Tangled in Moonlight: Unshifted novel Chapter 437

After the rites last night, I expected the energy of Wolf's Landing to be gloomy. Instead, it's bustling.

Everyone's rushing to repair the hospital, something that's become more possible with the arrival of our Fae friends, who are helping mend walls with their magic. Despite the natural distrust between wolf and Fae, they're getting along well. And the injured are now walking, talking, laughing, and eating with ease, thanks to Heize—who specializes in healing magic.

Anyone coming in for the first time would never guess we just lost twenty-seven people to a mere ten-minute attack.

Selene yawns; she's half-asleep still in my cabin, having used the night to scout the general area. The time for grief is done. We are survivors.

Our pack didn't bounce back this quickly after the initial massacre in Westwood, though.

Things have changed since then, Grimoire points out. We are in a long, drawn-out war. Time for grief is a luxury in times like this.

"I'm not arguing," I mumble at them both. "Just noticing how different it is."

Both of my bonded souls settle in my head, leaving me in silence as I watch the Fae work.

The hospital's front doors rest against the doorframe of a rebuilt wall, askew and unattached, but not for long. Eris lifts her hands, and the metal hinges twist back into place with a soft groan. The door rights itself, settling perfectly into its frame as if it had never been damaged.

Remarkable.

Eris' magic is not raw and wild. It's precise, controlled. Almost artificially clean. Her black hair sweeps back as she gestures at a pile of broken furniture. Pieces of wood and metal float up, spinning until they click together like puzzle pieces. A bed frame materializes from the chaos, pristine and perfect.

"Luna Ava." Magister Orion' is the first of the Fae to notice me, and his booming voice carries through the area. He stands near a crumbling section of wall, directing fragments of plaster and concrete into a pile. "I trust you slept well?"

"As well as can be expected." My attention stays fixed on Eris's work. "I had no idea magic could be so... specific."

"Eris has a gift for repair and restoration." Magister Orion guides a large chunk of wall into place. "Each Fae's magic manifests differently. Some heal, some destroy, some—like Eris—excel at putting broken things back together."

Three other Fae work alongside him, their movements synchronized as they float debris through the air. A few pack weave between them, pointing out what should go where. Two are in wolf form, sniffing at things, and it takes me a moment to realize they're using scent to identify what pieces go together.

One points his nose at a section of metal frame, a human-shaped shifter gives the command, and a Fae immediately shifts it toward its matching piece. Like an assembly line.

"The scent helps them remember where everything belongs?" Even as someone raised in a shifter pack, I didn't realize our noses could be so precise. More things I'm missing out on without the ability to shift.

"Indeed."

A dresser reconstructs itself under Eris's touch, drawers sliding home with soft clicks. She doesn't speak, her focus absolute as she moves to the next broken item.

No one is showing signs of mistrust, and it warms my heart to watch this happen.

"Luna." Kellan's voice startles me. He appears at my side, Lisa a few steps behind him. He nods toward the repair efforts with a faint smile, no longer hostile himself. I can feel the burden on my shoulders lift. "Quite a sight, isn't it?"

"I never expected—"

Kellan watches as a wolf directs a Fae toward a pile of broken glass. "Their presence at the rites changed things. Not all are comfortable being so close to magic, but these are all volunteers to work with the Fae to get this done."

Lisa steps closer, her eyes wide as she watches Eris repair a window. "That's crazy. Ava, can you do that?"

I shake my head. "Not in a million years." The magic I have is not so precise or fine, and I can't fathom how she's able to take two broken pieces of concrete and blend them so it seems they were never broken. Or wood.

Magister Orion chuckles and claps a hand on my shoulder, winking at Lisa. "Most are incapable of such a magic. Eris has unique inclinations. While it is considered a weak and ineffectual magic among the Fae, I have always found it to be some of the most useful."

"Man, where was she when I broke my mom's special Christmas china when I was ten?" Lisa's laugh rings clear across the courtyard. "I spent hours trying to superglue those pieces back together. She was so pissed."

The others chuckle, but I catch the way Lisa's smile falters. Her hand twitches toward her thigh. She hasn't spoken about her family in a long time, and I watch the light dim in her eyes.

My chest aches. She must be worried about them, and yet she never speaks of it.