Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 299 Ava: Lucas is Alone

Lucas watches us both, calm despite only hearing one half of our conversation.

Grabbing his hand, I give a gentle squeeze to show I'm still paying attention to his presence.

"Do you know how?"

Selene's idea is a tall order. It isn't like amnesia has some sort of cure.

The dhampir has an idea. We can talk to her about it.

Wow. I'd forgotten about Sister Miriam entirely. Between Lucas and now Selene's return…

My thoughts are interrupted when Selene suddenly darts out of her comfortable position to shove her nose into my chest, sniffing intensely.

Showing mild irritation, Lucas grabs her by the scuff and yanks her away. To my surprise, Selene merely slinks low in submission as her ears tilt in my direction, blue eyes hard and suspicious. What's that scent?

Slapping my hand over the new mate mark, right next to my crescent scar, I ask defensively, "What scent?"

Lucas sniffs at me. "You smell fine to me."

There's something new, she insists, pawing at my leg. What is it? What did you get into?

"I didn't get into—"

The string near my magic tugs, and I pause. "Oh. Maybe it's that."

"What?" Lucas nuzzles into my neck, brushing his lips against the raw skin of my mate mark. "Is something wrong?"

"No. Selene can just sense something I almost forgot about." Sorry, Grimoire. "Actually, I—"

The string yanks again, almost painful in its insistence, and I pause. This isn't a safe place to mention him. "I'll tell you both later." Where it's safe, I add silently to Selene, wishing Lucas could hear me. Wait. Shouldn't he be able to…?

guess he can't hear me. I'll have

place I'm staying,

He shakes his head.

they discharge you and I bring you

me

Let me focus

her head against his

squeezes mine and he changes the subject. "The doctors say everything's fine. Aside from waiting on the results of a few of their tests, I think I should

stomach flip-flopping. We've shared

exactly the same. Especially with one

our time as mates has been spent away from each other. It's

due to the new-found apocalypse. As dire and terrible as it is, maybe it'll finally afford us both a little time to deepen our bond with

storm clouds, I

melt into his embrace. The warmth of his body and the steady thrum of his heartbeat bring me that

none of the frenetic desire of my last heat, content to just nuzzle into

The mark helps.

body seems to

against my leg. I crack open

shifting to accommodate her bulk. "It's just like having a real

our bond. I am not some common canine,

to scratch behind Selene's ears, and her eyes

Lucas murmurs, his voice soft and tinged with affection. "Selene's the only reason

through our connection. Still, she maintains her air of nonchalance, as if Lucas's words mean nothing to

my fingers through Selene's fur, marveling at the complexity of our situation. My wolf,

howling in my head

I bet.

each other," I say softly, meaning every word. The thought of Lucas alone in this sterile room, cut

but I feel her pleasure at the recognition. Someone had to look