Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 339 Ava: Defend the Pack

Aurum's golden figure streaks through the wolves defending us, in an unerring line straight for the closest vampire.

Seconds later, there's a blood-curdling roar.

Stop standing around staring, Grimoire says, unaffected by the fear crawling through my skin. They need your help.

Tearing my eyes from Aurum/Lucas, I dash forward, my magic-crafted blade cool against my sweaty palm.

"What's next?" I ask, squeezing through a mass of fur and hot bodies. The noise is too loud to hear my own voice, but Grimoire picks up my words straight from my head.

Get closer. You'll hurt an innocent if you try to do anything here. You don't have the control yet.

Ducking under a wildly swinging arm, I come face to face with a stranger. Pale skin. Lips glistening red, cracking at the corners, where you can see pale flesh peeking out beneath the blood.

Fangs. Long fangs, far longer than I ever thought a vampire could have, and red eyes that lock onto mine with unerring accuracy.

Don't go straight for the head, Grimoire warns as I do just that.

My blade whistles through the air. It's a clumsy strike, born of fear and adrenaline rather than skill, and I'm too far in to abort.

A vice-like grip closes around my forearm. The vampire's strength is inhuman, and I'm yanked forward, losing my balance.

and unrefined. With a twist of my body I'd never be able to replicate again, I manage to wrench my arm free of the vampire's grasp. Moving with the momentum, I throw

get to me, but he's too slow, dragged in various directions. Everyone's

don't hesitate. With both hands, I drive my blade into his

Grimoire's command rings clear

my arms and into the blade. The effect is instantaneous. The vampire's body stiffens, then begins to glow from within. He tears away from

wrenching himself away, even as my weapon tears through his flesh and bones, leaving me staggering as he frees himself. The wolves in front of him

materialize around the vampire's form. They writhe and pulse, shot through with flashes of crimson lightning. It's as if the very fabric of reality is tearing apart around him. To my horror, I watch as the vampire's body begins to grow, stretching and

I can even think to run, the creature

without thinking, feeling claws whistle past my ear. Get your hand

I slam my hand against its face, feeling its fangs

back with another

it with ice. Strike at its

no thinking left in my magic. It just does what I

an otherworldly calm. Maybe it's Grimoire's presence inside my head. Maybe he's taken

torso. The blade leaves a trail of frost in its wake, slowing the monster's movements as the

Now for his head.

of its own, the blade singing through the air before Grimoire's words fully register. The strange vampire thing's head separates from its shoulders with a sickening squelch, its

it settles into a more

acrid, flesh-burned smoke fills my nostrils, making me want to gag. But as I glance around, confusion replaces the adrenaline coursing through my

The chaotic battlefield has frozen in

the floor. And yet no vampires remain