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,

gaps I can see the faint glow of distant lights. Civilization. Safety. My throat tightens with a sudden surge of emotion—hope, relief, gratitude. I'm going to make it. After everything, I'm finally going

the night, closer than before. My heart stutters, but I

Wolves willing to risk their lives by entering enemy territory to find

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

me as I pour

so close.

a chilling resonance that raises the hairs on the back of my neck. The wolves are gaining, closing the distance with every second. I can sense

can tell by how Lucas and Vester crowd into me,

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

the side, a massive force that drives the air from my lungs and sends me tumbling across the uneven ground. I scramble for purchase, fingernails scrabbling against the dirt and

growls, of vicious, inhuman noises torn from the

halt, I'm breathless and disoriented, the world spinning around me. Twigs and leaves cling to my hair, my palms stinging from the

interspersed between the rumbles. Fur and fangs clash in a frenzied melee, a

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 scent of

glimpses of familiar wolf faces. But they

then I have something far worse

scramble 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

me feeling weak and sluggish in its wake.

to someone who can't shift. I've seen him hundreds of times

stalks toward me with a menacing silence that's somehow more terrifying than any snarl or growl. The air around him is filled with the energy of barely restrained violence, a

gleam in his wolf-yellow eyes that seems to strip away every last shred of my humanity, reducing me to nothing more than a trembling rabbit for

human, I could envision the arrogant smirk that would be curving his lips right