Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 78 Ava: An Old Enemy

The terror that had gripped me so tightly finally begins to loosen its hold, washed away by the exhilarating rush of my feet pounding against the ground, the world flying past in my periphery.

It's a simple rhythm.

One foot in front of the other.

Vault over an obstacle. Veer to avoid a tree.

The wind against my skin is harsh, like a thousand icy whips snapping against my cheeks. But the pain is almost euphoric.

My feet pound against the forest floor, each step fueling the fire of freedom burning within me.

It's a feeling unlike anything I've ever experienced—raw power, an almost frenetic energy, thrumming through my body with an intensity that steals my breath away. The trees zoom past in blurs of shadow.

I can hear the wolves keeping pace beside me, their breaths ragged growls that harmonize with the frantic beat of my heart. My unnatural speed helps me keep pace. I'm not faster than they are, but I'm far faster than their human forms.

They probably have questions.

I don't know how to answer them.

But, that's for another time. Right now, we need this.

There's no fear now, no uncertainty. Only an overwhelming sense of freedom so pure and intoxicating that I want to lose myself in it forever. I am unleashed, unchained—a force of nature given form.

is what it means to be truly alive, to embrace what

begin to thin, and through the gaps I can see the faint glow of distant lights. Civilization. Safety. My throat tightens with a sudden surge of emotion—hope, relief, gratitude.

than before. My

have wolves beside me. Wolves willing to risk their lives by entering enemy territory

falls away, revealing the city of White Peak. An hour's drive has taken much

escapes me as I pour

close.

with a chilling resonance that raises the hairs on the back of my neck. The wolves are gaining,

us. I can tell by how Lucas and Vester crowd into

of energy that propels me forward with impossible velocity. The city is

sends me tumbling across the uneven ground. I scramble for purchase, fingernails

of vicious, inhuman noises torn from the vocal chords of

disoriented, the world spinning around me. Twigs and leaves cling to my hair, my

rumbles. Fur and fangs clash in a frenzied melee, a tangle of snarling beasts. Their forms are indistinguishable from

jaws snap mere inches from vulnerable flesh, saliva flying in glistening arcs. The ground trembles with the force of their collisions, each impact punctuated by deep, guttural growls that reverberate through my bones. The

they are mere

something far

backward, my hands clawing at the earth as a familiar wolf emerges from the shadows, its golden eyes locked on me with an intensity that chills me to the core. The raw hunger in that gaze is unmistakable—a predator sizing up

the power that had surged through my veins mere moments ago has evaporated, leaving me feeling weak and sluggish in its wake. The euphoria of my newfound freedom has

wolf, but still menacing to someone who can't shift. I've seen him hundreds of

or growl. The air around him is filled with the energy of barely restrained violence, a promise of brutality in

gleam in his wolf-yellow eyes that seems to strip away every last shred of my humanity, reducing me

smirk that would be curving his lips right now, the wild look in his eyes