Hope Is Not Optional — Manuel Flores 87
871 Prince Adrian was a fool for letting her go
87| Prince Adrian was a fool for letting her go
Tristain
Since I was a little boy, I had always loved unusual things.
Things that didn’t fit neatly into what people called normal. While children my age laughed over wooden toys and paraded around with fake swords and bright trinkets meant to entertain nobles’ children, I felt nothing but boredom when such things were placed in my hands. None of them stirred anything in me. They were hollow, and meaningless.
But the day I picked up a real sword, everything changed.
I was ten years old, far too young to feel that kind of rush, and crave violence the way I did. Yet the moment my fingers wrapped around cold steel, adrenaline flooded my veins as if my body had been waiting for it.
I still remember the way my heart pounded, as though it had finally recognized something familiar. I challenged my brother that day. He was thirteen, stronger and well trained, and he laughed at my audacity, amused that I would dare to fight him when he was so much larger than me. I didn’t even know the basics of swordplay or understand footwork or form, and yet, somehow, I won.
I can still see it clearly.
The tip of my sword pressed against his throat, his laughter gone, replaced by panic and disbelief as he stared up at me. The fear in his eyes was intoxicating. In that moment, that was when it clicked.
Ah, this is it.
That was when I realized what I loved.
Fighting was unusual. War was unusual. The clash of wills, the rawness of survival, the way people revealed who they truly were when faced with death, that was what fascinated me. I didn’t care for toys, women, or even power itself.
Power was merely a means to an end. I fought my brothers for the alpha position not because I wanted to rule, but because power granted freedom. With it, I could fight whoever I wished, go to war without restraint, and immerse myself in the chaos I craved.
And that was why the woman standing in front of me now caught my attention.
Yes, she was beautiful, the most striking woman in the room, but beauty alone had never been enough to hold my interest. What captivated me was the way she carried herself. The way her gaze skimmed over everyone as though they were beneath her notice. The way she had stood in the arena two months ago, surrounded by warriors, yet held them in check without raising her voice or demanding obedience.
It sent a chill down my spine.
As a warrior, I knew one the instant I saw one. And she was a warrior, dangerous at that, the kind who survived, adapted, and struck when it mattered most.
From the coming-of-age ceremony until now, everything about her behavior had defied expectation. She didn’t act like the women I had known; she didn’t seek attention, validation, or protection. She moved like someone who already understood how the world worked and had decided she would not bend to it.
She was unusual.
But what surprised me most, though, was the man standing behind her. My gaze flickered to him.
My wolf stirred uneasily within me.
‘Be careful, my wolf, Mark, warned from the back of my mind. ‘Be very careful of him, Tristan.’
Most people in the hall were too distracted by music, wine, gossip, or their own inflated importance, to notice him properly. But I noticed.
No, more than that, I felt him.
That man was the most dangerous person in this entire tall.
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871 Prince Adrian was a fool for letting her go
My wolf had been restless ever since the moment we stepped inside, pacing at the back of my mind in a way
he never did without reason. Even now, his warning instincts were screaming, as if every nerve in his body was on edge.
‘What is he?’
‘I don’t know. Just be careful. He’s dangerous.’
That alone would have been alarming, but the next words made my interest flare rather than fade.
‘If he wanted to, Mark continued, ‘everyone here would die.
My eyes flashed, not with fear, but with excitement. ‘That powerful?’ I thought, my lips twitching. ‘I wonder if he’ d be interested in fighting me.’
Mark groaned, the sensation almost like an eye roll. ‘You’re an idiot. You can get yourself killed if you want, but leave me out of it. I’m not fighting him.’
I smirked to myself. That reaction alone told me just how serious this was.
As if he sensed my scrutiny, the man finally looked down at me. His golden eyes flared for a brief moment, brighter than mine, ancient in a way that made my instincts prickle. It felt as though he was weighing something, deciding whether I was worth eliminating or simply not worth the effort.
For a split second, the air between us thickened.
I smiled at him, before turning my attention back to the woman standing before me. My hand was still extended toward her, waiting patiently as if nothing unusual had just passed between two predators measuring each other.
“What do you say, Miss Selene?” I asked. “Will you dance with me?”
The hall remained frozen in silence. I could feel the disbelief, and the whispers forming. Even she looked taken aback, her expression caught somewhere between confusion and annoyance, as if she genuinely couldn’ t understand why someone like me would bother her.
And that amused me far more than it should have.
I wasn’t a romantic man, and I had never pretended to be. But I knew my face, my status, and the effect I had on people. Women had always been interested in me, drawn by my curiosity, power, and attraction. Yet here she was, looking at me as though my presence was an inconvenience.
This was our first proper meeting, and already she acted as if I had offended her simply by existing.
It doesn’t matter.
A smile curved my lips. I would use this opportunity. This woman carried far too many secrets, and I intended to take my time uncovering every single one of them. Prince Adrian was a fool for letting her go.
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