Chapter 269\u00a0<\/p>\n
Third Person\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sun-soaked chaos of the day finally faded, and as night draped, the evening\u2019s masquerade unfurled to the rhythm of swift, primal music.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aysel\u2019s hand linked with Magnus, stepped into the dance floor where wolves and humans alike, adorned in exquisite masks, swayed and twirled. The scent of tension and bloodlust lingered faintly beneath the perfumes and finery.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her gaze immediately found Serena, standing on the sidelines like a ghost, eyes fixed on the floor\u2019s center. with a predator\u2019s patience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSerena not joining?\u201d Aysel asked, noting the unusual lethargy in the Ironhowl heiress.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Serena\u2019s amber eyes, usually sharp as a wolf\u2019s, darkened. \u201cI do not wish to dance. I only wish to return to the pack lands,\u201d she murmured, voice carrying the cold warning of a wolf whose patience had worn thin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After trading words with Serena, Aysel returned to Magnus, a thrill curling through her veins. \u201cSerena\u2019s probably done with yachts and cruises for life. There\u2019s no running from the sea when it\u2019s the hunting ground.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Magnus chuckled, the motion predatory yet elegant. He nuzzled her ear lightly, bending to take her hand. \u201cFox of the Moonvale, will you dance with me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Their masks\u2014a wolf for him, a fox for her\u2014had been chosen with care, symbolic of the unspoken bond between predator and huntress. Aysel lifted her chin with the proud tilt of a huntress, placing her hand in his. \u201cOf course, Wolf of Shadowbane.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even behind masks, their presence dominated the room, bodies radiating the tense, fluid grace of apex predators.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Serena, following the music with the tip of her fingers, allowed herself a fleeting relaxation. Around her, the Moonvale Pack had retreated-Fenrir had not appeared, Olivia refused to see anyone after a scare, Damon Blackwood and Celestine Ward were recuperating from a near-drowning. Even Derek Sanchez seemed here only to enjoy a brief respite, dancing with a familiar heiress.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The dance floor reached the point of exchanging partners. Men released hands; women spun like autumn leaves, finding new prey in the arms of another. Serena, letting her guard lower slightly, reached for a glass of red wine from a servant\u2019s tray.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then the light vanished.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A sudden blackout swallowed the hall, leaving only startled cries and the sound of feet colliding in the chaos. Serena\u2019s gaze hardened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not a single host had mentioned surprises. The instinctive growl in her chest warned her something was\u00a0<\/p>\n
wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her eyes flicked toward the floor, seeking Magnus and Aysel-and found emptiness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Serena\u2019s wolf\u2019s mind kicked in. Her phone remained clutched in her hand. \u201cWhy is there no light?\u201d she\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
demanded, voice sharp.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A heavy thunk, followed by the cold click of a severed line, answered her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Servants lit crude lanterns and candles. Security wolves formed a tight ring around the hall. Guests, mistaking the darkness for theatrics, laughed nervously, surrendering to the night\u2019s artificial tension. But Serena\u2019s eyes scanned with lethal precision.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Magnus and Aysel were gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She left the majority to stabilize the hall, moving with a predator\u2019s silence down the corridors. A wounded event manager lay sprawled, unconscious from an unseen strike. Serena pressed onward, heart thudding. with the rhythm of her wolf.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On the deck, the scene that greeted her could have belonged in a hunt. A man, masked and in a suit, pressed a dagger against Aysel\u2019s throat. Every inch he moved forward threatened bloodshed. Magnus stood like a shadowed sentinel, eyes black as the void.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aysel, though threatened, mirrored the calm of a fox cornered yet unbroken, inching backward toward the rail near where Celestine Ward had been swept into the sea hours before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not come closer!\u201d the intruder stammered, hand trembling over the steel. Fear radiated from him, but Magnus\u2019s presence was a tide of darkness pressing down, promising that any misstep would be fatal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Serena\u2019s wolf growled low in her chest, muscles coiled, every sense screaming. The dance of predator and prey had begun, and the night was far from over.\u00a0<\/p>\n
622\u00a0<\/p>\n
Midnight Letters by Daniel Crowe 269 Chapter 269\u00a0 Third Person\u2019s POV\u00a0 The sun-soaked chaos of the day finally faded, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pack-princess"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20543\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}