Filed to story: Tangled in Moonlight Unshifted Novel by Lenaleia
Staring at Selene, I’m not sure how to take that statement.
1 think he was talking about your fattomuscle ratio.
“No, I figured that part out.”
It didn’t sound very derogatory.
“It sounds pretty derogatory.”
I don’t think he meant it that way.
“I’m sure he didn’t.”
Still, feeling appalled that my body weight was even in discussion, I find myself in front of the mirror, twisting back and forth, scrutinizing every curve and
Do I look that bad?
Am I really that out of shape?
I poke at my stomach, frowning at the slight give. Maybe I have let myself go a little, but it’s not like I’ve had much time for exercise lately.
Not that kind of fat. He called you skinnyfat, Selene pipes up from her spot on the bed, her tone matteroffact.
“Skinnyfat?” 1 echo, my brow furrowing. “What does that even mean?”
You know, like when someone looks thin but has no muscle tone.
Staring at her in exasperation, I take one last look in the mirror, sucking in the little pooch of my belly.
Skinnyfat.
I guess I could be considered that.
My body shape is a little weird, with hips that are a little wider than my shoulders and a little more curve to me than Jessa or Mom has, where they’re mo
But I have a little muscle now when I flex my arms, and my legs feel stronger than ever, with all the training I’d gone through with
Jericho.
Even so… I guess, compared to the wolf shifters he’s used to training, I guess I would be filed as skinnyfat’.
No point in moping over my body shape. Lucas likes it well enough, and I’m stronger than I used to be the only two things that should.
matter.
Sighing, I turn my attention to the suitcase.
There are only a few things left to put away. As I pick up a soft blue shirt, something small and shiny tumbles from its folds, hitting the floor with a soft clin
My heart dins. then races.
With trembling fingers, I reach down and pick up the object. A delicate necklace with a slender amethyst pendant.
The same necklace that obfuscated iny power to any keen observers, lost during my escape and final fight with Todd Mason.
How did it end up in my suitcase?
“What the hell?” I mutter, turning the necklace over. There’s some dried blood on the chain, and it’s broken.
The blood, I’m sure, is mine.
Selene pads over, her ears perke h. This is…
“My necklace. Yeah. How the fuck did it end up in my suitcase? And even that was packed all the way in Westwood territory, yet I lost this during the figh
Her nose flares as she sniffs at it. It’s a message.
“A message? From who?”
That cagey feeling again, as Selene avoids a direct answer. One who can teach you.
“Selene we’re not doing this cryptic bullshit again. Who is this a message from, and how? In fact, how did it ever show up in my apartment the first time?”
Her huff irritates me like nothing else, and I snap, “Selene, this isn’t funny. I’m sick of the secrets. You’re always waiting until too late to tell me things, an
It isn’t always a choice to hide things from you, she mutters. I’m bound by too many things.
“I swear to the Moon Goddess, if this is one of those things you said about the natural order of the world…” My threatening tone has nothing behind it, bu
No. This is a vow given to the Moon Goddess, in exchange for your security. In fact, you can consider the Moon Goddess the messenger in this instance. Her scent is all over that necklace.
I drop the necklace as though it’s on fire. “What do you mean, her scent?”
The thought of touching something with a divine scent on it is abhorrent. Like I’m defiling a precious artifact.
I look around for a tissue.
Selene snorts. Her presence won’t be erased by your touch. You can hold it. You can even put it in your mouth.
Disgusting. Why would I do something like that?
I’m just saying you could. She noses at it on the ground. The magic within is gone. Depleted. Holding it won’t do anything. You can keep it or get rid of it.
“Why would it return to me? How did it return to me?” Maybe it’s less about defiling the divine after all, and more that it feels kind of gross to touch something that’s been magicked into my suitcase.
I don’t know enough about those talents to say, but you can always ask your teacher when she arrives.
My teacher. Right. “What do you mean, a teacher?”
The growl that comes out of Selene isn’t aggressive, but more of a wolfish grumble as she snaps at the air. I told you a long time ago, I have my ways.
Did she?
Now that she mentions it, there’s a vague memory of a conversation like that.
Honestly, I’d placed all my hopes on Sister Miriam, and now I feel terrible for forgetting my own wolf was supposed to find a teacher. But then again, how
I can talk to anyone I wish to. I’ve been speaking with Jericho’s wolf. And Vanessa’s.
“What about Lucas’ wolf?”
No.
Her answer is too terse, ringing warning bells in my head. “Do you have a problem with him? Did you know him in your last life?”
Her silence tells me I’m on the right path, but I reel in my curiosity for more important matters. “When will my teacher be here?”
I don’t know. Probably soon. You should prepare yourself.
Her ominous words have my stomach sinking to my toes. “Why?
What now?”
Not everything is as it seems, and you might be upset with us, even when you understand why it had to be this way.
Serene’s still terse, but I can feel misery coming off her in waves. She won’t even meet my eyes, even when I walk around her to force it. She just moves
“Selene…”
I can’t talk about it until she’s made herself known.
Her words are firm, even as she slinks off the bed to crawl beneath it.