Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 176 Ava: Attending the Rites

Odd? How so?

Selene's soft whine catches Kellan's attention. "We'll be there soon. Will she be okay?"

It doesn't seem that he realizes the dog is not actually a dog. "She's fine."

I thought I had all my memory, but when I try to think back, everything is fuzzy. Even my own name doesn't come to mind.

My head aches at the thought of trying to unravel that. What kind of memories? From becoming a dog?

Not exactly. My past life. My identity. Many things… Things I thought I remembered. Vanessa's words sound familiar, but I cannot access the memories. It feels important.

That just sounds… Yeah. She's right. It's odd.

How long have they been missing?

Silence.

Then, I don't know. Forever.

Leaning down, I rub at Selene's head. It'll be okay. I'm sure we'll figure it out. But we both know my promise is hollow. I have no way of keeping it.

Selene whines again, resting her head on her paws as she stays beneath my chair. Ava, am I a detriment to you?

Of course not. My denial is swift and from the heart. But… I think we might make bad decisions together.

Her mood plummets; I can feel it in the back of my head. Like Lucas and his wolf, as children.

Scratching behind her ears in gentle consolation, my heart is buoyed when she leans against my touch. You have given me much strength by being here. We'll figure it out together.

Together, she confirms, but that insecure edge to her words is still there.

* * *

knees so weak, my walk resembles the

it to the pack lands as twilight hits. The entire place is like a

No lights on.

No people.

of life at

a large field deep in the forest, filled with people. Some are in wolf form. A few are naked. Others are

drive; everyone else

painfully in my gut as I see so many of them turn in our direction, surprised by

my leg; Kellan hadn't wanted to bring her, but I'd

makes this air thick, she whispers, slinking out

with such insecure body language. She usually struts about with confidence, tail high

Like I don't belong.

Filled with shame.

and my heart sinks. Lucas hadn't mentioned that

the silence, save for the occasional mourning keen. There

crowd of bodies surrounding the pyres, the entire clearing bathed in the

close to my side as we make our way to the back of the crowd. His hand rests on the small of my back, guiding me with gentle pressure

who stares grimly ahead, his jaw clenched. Even his weathered face, marked by countless scars, can't hide the sorrow etched

a heaviness pressing down on my chest until it's

so much loss, I'm hit with the price of my willfulness, of my blind demand for independence. How many of these deaths are on my hands? How many lives were lost because of

All of them.

Every single one.

Lisa, trapped in the clutches of a madman, but it bleeds for the dead. For the families left behind. For the

my eyes, but I blink them back. I have no right to cry, not when my actions have caused so much pain. Not when I've been so focused on my own desires that I

tightens on my back, and I glance up at him. His face is a mask of stoicism, but I can see the cracks in his armor. The way his eyes shine with unshed tears. The tightness

audible

at me, his brow

not thinking

His face. In how his lips curve down at my

You didn't cause

my heart, I recognize

I hadn't been at that party, those