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.

don't slow. Can't slow. This is what it means to be truly alive, to embrace what dwells within me. To hell

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,

than before. My heart stutters, but I don't

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

falls away, revealing the city of White Peak. An

laugh escapes me as I pour on

close. So

the hairs on the back of my neck. The

by how Lucas and Vester crowd into me, teeth bared and hackles

propels me forward with impossible

lungs and sends me tumbling across the uneven ground. I scramble for purchase, fingernails scrabbling against the dirt and rocks as I fight to

into snarls and growls, of vicious, inhuman noises torn from the vocal chords

Twigs and leaves cling to my hair, my

shadows everywhere, glints of white teeth in the darkness, and eerie shrieks of pain interspersed between the rumbles. Fur and fangs clash in a frenzied melee, a tangle of snarling beasts. Their forms are indistinguishable

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 earth and rage hangs thick in the air, mingling with the metallic tang of

faces. But they are mere flashes, lost in an instant as

then I have something

familiar wolf emerges from the shadows, its golden eyes locked on me with an intensity that chills me to the core.

wake. The euphoria of my newfound freedom has been replaced by a visceral terror that seizes

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

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 promise of brutality in past and

wolf-yellow eyes that seems to strip away every last shred of my humanity,

If he were human, I could envision the arrogant smirk that would be curving his lips right now, the wild look in his eyes that mirrors that of his wolf