Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 181

Chapter 181 Ava: Twenty Laps Around the Track

Muddy-Blue Eyes turns back in my direction, and while I can't sense any sort of real respect or care, he at least reclaims a professional air when he addresses me.

Before he can ask anything important, I have an odd, niggling little bug in my ear from what he'd said a few moments ago. "Five miles around the track is twenty laps?" I ask, with a faint frown.

"I—what?" His confusion is clear in his wrinkled brow and hesitation. "Yes. Twenty laps."

"Not twelve?"

"No. It's twenty. Four laps to a mile."

My memory is very clear of my torture during training, and I know that can't be right. "Jericho told us to run five miles, and it was always twelve laps."

"Beta-Mentor Ashbourne?" Muddy-Blue Eyes looks astonished, his brows rising. "Only twelve laps? Are you sure?"

"Positive. He had us count them." The memory of my jello-legs after each lap have me shuddering. "It was torture."

"Torture? She's been blessed by the Moon Goddess for his favor, and she calls it torture," Muddy-Blue Eyes' partner mutters, looking out the window and bringing his hand to his lips in a gesture of faith I've seen often in Westwood, but almost never in Blackwood.

It's always the older wolves who do it.

"Perhaps Beta-Mentor Ashbourne is soft on newbies?" I suggest, and Muddy Blue Eyes shakes his head in a firm negative. Then I pause, rolling that name over in my head. "Wait. Ashbourne… isn't that Kellan's family name?"

"Beta-Mentor Jericho is Beta Kellan's father," Muddy Blue Eyes confirms. "When he stepped down as beta to focus on training young wolves, Beta Kellan took his place."

Ah.

The odd feeling between them now makes sense. It doesn't seem like a favorable father-son connection, somehow.

"I see." In a few minutes, I've learned more about the man who spent ages training me and Lisa for hours every day than I did when he was training us.

Another eye-opening experience.

of how he cut our laps nearly in half, instead of forcing us to run the full five miles—while Lisa and I bemoaned every mile, thinking we were really running five miles—I rub my thighs, fighting against the

old man's ranking in my heart

real miles might have actually killed

very kind," I say after a while, realizing both

I shift uncomfortably on the bed. It seems their constant presence has been replaced with these two, which

ones hated me and I didn't feel obligated to try and strike up

These two…

know they've guarded Lisa's apartment

don't even

walking to the window and peering outside. "Kind isn't a word anyone uses to describe the Beta

silence, I can only agree. Kind is not really a word that

hidden in his gruff

other. Neither of them say a word, but their faces show how distracted they are inside

perks her ears. Something's happening. Maybe they'll explain

thinking, I twist one of her ears. I don't mean to; my fingers have been fiddling with them for a while, and my skyrocketing

Ouch!

my stomach

to be done talking, I lean forward.

"No one's injured,

Well, that's good.

doesn't answer

the room.

opening it only when someone approaches. It must be the new guards, because he shares a few quick words before closing it again,

is tense.

Whatever happened—it's significant.

I press, unable to ignore the palpable shift

guard by the door finally speaks up, his words clipped and devoid of emotion.

chest. "How is

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