Chapter 447\u00a0<\/p>\n
Riley\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
The woman\u2019s scream tore through the banquet hall like howl under a blood moon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sharp. Guttural. Animal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then-thud.\u00a0<\/p>\n
69%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her body seized once before collapsing backward in a graceless heap. She had fainted from the pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But mercy was a luxury she\u2019d forfeited.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Without hesitation, one of the Stormridge guards stepped forward and hurled a bucket of ice water over her face. The sound of it splashing against her skin was cris-almost theatrical.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She woke with a gasping jolt, only to lay eyes on her own bloodied hand. Where her thumb had once been, there was only ruined flesh, swollen and pulsing. Her shriek this time was weaker, hoarse, but no less full of horror.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The man who had done it-her husband-stood paralyzed beside her, the bloodied blade still clutched in his trembling hand. His pupils had shrunk to pinpricks. His knees buckled, and he crumpled with a sob, the knife clattering uselessly to the floor beside him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His tears flowed unchecked. But I felt nothing. Not a flicker of guilt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Around us, the banquet hall had gone deathly quiet. The scent of fear-sharp, sour, distinctly lupine-hung thick in the air. I could hear hearts pounding, lungs holding back sobs, the shuffle of expensive heels trying to edge toward the shadows.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not a soul dared to speak.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not when the air was laced with dominance and retribution.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not when Riley Vale stood with her chin raised and blood on her hands.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The other three couples looked as though the Moon Goddess herself had cursed them on the spot. The husbands shook like leaves in winter wind, their wives sobbing, clutching at each other, hoping in vain to become invisible.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucien said nothing. He didn\u2019t need to. He was my shield now-but I was the sword.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They turned to me then. Not to him. To me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMiss Vale-please,\u201d one of the remaining women cried, her voice cracking. \u201cWe didn\u2019t know. We didn\u2019t mean for it to go this far. Please\u2026 have mercy!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another stumbled forward, nearly collapsing to her knees. \u201cWe were wrong. We admit it. You want punishment? Fine! Just\u2026 not like this.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stepped forward slowly, the hem of my moon-blue gown whispering across the marble. Every eye followed me. Every heartbeat seemed to pause.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked down at them-those same women who had one looked at me like filth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
14:57 Wed, Jan 14 D GD.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 447\u00a0<\/p>\n
Who had torn my robes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Who had struck me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Who had spat at me and called me a rogue mutt.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u0f22\u0f2269%u\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think mercy is yours to beg for?\u201d My voice didn\u2019t tremble. \u201cWhere was that mercy when you pinned me down and laughed?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
They sobbed harder.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of the husbands tried to shield his wife, stepping in front of her like a knight made of paper. \u201cWe\u2019ll do anything.\u201d he pleaded. \u201cJust name it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I smiled. Not kindly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said anything?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His eyes lit with fragile hope. \u201cYes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGood,\u201d I said coolly. \u201cThen crawl.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Their expressions cracked. Shocked. Disbelieving.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou heard me,\u201d I continued, voice calm and brutal. \u201cOn your hands and knees. All of you. Snarl your apologies like the she-wolves you pretend to be. Show your belly. Bare your throat. Then drag your tongues\u00a0<\/p>\n
sins from it. That is the only redemption I will allow.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
across this floor and scrubs\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of the women sobbed, \u201cThat\u2019s-inhuman.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I said, eyes gleaming. \u201cIt\u2019s wolf.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The hesitation lasted less than a breath. Under the weight of my command-strengthened by Lucien\u2019s silent dominance behind me-they dropped. Four high-society women, crawling like mutts before the pack.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They lowered their heads, bared their throats, and began to growl apologies-low, forced, humiliating. Their growls trembled with shame and terror. The sound echoed across the hall like a dirge.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then they licked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tongues scraped over the marble. Blood and tears smeared into the polished surface as they dragged themselves forward inch by inch. For each step, they repeated broken apologies-snarling through clenched jaws, sobbing, sputtering as saliva and pride pooled at their knees.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stood above them, unmoved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Let every wolf in this hall see what true justice looks like.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Let them remember the sound of groveling socialites, once so high and mighty, now licking the floor beneath my feet like conquered bitches.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When they finally collapsed in exhaustion, I said coldly \u201cTake them outside.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The guards didn\u2019t throw them out like trash.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They paraded them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
we\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 447\u00a0<\/p>\n
69%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
Made them crawl across the banquet carpet and into the open street, where the evening pack traffic had begun to gather. Where dozens-hundreds-of wolves could see what had become of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They didn\u2019t shriek. They couldn\u2019t. Their voices had broken from too much groveling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t need them to scream.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I needed them to be seen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Humiliated not just by pain-but by submission.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When the doors closed again, the hall exhaled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A beat of silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then I turned my gaze to her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seraphina.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The true orchestrator. The one who\u2019d whispered lies and stirred cruelty with manicured claws.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She dropped before I could say a word, collapsing at my feet like her legs had vanished.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMiss Vale\u2026 I beg you. Please. I was wrong. I-I was jealous, and foolish and cruel, but I never meant to-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I raised a hand. She silenced instantly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sound of her knees slamming into marble echoed like a final verdict.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Blood oozed from her forehead as she threw herself down again and again in desperate bows. \u201cPlease\u2026 please forgive me\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t speak for a long moment. Just watched her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her tears meant nothing to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her trembling meant nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI should make you howl your shame to every wolf in this city,\u201d I said coldly. \u201cI should brand you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But just before the words could leave my mouth, I stopped myself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because Seraphina\u2026 was still Lucien\u2019s blood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And though she had betrayed everything her family should have stood for, I would not cross the line. Not this one. This was his Pack. His house. His shame to deal with.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stepped back-not in fear, not in surrender-but in principle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned to Lucien, my voice calm and steady.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s yours.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The weight of my words settled over the hall like storm clouds.\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
14:57 Wed, Jan 14\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 447\u00a0<\/p>\n
4.69%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucien hadn\u2019t moved through any of this. He had simply watched-silent, calculating. But now, his icy gaze shifted toward Seraphina, and something colder than winter began to stir behind his eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seraphina lifted her face to him, blood and tears streaking her once-pristine features.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLucien\u2026 please\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
But his silence was deafening.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stepped forward, slowly, like the tide rising before it crashes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou dishonored the Duskgrave name,\u201d he said, voice low and sharp as broken glass. \u201cYou lifted claws against\u00a0<\/p>\n
my mate. And then you groveled not because you regret it\u2026 but because you lost.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her breath hitched.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucien didn\u2019t shout. He didn\u2019t need to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should have thought of that before you shamed my blood,\u201d he said icily.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then he looked to the guards.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTake her to the private lounge. She still owes me more.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Send Gifts\u00a0<\/p>\n
992\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u5408\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\u00a0<\/p>\n
4\/4\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 447 Chapter 447\u00a0 Riley\u2019s POV\u00a0 The woman\u2019s scream tore through the banquet hall like howl […]<\/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-20722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pack-princess"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20722","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=20722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20722\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}