Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 102 Lucas: Jealousy

LUCAS

She's going to talk to Clayton tonight.

She won't let me call her, but she'll talk to him.

Fuck. I'm going crazy.

My wolf gives me the silent treatment, a palpable wall of disapproval and resentment radiating from him. I know he blames me for this mess.

"I'm trying," I mutter, pacing the length of my office. "I'm doing everything I can to fix this."

There would be nothing to fix if you hadn't rejected our mate in the first place, he snaps, his voice dripping with accusation.

Rubbing my hands over my face, I struggle not to groan in frustration. He's right and I fucking hate it. If I hadn't been so goddamn stupid, Ava would have been with me long ago. Safe. Marked. Mine.

But I can't change the past. I can only try to salvage the future.

Go to her, my wolf demands. Claim her before he does.

I shake my head. "She needs space. I have to respect that."

Space is the last thing she needs. She needs her mate. She needs us.

won't be that kind of alpha. That kind of man. I won't be enslaved to

to clear my head. Get out of this suffocating office

off my clothes and shift, letting my wolf take over. He surges forward, all coiled

scents of summer filling my lungs. Out here, with nothing but the wind and the trees, things seem simpler.

know what I have to do. I have to fight for her. Show her that I'm the one she belongs with, the only one who can give her everything

to do it the right way. Earn back

I push on. One step at a time.

our paws against the forest floor drowns out the chaos in my head. With each stride, the turmoil fades, replaced by the simple joy of the run.

need, he rumbles, content for the first

but agree. Out here, the complications of pack politics and the tangled web of my love life seem far away. There's only the wind in my fur and the earth

hunt, even if we're chasing nothing but our own shadows. The worries melt away, leaving only the purity of

on the breeze.

his nose twitching as he catches the odor.

there's something familiar about it, something that tugs at my memory. I can't quite

trail deeper into the woods. The scent grows stronger with

see it. A husky, its fur matted and dull, ribs showing through its skinny frame. It looks up at us with wary blue eyes, hackles raising slightly at the sight

I'm not just a wolf.

Selene.

whispers through my mind, a half-remembered fragment from days

out here, alone and bedraggled? And why do I get the feeling that there's more to this dog than meets

the husky, my wolf watching intently from behind my eyes. Selene stands her ground, her gaze locked with

a depth that no ordinary dog should possess. As if she knows exactly who and

reaction catches me completely off guard. One moment he's all aloof disdain over stray dogs, and the next he's groveling on his belly like a pup begging for attention. I can only watch in stunned disbelief as he army-crawls his way over to Selene, his tail wagging so