Chapter 302\u00a0<\/p>\n
Third Person\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
077\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
After Johanna left, the unconscious lodge attendant-knocked out and stuffed into the bathroom by Derek -was dragged away by the Shadowbane guards as well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The door shut.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The room returned to stillness, thick with the metallic scent of blood and the bitter residue of forced heat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek leaned against the wall, fingers digging into his arm as the drug gnawed at his nerves like fire ants beneath his skin. His wolf thrashed restlessly inside him, demanding release, demanding dominance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He did not ask Magnus for help.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After a long silence, he let out a hoarse breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYour luck,\u201d Derek said, voice rough, carrying a strange, resigned bitterness, \u201chas always been better than mine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Magnus\u2019 eyes-cold as winter frost over iron-fixed on him without mercy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should never have set your sights on Aysel.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek shook his head slowly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was my only opening. The only way I could break you,\u201d he said quietly. \u201cIf you were me, would you really have chosen differently?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
If he had succeeded on the yacht-if Aysel had been taken-none of this would have been necessary.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Magnus gave a short, contemptuous laugh. His tone, however, was absolute.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had never claimed to be virtuous. Blood, power, and annihilation had never frightened him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But even wolves had lines.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t stoop so low as to use a woman\u2019s body as a weapon.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek froze for a fraction of a second.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then he lowered his head and laughed under his breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI lost,\u201d he said simply.\u00a0<\/p>\n
From the moment Derek had woken in an unfamiliar room, heat poisoning raging through his veins, he had known.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The trap had already closed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/6\u00a0<\/p>\n
12:21 Wed, Dec 24 MG J\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 302\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had been seen through.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Struggling further would only humiliate him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Skill decided dominance. He had none left to argue with.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Magnus finally took Aysel by the hand and led her out, Aysel stopped at the doorway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She turned back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDerek,\u201d she said coolly. \u201cYou don\u2019t actually think you\u2019re some tragic romantic hero, do you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
*21077)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
She remembered the way he had looked earlier-restrained, wounded, almost noble-like a male suffering in silence for love, as if Magnus were the villain tearing apart a pair of devoted mates.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The thought irritated her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She let out a short, mocking laugh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou drugged yourself and stabbed your own flesh rather than touch a woman who threw herself at you. You took the blame to protect Bella of the Bluemoon Pack\u2019s reputation. You cut ties to avoid dragging her pack into scandal,\u201d Aysel said sharply. \u201cYou must feel very great about yourself.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek looked at her, lips pressed thin, saying nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aysel didn\u2019t stop.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you truly cared for her, you had two choices. Either never approach her in the first place-or abandon ambitions that were never yours to claim.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her eyes hardened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou sabotaged your own engagement feast because you couldn\u2019t find a better chance to strike. If you succeeded, her entire future would have been shattered by disgrace. If you failed-did you ever consider what would happen to you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She stepped closer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYour so-called love was never stronger than your hunger for power.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even now, she wondered-was his restraint born of care for Bella, or fear of being dragged out and torn apart as a disgraced male caught in heat?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are inferior to Magnus as a ruler,\u201d Aysel said flatly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd as a mate-you are even worse.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She smiled coldly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDerek Sanchez. You\u2019re nothing but filth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The engagement feast ended in collapse.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The great hall stood hollow and abandoned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/6\u00a0<\/p>\n
12:21 Wed, Dec 24\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 302\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bastien Sanchez, the old Alpha, gazed at the empty space and closed his clouded eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you spare him?\u201d he asked at last. \u201cCan you let Derek live?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Magnus stood beside him, tall and unyielding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf his plan had succeeded,\u201d Magnus asked quietly, \u201cwhat would the outcome have been?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bastien could not answer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is your eldest brother\u2019s only bloodline.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Magnus\u2019 voice remained calm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you believe he would ever truly give up?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bastien still had no answer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because he knew the truth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sanchez wolves\u2014especially the brilliant ones\u2014never surrendered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As long as they lived, they waited.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As long as they breathed, they hunted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The muscles in Bastien\u2019s face trembled. The life seemed to drain from him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI taught you all wrong,\u201d the old Alpha whispered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The lodge corridors.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
