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.

thing remains constant. There's a strange mark on all of them. Strange, interlocked

in this

rage simmers, mirroring my

flares. For a split second, the air fills with the taste of copper and rot. Then nothing. But the

Son of a bitch.

Track the scent!

pack bond, even as I know it's too late. Whatever this is, it won't be that easy to find our lost

my throat, echoing Aurum's fury. Every instinct screams to chase after our pack members, to track down

now shows bare ground, as if nothing supernatural ever

scent of decay and death is

scents, but so much of it has disappeared, as if it never existed. Death. Decay. Magic that

We can't catch

up that easily. Keep looking. Keep

clear. Whatever magic whisked the bodies away

itch. We are

in our chest. Aurum's rage goes

marks, broken buildings. But no bodies,

finally escape the sod house. Jericho would not

Perhaps.

Vester, already gathering my party. We're heading

* * *

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

we can find traces of Jericho and his

beneath it all, a stench that burns

it's impossible to tell

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

out, methodically checking every corner. The vampires have left their

Something familiar that makes my skin prickle. I follow it down a hallway we've already cleared, past overturned

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

room. Vester follows me,

him, I circle the room, letting Aurum take

and lightning. The

Magic.

floor as I follow its trail to the pile of destroyed books. Beneath the heap, something pulses with energy. Not the sickly green

me of Ava's magic. I can't always sense it, but