Chapter 354\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ronan\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
Blood seeped through the gauze on my palm again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mia had just finished wrapping it up, but the second Kael stormed out and Riley stood there like the world couldn\u2019t touch her, I clenched my fist too tightly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t even feel it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just a dull, distant throb. A whisper compared to the chaos inside my chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Scarlett was gone upstairs-following her parents, trying to \u201csmooth things over,\u201d no doubt. The room emptied out in minutes, like they couldn\u2019t wait to let the dust settle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now it was just me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And Riley.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She stood across the room, her hands clenched at her sides, her chin lifted like a wolf ready for the next hit. She looked\u2026 tired. Not the kind of tired that could be fixed with sleep. The kind that seeps into the bones after years of holding yourself together while everyone else tried to tear you apart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stood. I didn\u2019t even know why.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She moved too-too fast, too sudden-and bumped hard into the edge of the coffee table.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She winced, but didn\u2019t make a sound.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t even glance back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She just walked away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not to Kael\u2019s room. Not even to her assigned bedroom. She headed toward the far end of the hall-toward the old supply closet the Pack used to throw things they didn\u2019t want.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of course.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The unwanted daughter returns to the unwanted room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before I realized I\u2019d moved, I was already behind her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The second she stepped inside, I slammed the door open. She jumped, turned-and I kicked it shut, hard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My hand shot out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pinned her to the wall.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her breath caught, chest heaving against my palm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/5\u00a0<\/p>\n
13:14 Mon, Dec 29\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 354\u00a0<\/p>\n
Our faces were inches apart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
Close enough for me to see the way her pupils flared. Close enough to smell the faint trace of antiseptic and blood under the synthetic rose perfume clinging to her hair.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She trembled under my hand. Not from weakness. From trying too hard not to show fear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hated how much I noticed that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hated how it still made me want to protect her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I should\u2019ve walked away. Should\u2019ve said nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But my voice came out anyway-sharp, biting, soaked in something I refused to name.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you\u2019re really that eager to get married?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her lips parted, her eyes flashing. She shoved at my chest with both hands-small, pale fists that didn\u2019t budge me an inch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s none of your business, Ronan.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My name in her mouth didn\u2019t sound like it used to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No softness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just finality.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I leaned closer, unable to stop myself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNone of my business? After what you did to Tessa? After what you did to my family? You think you can just walk out of here and marry into Stormridge like none of it matters?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I could feel my voice rising, heat crawling up my neck.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I couldn\u2019t stop.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t want to stop.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She went still.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And then, her voice-flat, cruel-cut through the air.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBetter Stormridge than this house. Better being a stranger\u2019s bride than your family\u2019s burden.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words hit harder than I expected.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And then she looked me in the eye.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me, Ronan\u2026 Is the Stormridge heir more dangerous than you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That made my breath catch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just for a second.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/5\u00a0<\/p>\n
5.14 Mon, Dec 23\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 354\u00a0<\/p>\n
I saw the flicker in her gaze. The fear. The memory of that night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of what I did.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of how low I sank when they told me what she did to Tessa-and I believed it. Of how I stood in that courtroom and let her fall.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d buried that memory for years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now it stood between us again, more real than ever.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She looked at me like I was a monster.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And maybe I was.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maybe that\u2019s why I stepped closer again-until there was nowhere left to go.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because this wasn\u2019t just about jealousy. It was about control. Territory. Duty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The alliance between Blackmaw and Ebonclaw had to happen. That much was clear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As the heir to Blackmaw, I would have to choose a daughter of Alpha Alaric.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If you asked me who I wanted-it would\u2019ve been Riley.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Always Riley.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But she attacked my sister Tessa. She went to prison.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My mate can\u2019t carry that kind of stain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But that doesn\u2019t mean she can belong to someone else.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think I\u2019ll let you marry him?\u201d I asked, voice like gravel. \u201cYou think I\u2019ll just watch you walk away after everything?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t flinch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But her voice was low now. Cold.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWho I marry has nothing to do with you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I laughed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Short. Bitter. Twisted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIn what world, Riley? You think you\u2019re free? You think because you\u2019ve been paroled you\u2019re clean?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I reached out again, not to hurt-just to remind her. My fingers brushed her shoulder, just above the bandage. She didn\u2019t cry out, but her body flinched.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hated that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/5\u00a0<\/p>\n
13:14 Mon, Dec 29\u00a0<\/p>\n
OG\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 354\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hated how her pain still felt like mine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
You\u2019re still marked by what you did. And as long as my sister doesn\u2019t wake up, you belong to the Blackmaw Pack. You belong to me.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her eyes widened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She looked up at me like I\u2019d struck her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And still-she said nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just\u2026 stared.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And in her silence, something inside me cracked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I remembered her tears when I had a fever. I remembered her skipping her only national academic competition to sit by my bedside. I remembered how she used to whisper her dreams of Ashmoor Academy at midnight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And I remembered that I\u2019d crushed every one of those dreams.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her eyes now were nothing like the girl I knew. Just grey glass, frozen to survive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I loosened my grip.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Slowly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Carefully.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Like I was afraid she might shatter if I touched her too long.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her breath came out shaky, but steady. She didn\u2019t move.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And I\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t look at her anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I let go.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The warmth of her body slipped out from under my palm. She didn\u2019t say thank you. She didn\u2019t curse me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She just stood there. Quiet. Proud. Unbreakable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned away before she could see the worst of it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before she could see that the Alpha heir of Blackmaw-Scarlett\u2019s fianc\u00e9, their future alliance\u2019s keystone-had almost begged a convicted traitor to stay.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And worse?\u00a0<\/p>\n
That a part of him still wanted her to say yes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
4\/5\u00a0<\/p>\n
Joseph King is an editor and storyteller who ensures every chapter is clear, polished, and engaging for readers.<\/p>\n
Midnight Letters by Daniel Crowe 354 Chapter 354\u00a0 Ronan\u2019s POV\u00a0 Blood seeped through the gauze on my palm again.\u00a0 Finished\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-20627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pack-princess"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20627","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=20627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20627\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}