering Pines pack to allow his forces through.

The Whispering Pines pack has turned a blind eye to the situation, allowing them to camp on the border of their lands, and now we have a distraction from a direction that bastard Blackwood would never expect.

Moments later, Ryder links with me. They're in position near the border and ready to cause a stir. All we have to do is wait.

see the occasional flash of Ava in her window, looking stressed as she paces. Two guards stroll the perimeter. They aren't even

a small flame can burst into an inferno, there's activity. A flurry

and his daughter, Jessa, rush out of the house, taking separate cars. They're silent, though I imagine

than she appears, but she's intelligent. We'll have to avoid her mind-linking to warn

nod to Vester and the four shifters

before she can sound the alarm. You four, break off into pairs and take the guards. Remember, they can't have the chance to mind-link any of their pack, or we'll be fighting all

in unison, faces grim and

Let's go.

on the crisp night air—humid summer nights, pine trees, and the scent of a particular brand of perfume, with jasmine and honey notes carried through an open

signal, and we split off. Vester and I veer toward the back entrance while the others flank the guards patrolling the perimeter. Time slows as we wait with bated breath for the

by another in rapid succession.

meets my gaze. No words are necessary; a single nod and we proceed. The door is unlocked, to our surprise,

fragrance tickles my nose as it grows stronger. My wolf strains against its restraints, growling with the thirst for

can smell my mate's presence, and it's almost impossible to wrest control from

room, I can see her silhouette just around the wall. She's peering outside, but her

Not yet.

my pocket. It was a calculated risk to bring

this planet fatal to

shouldn't be enough to kill her… Not yet, anyway. Maybe in a few

She has no chance to act on her instinct as I stab into her

transmit across mind links. Her body crumples in an instant, unconscious before she can make a sound. I stand over her prone form, my heart pounding in my ears. The scent of jasmine and honey mingles with the acrid tang of