Filed to story: Tangled in Moonlight Unshifted Novel by Lenaleia
Just dirt and yellow grass in a wide circle around me.
Marcus is there in an instant, steadying me with a strong hand on my arm.
“Are you alright?” he asks, concern etched on his face.
I nod, not trusting my voice just yet. My whole body aches, and I can feel the beginnings of a fever setting in. It’s like my very bones are aching, and my teeth chatter, despite feeling as though I’m on fire.
Grimoire’s fox form disappears, and the heavy weight of his book form tugs at the strap of my messenger back once again. Well done, Ava. That was an impressive first purification.
“Thanks,” I manage to croak out. “Is it always that intense?”
It gets easier with practice, he assures me. And as your capacity grows, you’ll be able to handle larger amounts of taint more efficiently. It will take some time to filter it all out, but your magic will do that, even if you sleep.
I nod, still trying to catch my breath. I feel gross. Horrible. Sick.
“We should head back,” Marcus says, eyeing me with concern. “You look like you need rest.”
My legs feel shaky, but I take one step. Then another. Good; I can move. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
Thankfully, this strange energy wasn’t anything more ominous than this strange taint. Imagine if it had been some kind of poison.
No, it was dangerous, Grimoire corrects my thinking. All it would have taken was one angry wolf to come under its effects. A violent wolf is always dangerous, but most especially when they aren’t under their own will.
My skin wants to curl in on itself at the thought.
“Was it left there, or did it travel there?”
That’s something I can’t answer. Unlike a leak, you can’t trace its source. It can travel hundreds and thousands of miles away from where it began.
Well, that’s ominous as hell.
Yes. Magic has consequences, and someone is ignoring them. Or they don’t care about them.
A breeze kicks up, and I shiver. But it isn’t from the cold, or the fever warming my body.
LUCAS
Five wolf bodies lie on the ground, their blood settled into pools of blood beneath them, frozen now in the snow.
My beta approaches, his face grim. He kneels beside one of the corpses, examining it with a critical eye. “You said they weren’t in their right minds?”
I’ve seen my share of battles, but this was different. The rogues attacked with a ferocity that bordered on madness. “It wasn’t natural. Almost rabid. We didn’t have a chance to communicate.”
I stand over the largest of the bodies, frowning. It wasn’t as though we hadn’t tried to bring them in alive. They just had no interest in negotiating. There isn’t much we can do at that point.
Kellan’s voice breaks through my thoughts. “They’re only five miles from the compound.”
“They were heading south,” I say, watching as Kellan’s shoulders visibly relax. “Not toward the pack.”
It’s a small comfort, but I’ll take what I can get. Still, the proximity is unsettling. These rogues could have easily changed course, stumbled upon our territory. They’re too close. We need to tighten our security, make sure we don’t let it happen again.
I crouch down beside one of the bodies, studying it closely. “Maybe we should examine them further. There might be clues—“
Kellan shakes his head, cutting me off. “We don’t have the facilities for that, Lucas. Autopsying random wolves would be a waste of resources we can’t afford right now. What building are we going to take over? We can’t bring dead bodies into the hospital. We don’t have the room there, either.”
With winter in full swing and refugees to care for, we can’t spare the time or manpower for an extensive investigation over a few violent wolves. Still, the nagging feeling that we’re missing something crucial gnaws at me.
“What if they were just traumatized?” Kellan suggests after a moment. “Starving, maybe. Could have gone feral.”
It’s a reasonable theory. We’ve seen it before—wolves pushed to their limits, reverting to pure instinct. Especially as rogues without a pack. But as I look at the bodies sprawled before us, something doesn’t add up.
“It’s possible,” I concede, “but I don’t think that’s it.” I gesture to the nearest corpse. “Look at them. They’re young, strong. Their bodies are well-fed. This wasn’t desperation.”
“Then why attack without provocation? It doesn’t make sense.”
“We’ll never know now.”
The finality of my words hangs in the air. Five lives snuffed out, and for what? Such a waste of life.
My gaze falls back to the bodies at our feet. Their eyes are still open, glazed over in death, but I can’t shake the memory of the feral gleam they held during the attack. It was as if something had stripped away their humanity, leaving nothing but raw, uncontrolled aggression.
“What do you want to do with the bodies?” Kellan asks, rising to his feet as he brushes snow off his knees.
It’s a practical question, but one that carries weight. We can’t leave them here, that’s for certain. But disposing of them carelessly could leave a trail right back to us.
“We’ll send a team to take care of it,” I decide. “Have them move the bodies several miles out, away from our territory. They’ll have to use a truck. Maybe burn them out there. They don’t deserve to be something’s dinner.”
“I’ll get it organized.”
It feels as though reports of aggressive rogues have been on the uptick, but why?
The questions pile up in my head, leaving me to second-guess leaving these bodies behind. But we have no technology to help us here. No laboratory to run blood samples. Not even a microscope.
“Kellan,” I call out. He turns back to me, eyebrow raised in question. “Once we’ve taken care of this, I want to double our patrols. We can’t afford another surprise like this.”
* * *
The sound of the front door opening cuts through the rush of water.
Ava.
I shut off the shower, not bothering to rinse the soap from my body. Water drips down my chest as I grab a towel, hastily wrapping it around my waist. The tile is cold beneath my feet as I stride into the living room.
My mate stands there, snowflakes melting in her golden hair, tied back into a ponytail. Her cheeks are flushed from the cold, blue eyes bright. Something in my chest loosens at the sight of her.
“You didn’t have to cut your shower short,” she says, a smile playing at her lips.
I cross the room in three long strides, wrapping my arms around her. She’s so small against me, fitting perfectly into the curve of my body. Honey and vanilla, with that faint hint of orange, surround me, stirring Aurum in the back of my head.
Mate, he breathes, and I can feel his tail wagging.
Ava laughs, the sound brightening my day. “Lucas! You’re getting soap everywhere.” She shoves at my chest, but there’s no real force behind it.
I reluctantly let her go, watching as she shrugs off her snow-laden coat.
“Why don’t you join me? I was just getting started.”
Ava looks at me strangely, her head tilted to one side. But then she nods, a slow smile spreading across her face. “Alright.”
My heart races as I lead her to the bathroom. Steam still hangs in the air, fogging the mirror. I turn on the water, adjusting the temperature before stepping aside to let Ava in first.
She hesitates for just a moment before slipping out of her clothes, avoiding my gaze. I drink in the sight of her, my eyes tracing the curves of her body as she steps under the spray of water.
I drop my towel and join her, closing the glass door behind us. The shower suddenly feels much smaller with both of us in it. Water cascades down Ava’s body, and I can’t tear my eyes away.
“Lucas?” Ava’s voice breaks through the fog of desire clouding my mind. “What happened?”
Her words drag my eyeballs off her ass and to her face. “What do you mean?”
She turns to face me, water droplets clinging to her eyelashes. “You’re acting strange. Did something happen?”
I hesitate, unsure how to respond. The memory of those five dead wolves flashes through my mind, their unseeing eyes staring up at the sky. But I push it away.
“Nothing happened,” I say, reaching for the shampoo bottle. “Just missed you, that’s all.”
Ava’s eyes narrow, clearly not believing me. But she doesn’t press the issue, turning back to let the water run over her face.
I pour some shampoo into my hand, working it into her hair. My fingers massage her scalp, and I feel some of the tension leave her body. She leans back against me, and I have to stifle a groan.
“You’re a terrible liar, you know that?” Ava says, her voice soft.
I freeze, my hands still tangled in her hair. “I—“