Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 178 Lucas: Hunt Him Down

LUCAS

Hundreds of wolves flood the forest in search of the elusive vampire, filling my blood with the lust of the hunt and pride in my pack.

Ava's at the lodge and safe. I'm on my way. Kellan's mental voice is a welcome interruption.

Ryder scented him near the border of the human dairy farm. Take a team and move south, in case he's fucking with his trail.

Got it, Alpha.

Now that I don't have to worry about her safety, I can focus on this bastard who has the balls to come to our lands during this sacred time.

My wolf snarls, a vicious rumble deep in our shared chest as we race through the shadowed forest.

Moonlight weaves between the trees, illuminating the underbrush in random patterns, brushing against my dark fur as I weave between ancient trunks.

All around me, howls rise into the night sky. It's an eerie symphony of bloodlust, feral and free, as we rush through the land in pursuit, ready to tear any vampire we catch from limb from limb.

The pack's rage pulses through me, mingling with my own, until I can't distinguish where mine ends and theirs begins.

the seething maelstrom that demands

trees, far past the past the warm musk of my wolves racing alongside me. There. A trace of sweetness, cloying and cold,

Vampire.

tears from my throat. My blood surges as I lunge in the direction of that unholy scent. My paws devour the

take your team northwest. Scent leads

the intensity of my focus. I sense Kellan's acknowledgment, feel

group around to flank from the east. Box the bastard

dared to invade my territory, dared

back from gleaming fangs in a silent snarl. When we do, I'll tear his fucking head from his shoulders and mount it on a pike for all to see. A warning to any bloodsucker who even

perimeter! Sabine, one of my hunters, her excitement

in, his mental presence sharp with confusion. But

cold thread of unease winds through my gut. South should lead them away from the

again, terse

sickly sweet vampire stench in different locations.

isn't right. It's too

Fuck.

Multiple trails, each leading in opposite directions—it's a ploy. The leech is trying to lure us out, divide our forces while he laughs in the

into a leaden weight in my stomach, a gnawing sense that we're missing something vital. Being played for fools by

as I cast out with all my senses. Straining for any sign of the vampire's actual location amid the chaos of false trails. But there's

voice cracking through the pack-link like a whip. We're being toyed with. Ryder, Kellan, take a