Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted novel Chapter 415

He'll get over it, Selene assures me. He was just worried.

Yeah, well, he can join the club. I study our captive's face again. The pointed ears suggest Fae heritage, but I've never seen one with skin like this. The fabric of their clothing is equally puzzling—it looks like silk but moves like water, absorbing light rather than reflecting it. Very strange.

"The area is secured, Beta," one of the guards reports.

Of course it is. No one else is here. But, I get it. Better safe than sorry.

Kellan nods. "Maintain the perimeter. No one approaches without direct authorization from myself or the Luna."

"Yes, Beta."

I want to apologize, of course. I want to beg forgiveness. But there's some things I can't do.

Pack dynamics are delicate enough without their Luna apologizing to the beta. I have to show that I'm confident in the decisions I've made.

Correct, Selene murmurs.

It might sound like an alpha should never apologize when they do terrible things, and that's not true, either. I'll speak with Kellan in private, knowing how he feels, and he can talk to me then. But right now the pack needs a confident leader, not a question of whose orders take precedence in this emergency.

"Should we take them back to Wolf's Landing?" I ask Kellan, mentally kicking myself for not phrasing things a little more assertively.

But he doesn't blink. "I would suggest that we wait until we're certain the binding holds, Luna."

That title again. Each utterance feels like a tiny knife of guilt.

The runes along the rope pulse steadily with my magic.

"Has anyone found Ivy yet?"

"No, Luna."

I cross my arms, fighting the urge to fidget under Kellan's rigid professionalism. The guards pretend not to notice the tension, but their careful attention to their tasks speaks volumes. We're all playing our roles, maintaining the hierarchy that keeps the pack stable.

Marcus isn't here. Neither is Greg, or other faces I'm familiar with. I wish they were, even though I know they'd be treating me the same way Kellan is.

But I'm not ready to ask if they're okay.

I'll check, Selene offers.

Shaking my head, I reply, No. If it's bad news, I'll break right here.

Grimoire, oblivious to my emotional state, barges into my head again. I just can't get a read on this thing. It has no presence at all. Like it doesn't exist.

The silver-haired figure draws my attention again. No point in dwelling on pack politics when we have this mystery to solve. My magic pulses through the runes I've carved into the rope, steady and strong, but something feels off about our captive.

I take a step closer, reaching out with my magical senses. Nothing. Not even a whisper of energy or life force. If I closed my eyes, I wouldn't know anyone was there.

It isn't right. No magic, no life force, no... anything.

Perhaps they're dead, Selene suggests.

But I shake my head. "Heart's beating. They're breathing."

I'm telling you, they're dead. _{freeweɓnovel.cøm}

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