Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 76 Ava: Saved

Lucas' scent hits me after I've already tried to murder him.

An unmistakable blend of the outdoors, of amber and campfire smoke, of something so uniquely mate that it draws me in even through the pain of our past.

It's him. He's here.

The knife clatters from my trembling hand as every muscle in my body goes lax with relief. I'd been so tense, coiled tight like a spring ready to snap, terrified of losing my life tonight. But now Lucas is here.

He came for me.

"Lucas," I breathe out, hope and prayer all in one, the sound barely more than a whisper. My entire body crumples, overworked in its stress.

He's really here. I'm not dreaming. He's not a hallucination. This is real. Real.

My mate.

My savior.

Strong arms wrap around me, drawing me in against an embrace both hard and warm, filled with assurance and yearning. His hands hold me as if I'm some tender, precious thing, going from my back, up to the back of my head, brushing gently against my hair.

He's dropping kisses over the top of my head, against my eyebrows, then my eyes, whispering my name in a ragged chant before crushing me to him once again.

"Ava. Ava. Sweet Ava. You're safe now. Shh, it's okay. I've got you, Ava.

You're safe now." His voice rumbles, vibrating his chest against my cheek. One hand cradles my head, the other runs soothing lines down my back.

terrified I was. To explain everything. But only a choked sob comes out as all the emotions of the last few days takes over,

face, soaking into the fabric of his shirt as I cling to him,

"It's alright, sweetheart. Let it out. I'm here now. No one's

move," a shifter I didn't notice murmurs

in that soothing rhythm as I try with desperate gasps and sobs to gather some

you need to bring with you?" Lucas asks, and I shake my

Nothing.

nothing here

Ava. We need to go fast, before anyone notices you're

nod, a short, choppy movement of my head, blowing out a shuddering breath, then filling my

Another breath out.

my legs and lifting me as though I weigh no more than a sack of

feign modesty, or worry if I'm too heavy. I just lean against

over his shoulder, so I close my eyes and relax against

about the past—his rejection, my complicated feelings for Clayton, or the tangled web that brought me here. I

then a nagging thought tugs at my consciousness, and I jerk slightly in his hold. "Wait," I murmur, struggling to find my voice. "I think there's a tracker

and hands it to one of the shifters accompanying us. Without blinking, the strange shifter crushes the device in his

will help conceal your scent for a while,"

a bitter taste in my mouth, but I welcome the

but

are crazy like that, I

strides purposeful and determined, and the strange shifter

above. The humid summer air is heavy with the scent of earth and foliage. Our footsteps are muffled by the soft ground, but the snapping of

smell a single one