Chapter 373\u00a0<\/p>\n
Riley\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHeh.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
72\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
A cold laugh escaped my lips before I could stop it. It echoed through the sterile hospital room, sharp as broken glass.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo wonder the maids in the Ebonclaw Pack look down on me,\u201d I said, my voice low, brittle with irony. \u201cThey call Scarlett \u2018Young Lady,\u2019 and me? Just \u2018Miss Riley.\u2019 And they\u2019re not wrong.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned my gaze on Luna Zara and Kael Vale-my so-called mother and brother.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause neither of you ever intended to acknowledge me as one of your own.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always just been a guest in your house. A stray wolf at your doorstep.\u201d I tilted my head. \u201cNot family. Not truly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My voice dropped further, flat and void of warmth. \u201cSo why are you still here?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zara flinched. Then, in the blink of an eye, her expression shifted. The motherly sorrow vanished, replaced by cold Luna resolve. She straightened her spine, her jaw set firm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether you accept it or not, Riley, you are my daughter,\u201d she said. \u201cI carried you in my womb for ten months. You have Ebonclaw blood running through your veins. And that bond can never be broken.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing born of our Pack comes with responsibilities. Sacrifices. As a Vale, you owe your life to this Pack.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t respond.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She stepped closer, voice cold as iron. \u201cDon\u2019t forget what you promised me and Alpha Alaric. If you dare go back on your word and jeopardize our alliance with Alpha Lucien Duskgrave, then everything you hope to gain-your freedom, your future, the one million promised-will vanish.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
There it was.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The real reason she came.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not concern. Not remorse.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just the deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The arrangement.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The damn marriage pact with the Stormridge Pack\u2019s Alpha heir, Lucien.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She hadn\u2019t come to check if I was still bleeding inside.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She\u2019d come to make sure the bride was still intact.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I had long since stopped hoping she\u2019d see me as her daughter. What was the point? I was leverage to them. A rare white wolf they couldn\u2019t tame-so now, they\u2019d sell me off instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
14:29 Wed, Dec 31\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 373\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her words didn\u2019t surprise me. I had anticipated every single one.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re finished,\u201d I said coolly, \u201cplease leave.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
972\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned my face away from her. I didn\u2019t want to see their expressions. Not their guilt. Not their lies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zara\u2019s breath caught. She stood there for a moment too long. Maybe she still thought I\u2019d cry, beg, scream. But I didn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There were no more tears left in me for them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When she finally spoke again, her voice was icy. \u201cYou look fine to me. Recover quickly. Your father and I will schedule the meeting with Alpha Lucien. You\u2019ll do your duty.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She turned and left without another glance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kael lingered. His dark eyes searched my face-for what, I didn\u2019t know. Forgiveness? Weakness?\u00a0<\/p>\n
He found neither.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He sighed and followed her out the door.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Silence settled over the room like snow. Suffocating. Heavy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sat in that quiet, my hands clenched in the sheets, heart beating hollow in my\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wouldn\u2019t cry.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not for them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then-\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMiss Riley, you must be starving.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mia\u2019s voice cut through the fog like warm light. She opened the insulated container, and the scent of slow- simmered bone broth filled the room, soothing something raw in me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I took the bowl in my hands and sipped. The warmth traveled down my throat, but it tasted like nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Almost without meaning to, I whispered, \u201cCarmen\u2019s lucky.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mia paused.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s got you for a mother.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her eyes glossed over, but she blinked fast, keeping the tears at bay. She sat beside me and took my hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMiss Riley,\u201d she said gently, \u201clet\u2019s leave. You, me, and Carmen. We\u2019ll disappear. Go somewhere the Vales will never find us. Somewhere peaceful.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
God, how I wanted that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
14:29 Wed, Dec 31\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 373\u00a0<\/p>\n
The mere thought made my chest ache.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I couldn\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
If I ran now, they\u2019d crush Mia. They\u2019d revoke Carmen\u2019s Ashmoor scholarship, destroy her future. And the deal with Lucien still hung over me like a chain made of silver.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d marry him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d take the money.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then I\u2019d leave-and I\u2019d take Mia and Carmen with me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Far away from the Ebonclaw Pack. Far from Alaric, Zara, Kael, and all their lies.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I couldn\u2019t tell her that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So I said nothing. Just kept sipping the soup. It was warm, but it tasted like ash.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mia noticed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve changed,\u201d she said softly. \u201cYou\u2019re not the same girl I picked up from Mooncrest Penitentiary. I saw it the moment you crossed the gate. You were already planning to leave.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy haven\u2019t you, Riley?\u201d she asked quietly. \u201cDid they threaten you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My throat tightened. I stared into the soup.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I whispered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But even I didn\u2019t believe it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And I could see from her face-neither did she.\u00a0<\/p>\n
798\u00a0<\/p>\n
H\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 373 Chapter 373\u00a0 Riley\u2019s POV\u00a0 \u201cHeh.\u201d\u00a0 72\u00a0 Finished\u00a0 A cold laugh escaped my lips before […]<\/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-20647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pack-princess"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20647","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=20647"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20647\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}