Filed to story: Tangled in Moonlight Unshifted Novel by Lenaleia
Finally, mercifully, we grind to a bonejarring halt, the rear of the car brushing up against a cluster of neatly trimmed hedges lining someone’s front yard. I’m panting, dazed, my heart thundering a frantic staccato rhythm against my ribcage.
The driver is already moving, ripping off his seatbelt and shoving open his door. “Stay in the car!” he barks. at me, but little does he knowI can’t move. I’m still processing it all.
His huge frame uncoils with a lethal grace as he charges toward the blockade. Even from inside, I can see at least three figures emerging from the other vehicle, their movements tightly coordinated.
For a fraction of a second, a flicker of hope kindles in my chest. Our driver is easily twice the size of any of those menif anyone can take them, it’ll be him.
That hope is swiftly extinguished as one of the figures raises somethinga gun? A tranquilizer? I can’t tell- and fires. The driver jerks like a puppet with its strings cut, crumpling bonelessly to the asphalt.
I scream, my voice raw with terror as the door beside me is wrenched open. Before I even look, I throw a punch in their direction.
But it’s not one of the armed assailantsit’s Phoenix.
My brother’s face is set in grim lines, his mouth a tight slash of determination. My fist is held by his hand as though I’m a child throwing a tantrumwith the ease of someone far more powerful than me.
He lets go and cuts my seatbelt with a knife before grabbing me in an almost painful grip.
Ivy is still slumped in the backseat beside me, a trickle of blood oozing from the gash on her forehead. She’s completely still, her head lolling at an unnatural angle.
My stomach roils violently, and I have to swallow back a surge of nausea. Is she…?
“She’s alive,” Phoenix says gruffly, as if reading my mind. “For now.”
“Come on, we have to move,” he growls, already tugging me out of the wrecked sedan.
I stumble after him in a daze, my mind whirling. Phoenix? Here? How-?
What’s happening, Ava? Selene’s voice, taut with concern, rings in my head.
I shake my head mutely, too shaken to articulate a response. Phoenix is already hustling me towards one of the blue sedans idling in front of Ivy’s car. The driver, a tall, powerfullybuilt shifter I don’t recognize, jumps out and rushes to open the rear door.
“Get in,” Phoenix barks at me, giving me a firm shove towards the open door.
I scramble inside without protest, my entire body quivering with a bonedeep chill. The rear door slams shut, and Phoenix is already circling around to the passenger side. “Airport,” he snaps at the driver as he clambers inside. “And step on it.”
We peel away from the curb with a violent squeal of tires, the force slamming me back against the seat.
Ava, talk to me, Selene urges, her mental voice tinged with a rare edge of panic. What’s going on? Who are those men?
I 2011287A mu ouer chut fighting to rothar mu scattered thoughts. The image of the driver crumpling to the ground is seared into the back of my eyelids, making my stomach churn.
My selfdefense class isn’t enough. It was all false confidence.
I don’t know. They were following us. The one who pulled me out of the car… is Phoenix. My brother.
I have to swallow hard, struggling to compose myself. I’d tried so hard to hide. How did they find me?
I feel Selene’s calming presence wrapping around me like a soothing balm. It’s okay, Ava. I’m coming.
I swallow hard, my throat feeling tight. Selene, you’re never going to make it in time. We’re heading for the airport. That means they’re going to fly me back to the pack.
And there’s no point running. They have more people. They have cars. They have guns. Ones that can kill shifters.
Phoenix turns around in the passenger seat to face me, his gaze raking over me, assessing. “Why do you smell like a shifter?” he demands.
I force myself to meet his stare, keeping my expression carefully neutral. “Probably because I’ve been living with other shifters,” I lie. “The girl in the car is a shifter, too.”
Phoenix shakes his head, his mouth tightening into a grim line. “No, it’s different. More than just proximity to the Aspen alpha.”
Shit. He knows about Clayton.
