Chapter 448\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucien\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
69%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
Duke gave a crisp nod before signaling to the Stormridge guards behind him. They moved instantly-two. towering wolves in dark suits, each with the presence of a sentry and the strength of executioners.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Without hesitation, they seized Seraphina\u2019s arms like in shackles snapping shut. Her screams erupted the moment she was torn away from the hem of my coat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo! Let go of me!\u201d she shrieked, voice jagged and shrill\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her feet kicked wildly, heels scraping across the marble floors, her manicured claws leaving screeching trails like an animal dragged to slaughter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The hall had been filled with tension before. Now, it cracked open.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seraphina knew me. Far too well.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She\u2019d spent over two decades in the Duskgrave family, playing the role of Luna with a smile stitched out of venom. And in those years, she had learned a hard truth\u00a0<\/p>\n
If I dared do something publicly, it meant I\u2019d already accounted for the consequences.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If I did something in private-well, then there were no limits.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just like earlier. I hadn\u2019t lifted a blade myself when it came to those rogue wives-I\u2019d simply made their husbands do it. Under pack law, that counted as nothing more than a domestic dispute. Nothing to investigate. Nothing to trace back to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t have to leave blood on my hands. I left it on theirs.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That was the kind of Alpha I was. The kind Seraphina feared most.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLucien!\u201d a voice rang out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ford.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My father in name only.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stormed forward, his voice thick with fury and disbelief. \u201cYou can\u2019t do this. She\u2019s your stepmother!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned my head slowly, meeting his gaze with nothing but frost.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOh? So attached, are we?\u201d My voice was smooth, laced with cold steel. \u201cWhy don\u2019t you take her place, then?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The air changed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was subtle-like winter winds curling into the bones. Even the warmest corners of the banquet hall felt suddenly frigid, as if the blood moon itself had passed over.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ford\u2019s face flushed crimson, from his neck to his ears. Like a rooster cornered in a pit fight, too proud to admit he\u2019d already lost.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou will not lay another finger on her!\u201d he bellowed. \u201cNo matter what she did, I won\u2019t allow it!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u104b\u00a0<\/p>\n
O\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
14:57 Wed, Jan 14\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 448\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u0f66. 69%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
He stepped in front of Seraphina, arms outstretched like a shield made of wet paper. He might\u2019ve thought it noble.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I found it pathetic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seraphina\u2019s eyes lit with a flicker of hope. She clawed at Ford\u2019s sleeves, sobbing like a broken thing. \u201cSave me, Ford! Don\u2019t let them take me!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t even blink.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo touching,\u201d I said coldly. \u201cFine. Take them both.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The guards didn\u2019t even hesitate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two of them stepped forward and seized Ford\u2019s arms. The man resisted, twisting and jerking, barking threats that fell flat in the ears of wolves who no longer saw him as their leader.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m your father, Lucien! You\u2019ll regret this!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMother! Are you just going to stand there and let him betray his blood?!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His words were meant for my grandmother-Matriarch Duskgrave-who had been watching in silence from her chair of carved obsidian. The regal lines of her face twitched, but she said nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Only when I glanced her way did she finally open her mouth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLucien\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know what I\u2019m doing, Grandmother,\u201d I said, my voice respectful but firm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She exhaled a long, slow sigh. Then she nodded once and closed her eyes again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She understood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She remembered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was there the day my mother died-driven to madness and despair by the woman Ford now cradled in his arms. Seraphina hadn\u2019t just taken her place. She had spat on her memory.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d been five years old.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A child.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But even then, I had picked up a knife.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d barged into their wedding chambers, ready to kill both of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The adults pulled me away before I could land the strike-but not before I made a promise that silenced the entire house:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI can kill you now, and the law won\u2019t touch me. I\u2019m too young.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d said that with blood in my eyes. And from that moment on, Seraphina had never stopped trembling in my presence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not even now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
5\u00a0<\/p>\n
69%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 448\u00a0<\/p>\n
The doors to the private room slammed shut. Moment later, the screams began.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seraphina\u2019s voice tore through the silence, a raw, animalistic wail that sent a ripple of unease through every noble in the room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then came Ford\u2019s voice-rage turning into panic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sounds from behind the door grew sharper, cruele Crashes. Whimpers. Bones, maybe. I didn\u2019t need to know the details.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everyone else?\u00a0<\/p>\n
They were frozen in place.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even Riley-who stood at my side like a flame wrapped in silk-showed no reaction. She didn\u2019t need to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because this wasn\u2019t about vengeance anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was about power.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Minutes passed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Or hours. The screaming faded, leaving only the rhythmic thrum of blood in the ears of those who still had the nerve to listen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then the door creaked open.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Duke stepped out first.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Behind him, Seraphina was dragged into view-though ragged\u201d was generous. She was a heap of broken limbs, her arms and legs bent at grotesque angles, the bone clearly shattered beneath ruined skin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her face-once the pride of the Duskgrave household-was slashed beyond recognition. Blood dripped from her cheeks like tears. Her mouth, now a cavity of raw flesh, bled freely. Every tooth was gone. She couldn\u2019t even scream anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She wasn\u2019t a Luna.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She wasn\u2019t even a wolf.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Just a carcass breathing on borrowed time.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ford followed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No injuries to the body, no visible marks.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But his eyes\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
Empty. Hollow. Like a soul had been ripped from him and thrown into the Abyss.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The guards held him upright, but his legs had already given up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There were no more protests.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No more pleads.\u00a0<\/p>\n
DVA\u00a0<\/p>\n
14.57 Wed, Jan 14\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 448\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
No more delusions of control.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Only silence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The entire banquet hall had fallen into a frozen hush Nobles stared, wide-eyed and pale. None of them would ever forget this night\u00a0<\/p>\n
And that was the point.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned my eyes back to the gathering.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Let them tremble. Let them remember that the Duskgrave name meant something again\u00a0<\/p>\n
That I-Lucien Duskgrave-was no longer the boy with a knife.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was the Alpha now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And there would be no more mercy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Send Gifts\u00a0<\/p>\n
992\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\u00a0<\/p>\n
14:57 Wed, Jan 14\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 448 Chapter 448\u00a0 Lucien\u2019s POV\u00a0 69%\u00a0 Finished\u00a0 Duke gave a crisp nod before signaling to […]<\/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-20723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pack-princess"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20723","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=20723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20723\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}