Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 376 Lisa: First Kill

LISA

Mira stands in front of me, fully wolfed out, gray fur bristling.

Snow crunches beneath my boots as I back a little further away.

Something isn't right. Ten massive wolves wrestle with the Westwood wolves, brutally aggressive, and yet not a single one glances my way.

A gray wolf—one of our guards, I'm pretty sure—flies past us, blood matting his fur. He slams into a tree with a sickening crack. My stomach lurches. I can't recognize the wolves by sight like Ava does, because they all look alike. Only Kellan stands out from the rest, a little larger and more russet than gray.

He launches at two attackers, his teeth finding purchase in one's throat, trying to pull him to the ground. But these wolves don't seem to notice pain.

The brace on my wrist is warm, already charged with a few drops of blood and ready to fire. But there's no way I can use it with them all tangled together like this. I'm as liable to hit one of my guards as I am an enemy.

My fingers hover over the brace. If I can just get a clear shot...

But it doesn't look like that's happening anytime soon.

Another guard crashes nearby, his leg bent at an impossible angle. Still, not one of the attacking wolves turns our way. It's like Mira and I are invisible, or...

"They're only targeting the pack," I murmur.

But how do they know?

Kellan roars in pain as three wolves pin him down. My heart leaps into my throat. The brace grows hot against my skin, responding to my panic.

But why avoid me? Unless...

Unless someone wants me alive.

No. That's crazy. Who would—

me in an instant.

veins. My muscles lock up as a primal part of

in my peripheral vision, and I jerk around while stumbling back, slipping

front of me, and I'm already raising my arm, aiming my brace

No.

My whole body trembles.

before me, but she's wrong. All wrong. Her delicate features remain unchanged, that same pixie-like face that had brought me food in that dark cell. But power radiates from her. Or something does, anyway, with an

like broken glass. It's

her face. But I can't say the words. Can't

horrible, beautiful eyes hold me captive, as if all this

legs won't move. My lungs won't work. The sounds of fighting fade to a distant

before. Just like that cell. Just like every nightmare since. I can't

same helpless girl

In my head, all I can see is a giant lance

and thick as my arm. Its tip blazes white-hot, the shaft a swirling inferno of orange and gold. Something large enough to contain all my terror. All my rage. All the helplessness of those days lost in darkness.

carries a note of confusion, her eyes moving to the arm I

her skin. The flames would consume her from the inside

"Fire."

me, with Mira's blood splashed on her face and clothes. With just a few steps, I could

practicing on giant trees, perfecting my aim from fifty yards out.

no Westwood wolf entangled with this thrall of

to get in the way of all the emotions I've thrown into this moment, in the lance so clearly depicted in my head, in the horrible death I'm wishing upon this woman. This person I once

with all the rage held in my soul. She has less than

slams into her chest,

perfect 'o' of surprise. Then the flames burst outward from

was prepared for; it's acrid and sweet, like burning hair mixed with rotting meat. My stomach heaves as memories

bone burning away

becomes a silhouette of pure light, so bright it burns spots in my vision. Then she disappears, crumbling into nothing but ash that scatters

have time

death. The snow beneath my boots is stained with Mira's blood, and