Chapter 459\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucien\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
:\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ashmoor Academy was nestled in the cradle of the northern highlands, its ancient stone towers. wrapped in a steady mist that smelled of frost, pine, and old magic. The kind of place built not just to train warriors-but to forge legends.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But as I pulled the car into the gated drive, my eyes weren\u2019t on the battlements or the looming archway that bore the academy\u2019s sigil.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They were on the girl sitting beside me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Riley had been silent most of the ride. Not the tense silence of a girl plotting escape, but the kind of quiet that came from exhaustion-the bone-deep weariness of someone used to fighting alone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t press her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The moment we arrived, an attendant escorted us to the academy\u2019s medical wing. I\u2019d called ahead. Told them Riley needed a full exam before we made any decisions about her training path. I might\u2019ve pulled some strings. Technically, the chief combat instructor was semi-retired.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But for me, she made an exception.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She always did.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLucien Duskgrave,\u201d said a sharp voice as we entered the white-tiled room. \u201cStill dragging half- dead wolves through my doors, I see.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I smirked. \u201cYou love the drama, Maeryn.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Warden Maeryn Voss snorted as she stepped forward, her cane tapping with authority on the cold tile. Her hair was silver-white and braided back in a warrior\u2019s twist, her broad shoulders still carrying the posture of a frontline general. Despite the crow\u2019s feet around her eyes, the force of her presence crackled like live wire-old magic wrapped in a lifetime of battlefield instinct. She wasn\u2019t just Ashmoor\u2019s senior instructor-she was its legend.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her gaze landed on Riley, appraising and sharp.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou must be the Vale girl,\u201d she said, not unkindly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Riley shifted uneasily. \u201cJust Riley.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:18 Fri, Jan 16\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 459\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maeryn gave a short nod. \u201cCome. Let\u2019s see what the world\u2019s carved out of you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She led Riley into a side chamber.\u00a0<\/p>\n
75\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
I waited in the hall, pacing. Minutes passed. Then nearly an hour.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finally, the door opened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maeryn stepped out first, her expression unreadable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Riley followed behind her, eyes distant, face pale.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Something in my chest tightened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stepped forward. \u201cWhat is it?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maeryn looked at me with an intensity I hadn\u2019t seen in years. \u201cYou were right to bring her here. But it\u2019s worse than I thought.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I tensed. \u201cTell me everything.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She gestured me into her office. Riley remained behind in the waiting room, perched silently on the edge of a bench like a wraith made flesh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Once inside, Maeryn closed the door and dropped her usual steel facade.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s bleeding magic,\u201d she said without preamble. \u201cOr rather-her wolf is.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart froze. \u201cWhat?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She tapped a glowing diagnostic chart laid out across her desk. It shimmered with faint blue runes, a spectral image of Riley\u2019s wolf form projected in pale light.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s unstable. Her wolf is severely weakened, barely anchored to her physical form. The reason?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She pointed to a faint distortion on the image\u2019s lower right quadrant.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s missing a vital organ.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA kidney,\u201d I said grimly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maeryn nodded. \u201cCorrect. Her human body has learned to cope, but her wolf? Her wolf is still bleeding. You of all people understand how spirit and body must remain in harmony for a shifter to function at full strength.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I clenched my fists. \u201cWhat does that mean for her training?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:18 Fri, Jan 16\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 459\u00a0<\/p>\n
:.\u00a0<\/p>\n
:\u00a0<\/p>\n
75\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means she\u2019s not ready. Throw her into high-impact combat drills now, and she could collapse mid-shift. Or worse-her wolf could try to tear away from her, instinctively seeking safety.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She paused, then added in a quieter voice, \u201cAnd Lucien\u2026 even in this state\u2026 she still managed to summon her wolf.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked up sharply.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maeryn\u2019s voice lowered in awe. \u201cDo you understand what that means? I\u2019ve trained thousands of warriors. I\u2019ve seen Alphas lose their shift over emotional trauma. But Riley\u2026 she\u2019s incomplete, fractured-and her wolf still came when called. That kind of soul-bond doesn\u2019t just survive. It fights. She\u2019s rare, Lucien. One in a thousand.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I exhaled slowly, her words landing like hammers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s meant to be on the battlefield,\u201d Maeryn said. \u201cBut not like this. She\u2019s fire wrapped in broken bones.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIs there a way to fix it?\u201d I asked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is,\u201d she said, expression hardening. \u201cFind the missing piece. Her wolf is searching for it. If we can locate the kidney-if it\u2019s still viable-we might be able to graft it back. A spirit-bound transplant. Difficult. Dangerous. Not exactly legal. But possible.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My throat tightened. \u201cCan I tell her?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should. But be careful with hope. If the donor was unwilling\u2026 or if too much time has passed, there may be no reclaiming it. If it was sold, altered, discarded-there\u2019s a hundred ways this could go wrong.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stood up, mind racing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Back in the hallway, Riley lifted her head when I approached. Her eyes were searching mine before I even spoke.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSo?\u201d she asked, her voice trying for steadiness. \u201cAm I in?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sat beside her, close but not touching.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a complication,\u201d I said quietly, \u201cYour wolf\u2026 she\u2019s weak. That\u2019s why your shifts hurt. Why you\u2019re tired all the time. It\u2019s not just the trauma.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her lips parted slightly. \u201cSo I\u2019m not strong enough.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d I leaned closer, letting the heat in my voice do what my hands couldn\u2019t. \u201cYou\u2019re stronger\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:18 Fri, Jan 16\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 459\u00a0<\/p>\n
:\u00a0<\/p>\n
75\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
than anyone I\u2019ve ever met. But your wolf is incomplete. You had a kidney removed, didn\u2019t you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her expression crumpled. \u201cI don\u2019t even remember when it happened.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I swallowed the sharp sting in my throat. \u201cThat\u2019s part of the problem. But if we find the missing organ, there\u2019s a chance-a real chance-we can help your wolf heal.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She stared at me for a long moment, silent, unreadable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then finally, finally, she leaned into me. Not because she was falling apart-because she chose to. Because maybe, just maybe, she believed me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, careful and steady.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll find it,\u201d I whispered. \u201cEven if I have to tear the world apart to do it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
And this time, she didn\u2019t pull away.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1.0K\u00a0<\/p>\n
4\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
W\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:18 Fri, Jan 16 T\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Pack\u2019s Daughter\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 460\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 459 Chapter 459\u00a0 Lucien\u2019s POV\u00a0 :\u00a0 Finished\u00a0 Ashmoor Academy was nestled in the cradle of […]<\/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-20734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pack-princess"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20734","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=20734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20734\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}