Chapter 427\u00a0<\/p>\n
Riley\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
The slap came with wind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sharp. Swift. Cruel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zara wasn\u2019t holding back. Not a shred of shame, not even with half the Northern Pack elite standing around\u00a0<\/p>\n
all-to remind everyone that in her eyes, I was nothing\u00a0<\/p>\n
more than a disobedient, ungrateful mutt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The air thickened as a collective gasp rippled through the crowd. I could feel every gaze sharpen, every breath held in anticipation of the blow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But it never landed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Duke\u2019s hand caught hers mid-air with a strength that rattled the bones in her wrist. And before anyone could process what was happening, he flung her arm aside with enough force to send her stumbling back several steps.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sound of her heels scuffing against the stone echoed like a warning shot.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Somewhere in the crowd, someone gasped again. Another murmured, \u201cShe touched the Duskgrave escort?\u201d The implication lingered unspoken: She tried to strike Lucien\u2019s chosen guest?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zara caught herself just before she hit the ground. Her face, once flawless under layers of powdered pride, now flushed with burning humiliation. Her eyes-those eyes that never held warmth for me-stared at me in disbelief, as though I\u2019d just betrayed her in the cruelest way possible.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I wasn\u2019t the one who\u2019d betrayed anyone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My gaze found hers-calm, cool, and utterly detached.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No fear. No pleading. No ache for her approval.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She wasn\u2019t my mother anymore. She was just another threat in a world full of them. Another wolf who tried to cage me, then cried when I learned to bite back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I watched her flinch under my stare.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She\u2019d expected me to crumble. To cry. Maybe even to fall to my knees like the obedient daughter she thought I still was.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I didn\u2019t flinch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And that terrified her more than anything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her voice wavered, trembling like a thread about to snap. \u201cRiley\u2026 how-how could you let him lay hands on me? I\u2019m your mother!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A humorless smile curled my lips. Cold. Precise. Like the edge of a knife sliding across old wounds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
1001 Fri, Jan 9\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 427\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOh? So you do remember you\u2019re my mother,\u201d I said, voice soft as winter frost. \u201cInteresting. Because I don\u2019t recall any mother who greets her daughter with a slap to the face at her first public appearance in months.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I tilted my head slightly, eyes never leaving hers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOr perhaps\u2026 was that your idea of a gift? A warm maternal gesture, Vale-style?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Gasps and whispers rose like static in the air.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zara\u2019s face paled. I didn\u2019t stop.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf that\u2019s the kind of love you\u2019re offering, might I suggest you reserve it for your real daughter-Scarlett?\u201d I said smoothly. \u201cI\u2019m sure she\u2019d be honored to be slapped senseless in front of half the Northern Territory.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The laughter was quiet at first-muffled, awkward. But it spread. I heard one Luna whisper something behind her fan. I didn\u2019t care.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stood taller.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I let them see me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Let them see the she-wolf who refused to bow to the blood that tried to bury her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\uc774\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zara\u2019s face went red, then white, then a mottled flush of rage. \u201cI-I only struck you because I care! You ran off without a word! You could\u2019ve died out there! And now you show up looking like a-like a-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She gestured to my gown with disgust, spitting the next word like it poisoned her tongue.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLike a courtesan! Wearing clothes worth more than your life! Where did you get them? Did you sell yourself to buy that dress? Is that how you survived this past month?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My jaw clenched.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She wasn\u2019t even trying to hide the accusation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The gasps grew louder now, a few growls curling through the audience-some scandalized, some just hungry for blood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re my daughter,\u201d she sneered. \u201cI have every right to correct you if you\u2019ve lost your shame.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Every word she threw dripped like venom-and I could feel the fury coil in my chest like a beast begging to be unleashed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I took a slow step forward.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then another.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her mouth moved, but I was no longer listening. My wolf-Nyra-stirred inside me, quiet but seething. \u201cConcern?\u201d I echoed with a scoff. \u201cZara Vale, don\u2019t insult me. You\u2019ve never lost a night of sleep over me. The only time I ever heard you speak my name was when you were blaming me for something Scarlett did.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou beat me. Starved me. Locked me away when I didn\u2019t obey. You let them throw me in a cell without asking a single question.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
10:02 Fri, Jan 9 R G\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 427\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now that I\u2019m not crawling back with dirt under my nails and fear in my eyes, now you care?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shook my head, slowly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t need your guilt. And I certainly don\u2019t need your slaps.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zara staggered back like I\u2019d struck her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I wasn\u2019t done.\u00a0<\/p>\n
34\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not the same girl you pushed into the shadows. I don\u2019t need your approval to exist. I don\u2019t need your name. I have my own. Riley of the Ebonclaw Pack. Daughter of no one. Survivor of all.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That silence? It came again. Sharper. Deeper. Reverent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then-\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alaric Vale\u2019s voice sliced through it like a dagger. Harsh. Mocking.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou arrogant little mutt.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned slowly to face him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stood behind Zara, face twisted with contempt, lips curled in a sneer so familiar it made my wolf bristle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI should\u2019ve left you in that orphanage to rot. You were a mistake from the beginning. And now, look at you- parading around like some highborn bitch in heat, desperate to catch a mate at the feast. You think a silk dress makes you worthy?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t move.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care how many gowns you wear. You\u2019ll always be filth,\u201d he spat. \u201cAnd if you think I\u2019m going to stand here and let you shame the Vale name at the Duskgrave Matriarch\u2019s birthday, you\u2019re out of your cursed mind.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou ungrateful wretch. I took you in when no one else would. And this-this is how you repay me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Every word was a slap.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I didn\u2019t bleed anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I let the rage in his voice wash over me like a cold wave, and when it passed, I was still standing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still smiling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And no longer afraid.\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 427 Chapter 427\u00a0 Riley\u2019s POV\u00a0 The slap came with wind.\u00a0 Sharp. Swift. Cruel.\u00a0 Zara wasn\u2019t […]<\/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-20702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pack-princess"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20702","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=20702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20702\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}