Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted - Chapter 339

Chapter 339: Ava: Defend the Pack
Aurum’s golden figure streaks through the wolves defending us, in an unerring line straight for the closest vampire.

Seconds later, there’s a blood-curdling roar.

Stop standing around staring, Grimoire says, unaffected by the fear crawling through my skin. They need your help.

Tearing my eyes from Aurum/Lucas, I dash forward, my magic-crafted blade cool against my sweaty palm.

“What’s next?” I ask, squeezing through a mass of fur and hot bodies. The noise is too loud to hear my own voice, but Grimoire picks up my words straight from my head.

Get closer. You’ll hurt an innocent if you try to do anything here. You don’t have the control yet.

Ducking under a wildly swinging arm, I come face to face with a stranger. Pale skin. Lips glistening red, cracking at the corners, where you can see pale flesh peeking out beneath the blood.

Fangs. Long fangs, far longer than I ever thought a vampire could have, and red eyes that lock onto mine with unerring accuracy.

Don’t go straight for the head, Grimoire warns as I do just that.

My blade whistles through the air. It’s a clumsy strike, born of fear and adrenaline rather than skill, and I’m too far in to abort.

A vice-like grip closes around my forearm. The vampire’s strength is inhuman, and I’m yanked forward, losing my balance.

But my body moves before my brain can catch up. Instinct takes over, even if it’s a little sluggish and unrefined. With a twist of my body I’d never be able to replicate again, I manage to wrench my arm free of the vampire’s grasp. Moving with the momentum, I throw myself into an awkward roll. My shoulder hits the ground hard, but I manage to scrabble back to my feet, now behind the vampire.

He’s turning, trying to get to me, but he’s too slow, dragged in various directions. Everyone’s grabbing, snapping, clawing at him, even as he fights back. He has too many enemies.

I don’t hesitate. With both hands, I drive my blade into his back, angling upward.

Add fire to the blade. Grimoire’s command rings clear in the chaos.

I don’t question it. I reach for that well of power inside me, channeling heat through my arms and into the blade. The effect is instantaneous. The vampire’s body stiffens, then begins to glow from within. He tears away from me with an unholy shriek that freezes the blood in my veins.

He writhes in agony, wrenching himself away, even as my weapon tears through his flesh and bones, leaving me staggering as he frees himself. The wolves in front of him dart back, likely afraid of the flames they can see.

Then, impossibility unfolds before my eyes. Strange, inky clouds materialize around the vampire’s form. They writhe and pulse, shot through with flashes of crimson lightning. It’s as if the very fabric of reality is tearing apart around him. To my horror, I watch as the vampire’s body begins to grow, stretching and contorting into something monstrous.

Before I can even think to run, the creature turns lunges at me with impossible speed.

Duck left! Grimoire’s voice cuts through my panic. I obey without thinking, feeling claws whistle past my ear. Get your hand on him. Any part of him. Channel your fire.

My body moves as if possessed, following Grimoire’s instructions to the letter. The vampire-thing lunges for me and I slam my hand against its face, feeling its fangs cut at my palm. A spurt of flame erupts from my skin, greedily reaching toward the strange vampire’s distorted face.

It reels back with another shriek.

Blade to your left hand, infuse it with ice. Strike at its midsection.

I switch the blade to my left hand, willing it to frost over. There’s no thinking left in my magic. It just does what I want, as if the magic itself can listen to Grimoire’s words and my wishes.

The creature charges again, but I’m ready this time, filled with an otherworldly calm. Maybe it’s Grimoire’s presence inside my head. Maybe he’s taken control of my body. It doesn’t really feel like me, and yet it’s my body that’s moving, with a grace I shouldn’t have.

I sidestep its attack and slash across its torso. The blade leaves a trail of frost in its wake, slowing the monster’s movements as the ice slowly grows, capping its shoulders.

Now for his head.

My arm moves with a will of its own, the blade singing through the air before Grimoire’s words fully register. The strange vampire thing’s head separates from its shoulders with a sickening squelch, its body still struggling against the ice encasing its torso. As if in slow motion, the creature topples, its form twisting and warping until it settles into a more recognizable shape—just another vampire, no longer the monstrous entity it had become.

My chest heaves, each breath ragged and harsh. Blood and acrid, flesh-burned smoke fills my nostrils, making me want to gag. But as I glance around, confusion replaces the adrenaline coursing through my veins.

Everyone’s standing still. The chaotic battlefield has frozen in an eerie tableau.

Too many bodies litter the floor. And yet no vampires remain standing.

Aurum catches my gaze. Gorgeous. Massive, towering over all the other wolves, some of whom cower at his feet. There’s blood all over his face and muzzle, dripping to the ground. Despite the gore, he looks majestic—a true alpha, his presence blanketing the area.

In the time it took for me to fight one vampire, he took down three.

As our eyes meet, something shifts. The world seems to tilt on its axis, and suddenly, I’m not just looking at Aurum. I’m seeing Lucas—my Lucas. His voice, so achingly familiar, whispers in my mind.

Mate.

The word reverberates through me, igniting a warmth that spreads from my core to my fingertips. It’s him. It’s really him. After all this time, all the uncertainty and fear, Lucas is back.

His golden gaze sweeps over the pack, breaking that brief connection between us, and he gives a long, low howl. I watch in awe as every wolf around us drops to the ground, bellies pressed against the earth. The sheer power radiating from him is greater even than what I felt from Selene when we became Luna.

This is Lucas, my Lucas, but he’s also so much more. The alpha energy emanating from him is something I can even sense with my magic. It’s as though that core of energy within me yearns to reach out and touch Lucas’ power.

A strange sensation creeps into my mind. It’s like a tickle, a whisper just beyond my comprehension. I strain to hear it, but the harder I focus, the more it slips away.

Around us, the remaining wolves begin to shift back into their human forms.

They move with purpose, gathering the wounded and carrying them towards the hospital.

Grim faces. Pained eyes.

Everything happens in silence as I stand, rooted to the spot, a dead vampire at my feet.

Then, my gaze falls on the bodies being laid carefully side by side. My pack. My people.

Their loss aches in my soul. The pack bond I can feel is a little weaker than before.