What else does he know?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say evenly, lying through my teeth. He knows damn well I don’t have a wolf of my own, and they can never prove that Selene exists. I can’t shift.
Phoenix’s eyes narrow, but he doesn’t press further, turning back around to face the front. I let out a slow, shaky breath and lean back against the couch, cursing everything I can think of in my head.
I just got that damn burner phone.
I just started getting comfortable, expecting to be able to go home at some point.
And now this.
It’s like I’m being punished for having a few months of peace in Cedarwood.
“Have you been with Shadowpine this whole time?” Phoenix asks, breaking the silence again as we merge onto the interstate.
I can’t tell if he’s asking me a trick question to see if I’ll lie to him, or if he genuinely doesn’t know.
I hope he doesn’t know.
If he doesn’t, that means Cedarwood is still safe.
“He’s out of town,” I say, deliberately misinterpreting his question. “I’m not sure if he comes back today. Do you want me to call-“
“No!”
I can see how tense he is by the prominent veins in his neck, so I shut my mouth.
Phoenix turns around to look at me again. “We’ve been worried sick about you, Ava. You disappeared right after the Lunar Gala without a trace.”
I blink at him, trying to hide my incredulity. That’s complete bullshitthey’ve made it abundantly clear they don’t give a damn about me.
“Really?” I say flatly. “Because I can clearly remember a time when you should have been worried about me, but you decided to play nice with the man who assaulted me. Seconds after it happened.”
Phoenix’s jaw tightens, a muscle flexing. I don’t know if he remembers what I’m talking about, but it doesn’t matter. I do. I always will. “You’re our family, Ava. Of were upset when you vanished like that.”
course we
I have to resist the urge to snort derisively. Family? Is that what he calls the cold indifference and outright cruelty they’ve shown me for as long as I can remember?
Apparently sensing my skepticism, Phoenix shakes his head, his expression sobering. “Look, I know things haven’t been great between us lately-“
“Lately?” Hah. There’s nothing lately about the way they’ve treated me my whole damn life.
Phoenix exhales a frustrated breath. “Okay, fine. For a long time. But you’re still part of this pack whether you like it or not, Ava. And family means somethingit means we protect each other and stick together, no matter how much we might disagree sometimes.”
“Stop the shit,” I snap. “What is it that Dad wants from me?”
A low growl comes out of Phoenix, but I ignore him. Instead of answering, he turns around and snaps at the driver to hurry up.
I settle into the chair beside Phoenix, my soul crushed under the weight of despair. The plane hums to life around us, a mechanical beast ready to whisk me back to the hell I’d escaped. Phoenix barely spares me a glance as he crowds me against the window, effectively trapping me in my seat. Even going to the bathroom will be impossible without him knowing about it.
Selene’s whimpers echo in my mind, a mirror of my own anguish. Ava, I’m so sorry. I tried… I’m still trying…
I know, I whisper back, my heart clenching. It’s okay. It’s not your fault.
No matter how fast she is, a wolf can’t outrun a car.
And even if she didwhat are we going to do, against the people under Phoenix’s control?
Honestly, it’s not okay. Nothing about this is okay. I’m being dragged back to the very place I’d fought so hard to escape, and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it.
Selene, listen to me. I picture my parents’ house in my mind, every detail etched into my memory. The sprawling ranchstyle home, the meticulously manicured lawn, the wroughtiron fence that always felt more like a cage than a boundary. This is where they’re taking me. The Blackwood pack territory. My parents’ address is-
I rattle off the information, each word feeling like a nail in my coffin. Selene absorbs it all, her presence in my mind a flickering candle in the darkness.
I’ll find you, she promises, her voice fierce despite the tremor of fear. No matter how long it takes, no matter the distance. I’ll never stop looking.
Tears prick at the corners of my eyes, but I blink them back, refusing to let Phoenix see me cry. I know you will. But Selene, it’s far. Really, really far.
Even as I say it, I feel her running, her paws pounding against the pavement as she races toward the airport. But we both know it’s futile. She’ll never make it in time.