Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 417

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.

thing remains constant. There's a strange mark on all of them. Strange, interlocked circles. An arm here. A chest there. One has it on

in

rage simmers, mirroring

the air fills with the taste

Son of a bitch.

Track the scent!

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

Aurum's fury. Every instinct screams to chase after our pack members, to

pulsed now shows

the scent of decay and death is

as if it never existed. Death.

can't catch the

up that easily. Keep

of methodical searching, the truth becomes clear. Whatever magic whisked the bodies away left no

my mental ears itch. We are here. Signs

builds in our chest. Aurum's rage goes cold.

empty. We can see claw marks, broken buildings. But no bodies, living

finally escape the sod house. Jericho would

Perhaps.

position, I tell Vester, already gathering my party. We're heading your

* * *

is as empty and ravaged as Vester reported. Unlike the sod house, though, there's a lot

of Ryder, but we can find traces

chaos. Blood. Fear. Rage. Death lingers beneath it all, a stench that

it's impossible to tell if

of the wolves checks in. Alpha. Found traces of Jericho's scent leading

corner. The vampires have left their stink everywhere. But

familiar that makes my skin prickle. I follow it down a hallway we've already

to be a bedroom. A few books litter the floor, pages torn and scattered. A strange thing to find, I'd think. We don't have many books at Wolf's Landing. They

cleared this room. Vester follows me,

circle the room, letting

and lightning. The

Magic.

its trail to the pile of destroyed books. Beneath the

magic. I can't always

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