Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 417: Lucas: Strange Symbols

LUCAS

What the hell is this?

Our fur bristles, but we can't linger on the shock of the moment.

The green circle pulses with an otherworldly glow, yet Aurum's paw passes through it as if it's nothing but air. No scent, no resistance.

Magic. Obviously.

Our attention turns to the bodies. There's something strange about them. Bloated, decaying, but somehow devoid of… bugs.

It's unnatural.

Unnatural, Aurum agrees with a growl. His agitation is high in here. Desecrated.

The stench of death fills my nose, but beneath it... Pack. My pack.

These bodies…

Yes, Aurum confirms. Pack.

Their faces, bloated and discolored though they are, are recognizable. Pack lost at different times in these past few months. The initial attack at Westwood. During the strange invasions. And more.

My feet carry me around the circle. Each step reveals another familiar face. Another pack member I failed to protect.

Five bodies total are pack. All who should have been laid to rest with proper rites, their spirits released to run free with the moon.

Instead, they're here. Defiled. Used for some sick ritual that makes me want to howl with rage.

The green circle pulses again, mocking us. Aurum wants to tear through the walls, hunt down every bloodsucker responsible for this desecration. But I force myself to stay focused, to memorize every detail.

They were preserved somehow. Kept from fully decomposing. We've seen some of our wolves brought back to life in some strange way, used as a zombie army; is this how it begins?

Or have they outlived their usefulness?

Too many questions. Too few answers.

Beneath the bodies we know, partially hidden, lie others. Fresher ones. Maybe humans. Maybe wolves from other packs.

of them. Strange, interlocked circles. An arm

semi-preserved in

simmers, mirroring my

fills with the taste of copper and rot. Then nothing. But the bodies... the bodies

Son of a bitch.

Track the scent!

whip out through the pack bond, even as I know it's too late. Whatever this is, it won't be

to chase after our pack members, to track down whoever dared desecrate their bodies. But we can't afford

green circle pulsed now shows bare ground, as if nothing supernatural ever happened

decay and death is

scents, but so much of it has disappeared, as if it never existed. Death. Decay. Magic that burns my nose. And underneath it all, a

can't

won't give up that easily. Keep looking. Keep your noses

Whatever magic whisked the bodies

makes my mental ears itch. We are here. Signs of

builds in our chest. Aurum's rage

people. It's completely empty. We can see claw marks, broken buildings. But no bodies, living or dead. The entire

rumbles as we finally escape the sod house.

Perhaps.

position, I tell Vester, already gathering my party.

* * *

camp is as empty and ravaged as Vester reported. Unlike the sod house, though, there's a lot of scent to wade

can

a picture of chaos. Blood. Fear. Rage. Death lingers beneath it all, a stench that burns my nose and makes

abundant, but it's impossible to tell if

of the wolves checks in. Alpha. Found traces of Jericho's scent leading north, but it vanishes

methodically checking every corner. The vampires have

prickle. I follow it down a hallway we've already cleared, past overturned furniture and

grows stronger in what used to be a bedroom. A few books litter the floor, pages torn and scattered. A strange thing to

this room. Vester follows me, his ears pricked

him, I circle the room,

it's there. Ozone and

Magic.

the wooden floor as I follow its trail to the pile of destroyed books. Beneath the heap, something

can't always sense it, but sometimes I can smell