Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 125 Ava: Negotiating the Invitation

The ominous text halts me in place, and Lisa peers over my shoulder.

"A candle?" she asks, confused.

Oh, right—I haven't spoken to her yet about my revelation of Sister Miriam's words at our parting. Only Selene knows.

Catching Lisa's eye, I give a quick shake of my head and slide the phone into my pocket. Kellan's in the distance, walking toward us.

Lisa, as quick-thinking as ever, grabs onto my arm again and returns to her ruminations about the party. By the time the beta's near us, his face is thunderclouds and lightning.

"No way," he announces, before Lisa can even say anything.

Undeterred, Lisa stands straight, toe-to-toe with him in a way I see far too often. These two will never get along. "I'm not asking, Beta Ashbourne. I'm informing you. Friday will be busy. We're going to a party."

"Absolutely not."

"Stop treating us like prisoners!"

"You aren't prisoners," he refutes immediately. "We're doing our best to keep you safe. A party? That's not safe."

"'That's not safe,'" she mimics, rolling her eyes. "So, what, we're going to be stuck in my apartment forever? We can't live at all? Can't do anything? Because to me, it sounds like you're saying Westwood is a bunch of weak-ass wolves who can't protect two little girls in their own territory."

She's a spitfire, Selene approves, back in my head again. Her marathon must be over.

in a way that I see far too often these days, and he gives up arguing with Lisa to turn to

standing up for myself, I'm not great at arguing when

can't live like this forever, and things

being home. At least I used to have

and agonized look bring that familiar feel of guilt to

in my mind soft and soothing. You are not wrong in the words you

her and hug her with gratitude. But she's not, so I settle for

his face. "Lucas is going to kill me," he mutters under

me. "He has no reason

the alpha's mate,"

his mate, Kellan. How many times

me, exasperated. "Denial only goes so

I clench my jaw, standing my

mate.' I'm more than just an

to a man, a bond I never asked for. First, it was my father and my pack, dictating my every move. Now, it's Lucas and his

want to be Ava. A me without any other consideration. Someone who isn't judged by the standing

mind, her presence a comforting warmth.

spine. I meet Kellan's

fine. I'm trusting

right. He knows I'm more

are complicated. We're fated mates with an awkward history. The bond between us is undeniable, a living, breathing thing, and I can't underestimate it. Like that day at the