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.

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

her away to safety. To lock her in my arms and never

from her shoulders as 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

beneath the terror,

Love.

time, I can sense her meeting me halfway. Coming to

to ruin this

waited for so fucking

my veins, fierce and unrelenting. It tempers my fury, softens my edges.

her

my possessiveness. I meet her tentative gaze with a steadiness I don't feel, offering silent support as she bares her secrets. And with each word, each halting confession,

she admits to

that Selene isn't just

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

outside of our body. We share

my Ava is extraordinary in every way, it

new truth, reaching over to grab her hands, never once berating her for her silence—for

talking and overuse, so I give her a break by heading into the kitchen for

follows, sliding her hand into mine,

It's a mess, isn't

Yeah, it fucking is.

squeeze her hand gently. "We'll figure it out together

dump it all on

know, sweetheart. Here." I pour her a glass of water, and she hovers beside me, anxiety once again

easy to read, now that her guard

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