His mouth snapped shut.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAlpha Kacl, this folder is the info you asked me to compile a few days ago on the Eastwood sector. Reliable sources say that land will be auctioned off in two weeks.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I muttered, \u201cLeave it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
After Luca left, I stared blankly at the desk for a long while before starting to deal with the work at hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The new policy planned to develop Eastwood into a commercial district. As long as the policy held, securing that land would be a guaranteed big win.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But we weren\u2019t the only ones eyeing it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Stormridge Pack from Northhaven also showed serious interest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett was betrothed to Ronan, and a joint development between Blackmaw and Ebonclaw on Eastwood would be a perfect win-win.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What I wasn\u2019t sure about was Stormridge\u2019s attitude.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stormridge was one of the most powerful Packs in the northern capital, with a heritage far exceeding that of Ebonclaw. If they decided to take Eastwood all for themselves, then Ebonclaw and the Blackmaw would be out of luck.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Work was a mess. Family was a mess.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt like my head was about to explode.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared at the desk.\u00a0<\/p>\n
About the bandage soaked in my sister\u2019s blood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d seen it with my own eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Who the hell did that to her?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Was it Ronan?\u00a0<\/p>\n
That smug bastard from the Blackmaw Pack?\u00a0<\/p>\n
My fists curled until my knuckles ached.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Riley might\u2019ve messed up. Might\u2019ve made enemies. Might\u2019ve torn this family apart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But she\u2019s still my sister.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still Ebonclaw blood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And she didn\u2019t deserve to be thrown around like some rogue trash because that bastard lost his precious little Tessa.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I barely made it through the rest of the day.\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/5\u00a0<\/p>\n
O\u00a0<\/p>\n
Midnight came. I didn\u2019t go home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I drove straight to the Silverfang Den-one of those upscale dens where bored nobles drank away their honor and wolves forgot who they were for a night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was dark inside. Loud music. Low lights. Shadows dancing on leather couches. The air thick with alcohol. perfume, and Pack musk.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I went straight to the bar and dropped onto a stool.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething strong.\u201d I said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The bartender gave me a look, then slid me a glass. I tossed it back without thinking. The burn hit my throat hard. It helped. Barely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I downed another.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And another.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Riley had changed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So much.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Too much.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She used to look at me like I was her brother. Like I mattered. Like my approval meant something.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now she barely looked at me at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t even try anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And it pissed me off more than I wanted to admit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I slammed my glass down and reached for another.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But someone beat me to it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A pale, long-fingered hand slid across the bar and snatched it first.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned, pissed off. \u201cThe hell-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The guy didn\u2019t respond.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just threw the drink back like water.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It took my eyes a second to focus under the strobe lights.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And then I saw him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ronan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The prince of the Blackmaw Pack.\u00a0<\/p>\n
4\/5\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou bastard,\u201d I growled. \u201cYou split my sister\u2019s head open. You call yourself a man?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I swung.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t flinch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just moved. Effortless. Quick.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My punch missed, and I stumbled into the bar like a damn drunk.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Liquor flew. Glasses clattered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned again, ready to go for round two-but he caught my wrist and slammed it into the bar, hard enough to rattle my bones.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to act like a feral mutt,\u201d he said coldly, \u201cgo do it on your own turf. Not in my den.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think you\u2019re innocent?\u201d I spat. \u201cYou laid a hand on Riley. That\u2019s a line you don\u2019t come back from.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His eyes narrowed, cold as moonlight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t touch her,\u201d he said. \u201cBut even if I did-it would be what she owe\u2019s. To Tessa.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
730\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u5408\u00a0<\/p>\n
(li)\u00a0<\/p>\n
5\/5\u00a0<\/p>\n
Midnight Letters by Daniel Crowe 338 His mouth snapped shut.\u00a0 \u201cAlpha Kacl, this folder is the info you asked me […]<\/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-20611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pack-princess"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20611","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=20611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20611\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}