Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 168 Ava: Riot

It isn't impossible, but it might kill her before we get any results. Her answer isn't quite hesitant, but not firm, either.

"You're not telling me something."

It is hard to explain. Selene stands and shakes herself. The only thing we can do is try. But it is a great risk. We should talk to Vanessa before trying, I think, if you wish to have her renounce her pack. As a healer, she might be able to help us through the roughest part.

That makes sense, only—

Selene and I share a startled glance as the chaotic noises from outside crescendo into a cacophony of snarls and shouts. Terror seizes my throat, memories of the party flashing through my mind, but I push past it.

We rush to the window, and my heart nearly stops at the sight below.

It's a full-on brawl. Wolves. Shifters in their human form. They're all locked together, dozens of Blackwood wolves overwhelming the few guards at the lodge.

Ava, we need to go. Selene's voice is sharp in my mind, urging me into action.

We race downstairs, my pulse pounding in my ears. There are no bodyguards to stop me; they're in the fray.

Fuck. I'm going to end up with twenty of them after Lucas hears about this.

"Ava! Get back inside!" Kellan's voice rises above the din, his face a mask of fury as he grapples with a snarling wolf.

Before I can respond, movement catches my eye. A Blackwood. Someone I vaguely recognize.

He launches at me, his body twisting and contorting as he shifts in midair.

But Selene is faster. She meets the wolf head-on, and her snarl sends ice through my bones as she knocks him down.

I guess her body isn't very domestic dog, after all.

Chaos erupts around me. Claws and teeth flash past, barely missing me as I dodge and weave, my bodyguards struggling to form a protective wall between me and the battling wolves. Snippets of conversation reach my ears, painting a grim picture.

"—fuck all of you—"

"—never going to submit—"

pierces the air, deep and powerful. Clayton. Relief mingles with dread in my gut. He's on his way, but how

is a

I can sense her in this

myself, I dive into the fray, determined to help subdue the riot. Shouts of "traitor" and "bitch" assail me from all sides, the Blackwood wolves' hatred

a face from my nightmares. Todd Mason's mother, her eyes wild with grief and rage as

guilt and terror

my throat, squeezing, choking

shove, and she's off me, my hands moving to flip her to the ground. But something goes wrong. The angle

slams against the parking stop with a sickening crack. She goes still.

God. What

world spins around me, the sounds of battle fading to a dull roar in my ears. I stumble

voice, distant and muffled.

The air won't come, my lungs seizing in my

Todd Mason's mother. Just like I killed

Ava! Get it together!

mental voice helps me avoid another wolf before one of my

of shock

threat. Another Blackwood wolf, eyes blazing with hatred, lunges at me. My body moves before my mind

the wolf's foreleg as he passes. With a sharp twist, I use his own momentum against him, sending him crashing to the ground. He lands with

ribs. Is he dead? Did I just kill another one? But then I see the faint rise and fall of his chest, and relief floods through me.

I've done. It's easier this time, knowing he's not dead by my hand. But the weight of Todd Mason's mother's lifeless body still presses down on me, a suffocating

see Clayton's massive wolf form bounding into the fray, flanked by several other wolves. Their arrival shifts the tide of the

my eye. A shadow in the distance, flickering at the edge of my vision. I squint, trying

mind, my voice tinged with urgency. Do you

and wariness. I don't know what it is,

nod, even though she can't

mysterious shadow. My heart pounds in my ears as we draw closer, adrenaline surging through my veins. What if it's a trap? What if it's another enemy, lying

Selene runs at my side, her presence a reassuring constant in the midst