Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted (Ava and Lucas)

Chapter 401 Ava: Ivy's Memories

"Fiona used to braid my hair every morning." Ivy's voice breaks. "She'd tellabout the boys she liked, about

her dreams of becoming a teacher. She never stopped treatinglike just... me."

A tear slides down her temple, disappearing into her hair. My chest tightens at the raw pain in her voice.

"James was the funny one. He'd make these terrible jokes during pack meetings. Once, in second grade, he..."

She draws a shuddering breath. "He put a rubber snake in Clayton's desk, and my brother shrieked like a child.

Everyone laughed. | hated him, because Clayton was my hero. But then they becbest friends after that. At

spoint, | stopped hating him."

Her grip tightens, and | let her anchor herself to me. Whatever it is in her system pulses against my magic, as if

testing it. Beneath it, | sense something else—genuine grief, sharp and jagged.

"And David." Her voice drops to a whisper. "He was going to propose to his mate. Had the ring picked out and

everything. He showed it tothe morning before..."

She breaks off with a sob that wracks her whole body. Without thinking, | squeeze her hand back.

"I should have protected them all better." The words tumble out between gasping breaths. "They trusted me.

And now they're dead because | wasn't strong enough."

"You couldn't have known—"

"Don't." Her eyes snap open, fever-bright and desperate. "Don't tellit wasn't my fault. Don't tellthere

was nothing | could do. I've heard it all before and it doesn't help."

| fall silent, understanding completely. Sometimes platitudes just make the guilt worse. She's an accomplished

warrior, trained by her pack. Trying to minimize her pain is more of an insult than a comfort.

Her fingers clutch mine so hard it hurts, but | don't pull away. Touch grounds us, connects us. Right now, that

connection might be the only thing keeping her from drowning in her grief.

"I see their faces every t| close my eyes," she whispers. "I hear their screams. Feel their pack bonds snap.

Over and over and over."

The taint surges with her distress, and | have to bite my tongue to keep from telling her about it. Not now. Not

when she's this vulnerable, this raw.

Her other hand finds my arm, gripping it like a lifeline. "How do you do it? How do you keep going when

everything hurts so much?"

The question hitshard. How do | keep going? Through the abuse, my mother's rejection, my father's

manipulation—through all of it, | just... did. Because stopping wasn't an option.

It wasn't always pretty, and there's so much | regret. But | kept going.

"You breathe," | tell her softly. "You take it one moment at a time. And you honor their memory by living the life

they'd want for you."

Her fingers spasm against mine. "Do you know what happened out there?"

"No."

Her eyes stare into mine. Hunted. Frightened. Shadowed with the deaths of wolves she considered family. "I'm

not sure | do, either."

My blood turns to ice. "What do you mean?"

"Everything's... fuzzy." Ivy's grip tightens on my hand. "We were on the route. Nothing out of the ordinary. Then

—" She shakes her head, wincing. "Pain. So much pain. And darkness."

The taint pulses against my magic again, stronger this time. | force myself to stay still, to not react.

"| remember running." Her voice drops to barely a whisper. "But | don't know what from. Or to. Just... running.

And screaming. But | don't know if it wasor—" She breaks off with a choked sound.

"Take a breath." | squeeze her hand. "You're safe now."

"Am I?" Her eyes lock onto mine, fever-bright but lucid. "Something's wrong with me. | can feel it. Like there's

something inside me, clawing to get out."

My heart pounds. She knows. On slevel, she knows about the taint.

"When did it start?"

"After the attack. Maybe during?" She shivers despite her fever. "Everything changed."

Ivy's eyes roll back, and her head lolls to the side. Just like that—as if someone flipped a switch. Her grip on my

hand goes slack, her fingers sliding away from mine.

“uy?”

No response. Her chest rises and falls in the steady rhythm of deep sleep. The taint inside her pulses once,

twice, then settles into a dormant state.

The door creaks open behind me. Vanessa's footsteps approach, accompanied by the soft clink of medical

supplies.

"She fell asleep in the middle of our conversation." | turn to face Vanessa. "One second she was talking about

feeling something inside her, clawing to get out, and the next..."

Vanessa's brow creases. She sets down her supplies and presses two fingers to Ivy's throat, checking her pulse.

"That's not normal. Even with the fever, people don't typically drop off mid-sentence like that."

"Could it be exhaustion?"

"Maybe." But her frown deepens as she checks Ivy's temperature. "Did she say anything else before she fell

asleep?"

"She talked about her escort team. About not remembering parts of the attack." | pause, debating how much to

share. "And she mentioned feeling different afterward. Like something changed inside her."

Vanessa's hands still against Ivy's forehead. "Different how?"

"She couldn't explain it clearly. But she knows something's wrong."

| watch Ivy's face, peaceful in sleep. No hint of the torment she'd shown minutes ago. No trace of that desperate

grip on my hand or the raw pain in her voice.

"| think she cinto contact with the taint. But something's not right about it." My voice barely rises above a

whisper, even though the woman's asleep and unable to hear me.

Vanessa turns, tilting her head to the side as she listens. "What do you mean?"

"Whatever's inside her..." | press my fingers to my temples. "It's too strong to be a light corruption. I felt it surge

multiple times while we talked. But it's different. The taint always feels mindless. Aggressive, even. This feels

more... controlled.”

"Then perhaps it's not the taint at all." The healer reaches for her stethoscope, then pauses. "Could it be

something else? A magical illness?"

"Grimoire?" | direct my thoughts inward. What do you think?

His presence stirs in my mind. | need to conduct a full examination to be certain. But if this were a light

corruption, you shouldn't be able to sense its fluctuations so clearly. This is strange, indeed.

"You felt what | was feeling?"

Through our connection, yes. The surges aligned with her emotional peaks—particularly when she spoke of her

lost pack members.

Selene interrupts. | will bring the book to you. You can do your examination then.

"I don't know," | finally answer Vanessa, who waits patiently as she watches my face.

She nods to acknowledge my words before pressing the stethoscope against Ivy's chest, her movements precise

and methodical. The silence stretches, broken only by Ivy's steady breathing.

"What do you know about the attack?" My voice comes out softer than intended. "About what happened to her

escort team?"

Vanessa removes the stethoscope and drapes it around her neck. "Not much. Alpha and Beta have been

handling the investigation personally." She tucks a blanket around Ivy's shoulders. "All | know is they found signs

of a struggle, but no bodies."

No bodies. That's strange.

"Her heart rate's elevated." She makes a note on her chart. "And her temperature's still climbing."

Whatever's inside Ivy pulses again, as if responding to Vanessa's words. Stranger still.

| need to understand what happened out there. What turned a routine escort mission into a massacre that left

Ivy the sole survivor. Something inside ofinsists that this strange darkness within the Shadowpine she-wolf

has something to do with it.

It isn't even like | know much about what happened, but something deep inside ofinsists that something

strange is going on. That | need to look into this.

It's nothing more than a hunch, but | know I'm right.

"I should talk to Lucas." | need to know what they found. What clues the investigation turned up that might

explain this controlled corruption festering inside her.

Where do you want this book? Selene's voice cuts through my thoughts.

Bring Grimoire here. Set him near Ivy. | glance at the small table beside her bed. He can observe her while we're

gone.