Chapter 336\u00a0<\/p>\n
Riley\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alpha Alaric was trembling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His fists clenched tightly on the edge of the table, chest heaving with each ragged breath as if trying to hold back an explosion.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Across from him, Luna Zara had broken into tears, her face pale with distress. Her hand clutched her chest as she sobbed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRiley,\u201d she choked out, voice cracking with pain, \u201cthat\u2019s not true\u2026 Your father and I-we had you because we loved you. You have to believe that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I laughed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t a laugh filled with joy. It was cold, hollow. A sound scraped from the bottom of a ruined heart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLove?\u201d I echoed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I gestured to my head, where fresh gauze still clung to a crusted wound. \u201cI walked in like this. Mia noticed. And yet the two people who claim to love me didn\u2019t say a word.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My voice rose, sharp and unfiltered. \u201cNot one of you asked what happened. You just sat there. Eating. Laughing. Judging me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My eyes burned as rage swelled in my chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHas it been ten minutes? Maybe more. Ten minutes since I walked through that damn door. And not one of you asked about my injury.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you not see it?\u201d I snapped. \u201cOr did you just choose not to care?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned my glare on Luna Zara, watching her flinch beneath it. \u201cYou say you love me-but you stood there and watched them ruin me. I lost my hearing. My leg. My kidney. My future. You let it happen. You let it all happen and now you say you love me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My words echoed off the walls like blades, cutting through the air, slicing straight into their polished lies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere was your love when I was locked away like a rabid stray?\u201d I shouted. \u201cWhen I was dragged into that courtroom, already convicted\u2019 by your silence?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tears finally spilled from my eyes, hot and unstoppable, clouding my vision.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Luna Zara took a hesitant step forward, her arms slightly extended like she wanted to embrace me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stepped back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She froze mid-step, her eyes flickering down to the gauze and the blood staining my clothes, her breath catching like she\u2019d only now realized I wasn\u2019t bluffing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kael narrowed his eyes, scoffing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
12:57 Fri, Dec 26 MJA.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 336\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, that explains the dramatics,\u201d he muttered. \u201cSo that\u2019s why you\u2019ve been playing the victim tonight. A little blood to gain attention? You\u2019ve really lost your edge, Riley.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His laugh was sharp, grating. \u201cYou\u2019re not fooling anyone with this poor-little-me act. Stop trying to manipulate everyone.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Luna Zara\u2019s expression faltered. She looked between me and Kael, visibly torn.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRiley, is that true?\u201d she asked softly, brows furrowing. \u201cDid you\u2026 were you just trying to scare us?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alpha Alaric scoffed from the head of the table, his voice thunderous. \u201cTypical. A wolf can\u2019t change its blood. No matter how well we raise her, she still reeks of the rogue blood she was raised in.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
And just like that, I froze.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a moment, my brain didn\u2019t process what I\u2019d heard. I stood there in stunned silence, the words crashing into me like a frozen tide.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Manipulative. Attention-seeking. Worthless.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s all they saw when they looked at me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not a daughter. Not a victim. Not a girl who\u2019d been mutilated and left for dead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just an inconvenience.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A mistake.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My spine stiffened, and I swallowed back the sob rising in my throat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThink whatever you want,\u201d I said, my voice cold, steady, almost detached. \u201cI\u2019m done trying to explain myself to people who never really wanted me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned on my heel and walked toward the side hallway, toward the old storage room I\u2019d claimed because no one else in this house wanted to see my face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cStop right there!\u201d Kael snapped.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His voice cracked like a whip, the force of an Alpha-in-training trying to reclaim control.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stopped. Slowly turned.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The look I gave him must have hit its mark, because for the first time tonight, Kael faltered. His mouth opened, then closed again, like he forgot what he was about to say.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at them all-at Alpha Alaric\u2019s cold fury, at Luna Zara\u2019s crumpled disappointment, at Scarlett\u2019s tremulous concern-and I saw them for what they were.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not family.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not Pack.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just strangers who shared my blood but not my pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 336\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett clung to Luna Zara\u2019s arm. \u201cMom\u2026 her eyes\u2026 they\u2019re scary\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zara patted her daughter\u2019s hand, her own face pale. \u201cShe\u2019s not the same girl we brought back. Something\u2019s changed in her.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s feral,\u201d Alaric spat. \u201cUngrateful. If I had known she\u2019d grow into this, I\u2019d have left her in that Rogue camp to rot.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAlaric!\u201d Zara snapped. \u201cShe\u2019s still your daughter.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI gave her too much grace, that\u2019s the problem!\u201d he roared, the sound echoing down the corridor like a whip crack. \u201cShe needed discipline from day one! If I\u2019d set the rules, she wouldn\u2019t be this wild!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I heard it all. Every word.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even as I shut the storage room door behind me, their voices still rang in my ears.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I slid down against the door, body trembling, arms wrapped tightly around myself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The room was pitch-black. Cold. Smelled of cedar and dust.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I curled into a ball on the thin cot, burying my face in my knees as tears streamed freely down my cheeks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So this was what it felt like.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To realize home was just another cage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They\u2019d carved out a space in the Ebonclaw manor for me, sure-but not a place in their hearts. Not really.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t Riley, their daughter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was a walking reminder of a mistake they regretted claiming.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I cried until my throat burned and my shoulders ached.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Eventually, the sobs softened, my body gave into exhaustion, and I lay flat on the cot, staring into the void above me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sleep pulled at my edges like a tide, but it offered no peace.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In my dreams, the prison came back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The fists. The boots. The pain..\u00a0<\/p>\n
My voice cracked as I screamed in my sleep.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHelp me\u2026 Mama, please\u2026 Mama\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But no one came.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Except\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
A hand. Warm. Gentle. Calloused.\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 336\u00a0<\/p>\n
Someone was stroking my back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s alright, pup. You\u2019re safe now\u2026 Mama\u2019s here\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That voice. It wasn\u2019t Luna Zara\u2019s.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was older. Softer. Full of quiet love.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mia.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even in my dream, I leaned toward the sound, toward the comfort. My muscles loosened slightly, the screams died on my lips.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Somewhere far away, I felt her hand keep patting my back, slow and steady.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I woke, the light through the small window was pale and blue.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sat up slowly, dazed and hollow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For a split second, I thought I\u2019d dreamed the whole thing-that Luna Zara had held me and whispered soft things.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But no.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I let out a soft, bitter laugh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even in dreams, I couldn\u2019t pretend she loved me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Only Mia ever stayed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u5408\u00a0<\/p>\n
730\u00a0<\/p>\n
Midnight Letters by Daniel Crowe 336 Chapter 336\u00a0 Riley\u2019s POV\u00a0 Alpha Alaric was trembling.\u00a0 His fists clenched tightly on the […]<\/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-20609","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pack-princess"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20609","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=20609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20609\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}