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.

before my brain can catch up. Instinct takes over, even if it's a little sluggish 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 myself into an awkward roll. My shoulder hits the ground hard, but I manage to

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

hands, I drive my blade into his

to the blade. Grimoire's command

I reach for that well of power inside me, channeling heat through 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 me with an unholy shriek

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 dart back, likely afraid of the flames they

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

run, the creature turns lunges at me

obey without thinking, feeling claws whistle past my ear. Get your hand on him. Any part of him.

me and I slam my hand against its face, feeling its fangs cut at my palm. A spurt of

back

infuse it

to frost over. There's no thinking left in my magic. It just does what I want, as if the magic itself can listen to Grimoire's words

this time, filled with an otherworldly calm. Maybe it's Grimoire's presence inside my head. Maybe he's taken control of my body. It doesn't really feel like me, and yet it's my body

of frost in its wake, slowing the

Now for his head.

its own, the blade singing through the air before Grimoire's words fully register. The strange vampire thing's

the creature topples, its form twisting and warping until it settles into a more recognizable shape—just another vampire, no

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

battlefield has frozen in an eerie

floor. And