After Derek was taken away, Ulva remained alone in the room for a long time before finally stepping out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She encountered Johanna in the hallway-who had left slightly later.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The two females stood several feet apart beneath the dim lights, shadows cutting across their faces.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Time had shifted everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once allies. Now adversaries.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ulva broke the silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did you help them?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Aysel had her own escape. But Johanna had still chosen to bring the key.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was a decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Johanna replied calmly, \u201cI told you. It wasn\u2019t for them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ulva thought for a moment, then spoke a name.\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/6\u00a0<\/p>\n
12:21 Wed, Dec 24 M\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 302\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAlfie?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Johanna didn\u2019t answer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ulva frowned. \u201cYou never cared for that son. Using him to stir chaos in the Sanchez Pack should have pleased you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Johanna\u2019s voice remained level.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI never loved him,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I promised him this-he did not want to be dragged into the Sanchez\u00a0<\/p>\n
war.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before returning to the pack, she had asked Alfie whether he wished to compete.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had said no.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Johanna had never been a good mother.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But she kept her word.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd whether Magnus wins or Derek wins makes no difference to me,\u201d she added. \u201cEither way, Bastien\u2019s final years would never know peace.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She looked at Ulva with mild regret.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate.\u201d she said. \u201cYou didn\u2019t win a second time.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ulva smiled faintly. \u201cA wager lost is a wager honored.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Johanna nodded. \u201cIndeed.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She paused.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThen\u2026 goodbye?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGoodbye.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ulva watched Johanna walk away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At the corridor\u2019s end stood Lyall, a cloak draped over his arm, waiting for her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A quiet ache surfaced in Ulva\u2019s eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The story had never truly ended.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now they each stood where fate had carried them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Johanna witnessed the retribution of the Sanchez Pack.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ulva followed her own will and gambled everything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Losing was not surprising.\u00a0<\/p>\n
4\/6\u00a0<\/p>\n
wed,\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 302\u00a0<\/p>\n
After all-\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had once won.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Long ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before the storms began.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before the Sanchez Pack fractured.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had survived the hardest first step, yet always fell short-by the smallest margin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And it was precisely that margin that made surrender impossible.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Ulva married Phelan Sanchez, he had thought it a simple alliance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For her, it had been love.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He never knew how much blood and patience it had taken for her to stand beside him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Unlike Ivy of the Darkmoon Pack, Ulva came from a fractured lineage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Many daughters. Little affection.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was the overlooked child of a forgotten mate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
From a nobody, she rose to become the future Luna of the Sanchez Pack-outmaneuvering sisters, rivals, and noble she-wolves across the capital.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But unlike Ivy, who chased love blindly, Ulva understood its fragility.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She cared for Phelan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But she was content with distance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She gained the man she admired-and the title of First Luna.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She would have been the only true Luna the pack ever recognized.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She refined herself relentlessly-not for love, but survival.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Later, she perfected restraint and diplomacy, preparing to rule beside him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everything should have unfolded exactly as planned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Until Johanna appeared.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Phelan spoke of severing the bond, Ulva thought him mad.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A disciplined, calculating Alpha-reduced to recklessness for a woman.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She could tolerate infidelity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She could tolerate affection elsewhere.\u00a0<\/p>\n
5\/6\u00a0<\/p>\n
12:21 wed,\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 302\u00a0<\/p>\n
As long as her position remained untouched.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But he refused compromise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He said he loved Johanna.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And the Alpha who once lived only for dominance and gain suddenly became foolishly alive-\u00a0<\/p>\n
like a young wolf willing to disgrace himself for desire.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That was when everything shattered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u3002\u00a0<\/p>\n
Midnight Letters by Daniel Crowe 302 Chapter 302\u00a0 Third Person\u2019s POV\u00a0 077\u00a0 Finished\u00a0 After Johanna left, the unconscious lodge attendant-knocked […]<\/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-20575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pack-princess"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20575","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=20575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20575\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}