Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 369 Ava: Camp

We're about to call it quits and find a spot to camp when something pings the edge of my magical radar.

Of course, I want to go straight there and purify it. But we still have to put up the tent, start a fire, and make dinner, and it's over a mile away.

It's one thing to make myself suffer; it's another to force the others to set up camp in the dark because I want to push our timeline.

The sled slows to a gradual stop, runners creaking against packed snow. That pulse of dark energy beckons, but the practical part of my brain overrides it. Night comes early, and I can always get to it in the morning.

Wiggling out from under the mass of blankets keeping me warm during our run—which has spanned a much larger area than we normally would, with how little corruption we've run into—I grab the flat pack I'd been sitting on for hours.

Vanessa's already unhooked the wolves from the sled, and they shift right there in the snow.

The pack had been wedged beneath me during the ride, keeping their spare clothes from freezing solid. A simple solution, but effective. My body heat combined with the magic flowing through me meant the clothes would be wearable, if not exactly toasty.

"The taint feels different." I stretch my legs, stiff from hours of sitting. "More concentrated."

"All the more reason to rest and prepare properly." Vanessa throws sets of thermal gear at the naked shifters, who get dressed with a speed I cannot replicate. "We don't need you collapsing from exhaustion again."

"I didn't do anything today," I protest. Which is true. Aside from clearing up a few mini clouds we've run into, I've just enjoyed a long-ass ride behind four wolves who've broken trail all day.

They're the ones she should worry about.

But they just shimmy into their clothes, acting as if they've done little more than go for a brisk evening jog.

puff white in the gathering dusk. No one complains about the cold—we're all too focused on getting camp set

make quick work of clearing a large rectangular space, laying two tarps across the packed snow. Their efficiency speaks of years of experience;

rest of us work together to unload, but

pulls a long bag

into place with satisfying clicks.

fitting the pieces together while Marcus tosses sleeping bags onto

everyone else?" The tent feels empty, and the break from

peers out the tent flap. "Speaking of

sensitive. I can sense corruption and dark energy, and sometimes

mind. But you're nowhere

check reveals

Hunting, comes her reply.

pieces of wood, perfect for starting the fire. He deposits them near the stove and disappears back into the growing darkness

I arrange the kindling

"The water's

I preen. The first time I had to figure out how to put one of these small metal stoves together, I had no idea what

with magic, he prefers the old-fashioned way. Says it just isn't right, relying on magic that way. The kindling catches

through our supplies, pulling out a folding table and various bags of food. She

see if they catch anything?" My curiosity takes over as I watch her

we wait for them, we won't eat until midnight. Better

stove pops and crackles. A pot of snow sits on top, already beginning to melt. The temperature in the tent rises

me a cutting board, knife, and a bag of vegetables.