Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 152 Lucas: A Lesson in Patience

LUCAS

My mate has the guiltiest look on her face, looking everywhere but at me.

On the one hand: It's good to know that she's a terrible liar, once caught.

But it takes every ounce of control within me to not rage at the danger she somehow placed herself in.

I don't understand any of this, but I'm determined I will before I leave the apartment.

Keeping my mouth shut is a lesson in patience, but it works. Ava slowly drips more information my way. It's a struggle to keep the smile on my face even as my molars grind together in frustration. And I remind myself in an endless litany that I have no right to be furious with her for holding secrets.

Even when her life is on the line, and every molecule in my body is screaming to protect her.

The words come at an agonizing trickle from Ava's lips, spilling secrets I struggle to comprehend. The vampire attack. Sister Miriam's concern. Fae food—not that we understand much about it—that compels honesty. Bizarre magic that spirited her out of this room and into another place, from right beneath my nose.

Each revelation twists my gut, stoking the embers of my barely restrained fury.

"Why would a vampire help a wolf?" The question escapes before I can temper it, my voice rough with the effort of control.

Ava blinks, confusion clouding her features as she evades my gaze once again. "I don't know."

"You didn't think to ask?" I press, the wolf within me prowling, eager to break free and demand answers.

She fidgets, twisting her hands in her lap. "I'm pretty sure I did? But Sister Miriam was evasive. She didn't give me a straight answer."

Of course she didn't. Why pin down the vampire for concrete information when you can just waltz into danger blindly? My molars grind together, my jaw clenched so tight it aches.

My wolf snarls in the recesses of my mind, seething at the risks Ava took. Risks that could have stolen her from me forever.

to continue. Because as much as I want to roar my frustration, I know it will only push her away. And right now, I

instinct screams to spirit her away to safety. To lock

she speaks, her body relaxing inch by painstaking inch when I don't react

every shred of self-control I possess. Every ounce of discipline honed over years of leadership. But I maintain the facade

the terror, lies

Love.

I can sense her meeting me halfway. Coming to

not going to ruin

waited for

veins, fierce and unrelenting. It tempers my fury, softens my edges. It whispers in my ears, telling me that this incredible, infuriating female is mine

from her own

support as she bares her secrets. And with each word, each halting confession, I fall a little harder. A

to truths that

Selene isn't just a dog, but her

in my head, and I finally understand his obsession with that damned husky. He's not mated to a dog. He's mated to a wolf. Our mate's

our body. We share mind, soul, and body.

my Ava is extraordinary in every

I accept this new truth, reaching over to grab her hands, never once berating her for her silence—for her fears—she seems to finally, finally, let her

overuse, so I give her a

hand into mine, and my heart jumps for fucking

Lucas. It's a mess,

Yeah, it fucking is.

squeeze her hand gently.

dump it all

sweetheart. Here." I pour her a glass of water,

to read, now that her guard is

I lie through my teeth without batting a single eyelash. "I'm