Chapter 312\u00a0<\/p>\n
Riley\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
The chains around my wrists were cold and tight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u767d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
Each step I took toward the courtroom echoed louder than the last, like the world was announcing my humiliation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two guards walked beside me-one on each side, hands firm on my arms, like I was some kind of feral beast.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just before I reached the heavy oak doors, I saw them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My father.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My mother.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kael.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Standing in the corridor as if they\u2019d just arrived by chance. But I knew better. They were waiting for me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cStop,\u201d my father said quietly to the guards. \u201cGive us a moment.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The guards hesitated, then stepped back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stood still.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What was left to say?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need your help,\u201d Alpha Alaric said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I blinked. My lips parted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Help?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then Luna Zara stepped forward, her expression soft-not with motherly warmth, but with practiced diplomacy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cScarlett can\u2019t survive this, Riley,\u201d she said. \u201cYou know that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It hit me like a slap.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A cruel, unbelievable twist.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/5\u00a0<\/p>\n
12:58 Thu, Dec 25 M\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 312\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s never known pain,\u201d Kael added gently. \u201cShe\u2019s not like you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not like me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
M\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou grew up with Rogues,\u201d he continued. \u201cYou\u2019re strong. You\u2019ve endured worse than prison.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart clenched.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want me to take the blame,\u201d I whispered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They didn\u2019t deny it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kael stepped closer, lowering his voice.\u201dI swear, I\u2019ll make sure you\u2019re protected in there. You won\u2019t suffer.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I laughed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A bitter, hollow laugh that scraped my throat raw.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So this was love? This was family?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you,\u201d I said. \u201cFor finally showing me exactly what I am to you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then I turned without waiting for a reply.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The doors opened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The courtroom was large, circular, made of dark stone and shadow. On the high platform sat the Council of Elders-and at the center, in his black uniform and silver crest, was Maddox.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My mate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My judge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My executioner.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Our eyes met for a brief moment. There was something flickering behind his mask of calm-a glimmer of guilt? Of doubt?\u00a0<\/p>\n
No. Just calculation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maddox was a Council Judge. An authority. A symbol of justice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And he would rather protect Scarlett than defend his own mate,\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tessa\u2019s family was seated nearby, grief-stricken. Alpha Ronan glared at me with rage barely restrained beneath his skin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/5\u00a0<\/p>\n
12:58 Thu, Dec 25 60\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 312\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fantad\u00a0<\/p>\n
One by one, the witnesses spoke.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Twisted truths. Skewed assumptions. Convenient silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maddox presided over it all, pretending not to know the scent of my soul.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pretending he couldn\u2019t feel the bond between us telling him I was innocent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He never looked back at me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finally, the verdict fell from his lips like a dagger to the heart:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRiley of Ebonclaw Pack, you are sentenced to five years in Werewolf Detainment for your crimes against the Blackmaw Pack and endangering the life of an Alpha heir.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My knees almost gave out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Five years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Five\u00a0<\/p>\n
years in that place.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No trial by combat. No second chances.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just exile.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just betrayal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was dragged out of the courtroom. My body felt numb, as if every word I had heard had turned into a weight pressing down on my bones.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And then I heard footsteps.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Click, Click, Click.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She stepped into the hallway, her arms folded, her expression smug and shining like victory.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cPrison suits you, Riley,\u201d she said sweetly, her voice laced with venom. \u201cI mean, it\u2019s practically your second home, isn\u2019t it? Rogue-born and all.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at her, my breath shallow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t worry,\u201d she continued. \u201cFive years will fly by. And when you come back\u2026 well, if you\u00a0<\/p>\n
215\u00a0<\/p>\n
12:58 Thu, Dec 25 M\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 312\u00a0<\/p>\n
come back\u2026 you\u2019ll find I\u2019ve done such wonderful things with the life you wasted.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She leaned in.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey all chose me. Even him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t say Maddox\u2019s name. She didn\u2019t have to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked away, swallowing down the scream rising in my throat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Forshed\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSee you never, sister,\u201d she whispered, then walked off, her laughter echoing down the corridor like a curse.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The guards pulled me forward again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Step by step, toward the gates of the prison.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Toward the darkness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Toward the place they thought would break me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The cell door creaked open. The stench of blood, rust, and mildew hit me like a wall. The floor was damp. The walls were stained.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And then-\u00a0<\/p>\n
Agony.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It hit me out of nowhere.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A blinding, soul-tearing pain erupted in my chest, like claws digging into my heart and ripping it apart from the inside.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I screamed, collapsing to my knees.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My wolf whimpered deep within me-then howled in pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And through the storm of torment, I heard it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His voice. Maddox. Through the bond.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But it wasn\u2019t warmth or apology that reached me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was ice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI reject you as my mate.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
4\/5\u00a0<\/p>\n
12:58 Thu, Dec 25 M \u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 312\u00a0<\/p>\n
The bond snapped like a shattered bone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The silence that followed was louder than any scream.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My hands trembled against the stone floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
M\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tears blurred my vision-not from the pain of rejection, but from the truth it carried.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He chose them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He chose her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And now, I had no mate. No family. No name. No one.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Only rage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Only darkness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Only the fire that began to smolder in the broken ruins of\u00a0<\/p>\n
This is my hell.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And if I survive it, I swear\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
I will make them all burn.\u00a0<\/p>\n
my\u00a0<\/p>\n
heart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
730\u00a0<\/p>\n
W\u00a0<\/p>\n
5\/5\u00a0<\/p>\n
82\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
Midnight Letters by Daniel Crowe 312 Chapter 312\u00a0 Riley\u2019s POV\u00a0 The chains around my wrists were cold and tight.\u00a0 \u767d\u00a0 […]<\/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-20585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pack-princess"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20585","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=20585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20585\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}