Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 158 Ava: From the Past

"Ava, is that you?"

The familiar rasp has me frozen, my heart lurching into my throat. Slowly, I turn around, coming face-to-face with a ghost from my past.

Our neighbor. Margot Mitchell.

Her once vibrant auburn hair is streaked with silver, her face a roadmap of wrinkles and scars. It's her eyes that haunt me. Piercing green eyes that see everything and do nothing.

"Margot," I greet, my voice tight with caution. "What are you doing here?"

She limps toward me, her gait uneven from some injury she incurred long before I was born. I remember asking about it once, and my mother slapped the back of my head, admonishing me for my rudeness. "Oh, Ava. I'm so happy to see you again."

I tense as she reaches out, half-expecting her to grab me, to drag me back to the hellscape I escaped. But she merely places a hand on my arm, her touch feather-light.

"I'm sorry," she whispers, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I'm so sorry for everything. For not intervening when…" She trails off, her gaze flickering to the ground.

The shame she tries to portray leaves me feeling dirty. Unclean from her mere presence.

Memories flash through my mind, unbidden. Margot's face in the window, watching as I was taunted and beaten, even by her own son. Listening at the front door as my parents berated me, their voices carrying through the window. Her figure rushing inside when I tried begging her for help during one particularly brutal group assault led by Todd Mason.

I was thirteen.

He broke my wrist.

I cried for hours that day. Hours. Until my parents, tired of my whining, finally dragged me to the healers.

Margot, always watching. Never helping.

I yank my arm away, taking a step back. "You're sorry?" Anger surges through me, hot and bitter, fueling my words. "Why are you even saying that? What does that do for me now?"

You have to understand, none of us could help you. Please." She grabs at my arm again. "We need you to understand us. To

Ah. She needs something.

No wonder she's here.

even as my stomach churns. There's a tiny part of me, almost miniscule, that was hopeful her apology was genuine. It's

step back, avoiding her grip, and she stops

saw you."

alpha. Westwood is tearing us apart. They should promote your

cold as I

or anyone else from that pack. Not after

features twisting into an ugly mask of rage. "You ungrateful

her hackles raised, teeth bared. She positions herself between

moment, I think she might actually shift and

and Margot's demeanor changes instantly. She straightens, smoothing

you've settled in." With that, she turns and flees the room, brushing past a bewildered

then turns to me, curiosity etched on her

trying to steady my racing heart. "An old neighbor," I manage, my voice

but I don't hear her. I'm already sinking to my knees, burying my face in

whines softly, nuzzling against me as I tremble,

of their blows, both physical and emotional. The sinking realization that no one, not even

Ava, Selene murmurs in my mind. You're safe now. She can't hurt you

Fear, anger, betrayal—they swirl inside me,

through the chaos.

breath. A few beats of my heart, slowing down. Meeting her concerned gaze, I give the

the other room if you need me." She pauses, then adds, "Therapy isn't something to

wells up inside me, and I manage a

my attention back to Selene, running my fingers through her soft fur. Her presence is a

you had to face that, she says, her voice a gentle caress in my