\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 11\u00a0<\/p>\n
81\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucas\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
Back in my room at Aethon Pack\u2019s main estate, silence was supposed to mean peace-but all it did was roar louder inside my skull. My bed remained untouched. I hadn\u2019t shifted out of this chair for over an hour, elbows on my knees, phone clutched in my palm like it might answer on its own if I stared hard enough.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rebecca still wasn\u2019t answering.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019d called. Texted. Even used the old wolfmark channel we used as knights-one most warriors forgot existed. Nothing. She was gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And I hated how that made me feel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It shouldn\u2019t matter. It shouldn\u2019t. She wasn\u2019t mine to worry about. My duty was to Maurine now -always had been. The key, the prophecy, the balance\u2026 All of it pointed to Maurine. My mission, my purpose, was built around keeping her safe. I used Rebecca-gods forgive me- for cover, for access, for secrecy. If anyone found out who Maurine really was, what power she held\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
They\u2019d tear her apart.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So I told myself I did the right thing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then why the hell did I feel like something inside me was breaking?\u00a0<\/p>\n
The door creaked and I didn\u2019t look up. I already knew the scent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cBeta,\u201d I said, voice low.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAlpha.\u201d Reid stepped in quietly, then paused. He never used that title unless we were alone. The rest of the Aethon pack believed I was still just a loyal knight in service to Aethon. And\u00a0<\/p>\n
that\u2019s the way I needed it to stay.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re late.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to the Red District first.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My jaw clenched. \u201cAbout Rebecca\u2026 I can\u2019t even reach her through any methods I know.\u201d \u201cLike she was totally gone?\u201d Reid raised a brow and stepped further into the moonlight, folding his arms. \u201cI thought you don\u2019t really care about her, Alpha? That woman is just a thorn on your side. Why are you still looking for her until now?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know where she is now. Thane Pack.\u201d I swallowed the words like poison. \u201cShe will marry their vegetative Alpha.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Reid blinked. \u201cMaximus Thane? The one who\u2019s practically a corpse?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nodded once. \u201cThe guy who got poisoned by a vampire hoodlum bite months ago? There\u2019s no way she-\u201d He paused. \u201cWait, is he even conscious?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. Still in a coma.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Reid whistled. \u201cWhy the hell would she marry him? That doesn\u2019t make sense.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/2 16.7%\u00a0<\/p>\n
11:36 Wed, Jan 28 MR.\u00a0<\/p>\n
81\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t have an answer. That\u2019s what drove me mad. I stood and paced, claws threatening to burst through my fingertips. My wolf was restless, pacing behind my skin. Agitated. Confused.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wouldn\u2019t\u2026\u201d I started, then stopped. \u201cRebecca\u2019s reckless, yeah. Stubborn. But she wouldn\u2019t throw herself into something like that without a reason.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Reid shrugged. \u201cMaybe she finally cracked. Or maybe she\u2019s just following orders. Her father\u2019s always been obsessed with alliance-building.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I let out a growl low in my throat. The idea of her being used like that\u2026 it didn\u2019t sit right. It never did. Not with Rebecca.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cReid,\u201d I muttered, \u201cfind out what you can. Discreetly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He frowned. \u201cAlpha-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJust do it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His eyes narrowed. \u201cYou sure this is still about the mission?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI need to know what she\u2019s playing at.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A beat of silence passed between us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re too deep, Alpha,\u201d he said finally. \u201cShe\u2019s just a girl who clawed Maurine. You\u2019re not thinking straight.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know anymore, fuck. Just do it. For my peace of mind,\u201d I said before I could stop myself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Reid exhaled and looked away. \u201cFine. I\u2019ll ask around.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
When the door shut behind him, I leaned back against the wall and stared at the ceiling. I\u2019d convinced myself for years that Rebecca was a stepping stone. That she was nothing but a pawn I had to play in this long game. But somewhere along the way\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
She\u2019d become real.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And now she was gone. Going to get married. To a dying Alpha who couldn\u2019t speak, couldn\u2019t touch, couldn\u2019t protect her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why? Why would she give herself up like that?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I gritted my teeth and glanced at my phone again. Still nothing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maurine\u2019s scent drifted faintly from the hallway. Sweet like lilies and lavender. My official duty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Rebecca\u2019s scent-feral and earthy like pine after rain-lingered in my memory stronger\u00a0<\/p>\n
than I wanted to admit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I threw the phone across the room. It hit the wall and clattered to the floor in pieces. My wolf let out a low whine inside my chest. I\u2019d made my choice. I reminded myself of that a hundred times. Maurine was the key. Rebecca was a decoy. A shield.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And now that shield was gone, about to get married into the Thane Pack, leaving me with a gut full of guilt and no answers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I collapsed back onto the chair, breathing heavy, claw tips barely sheathed. I didn\u2019t know what\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 11\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3 17.8%\u00a0<\/p>\n
11:37 Wed, Jan 28 MR\u00a0<\/p>\n
81\u00a0<\/p>\n
this was anymore-regret? Guilt? Some twisted sense of loyalty I\u2019d never truly buried?\u00a0<\/p>\n
All I knew was that the bed still felt too empty without the echo of her voice mocking me. That I kept expecting to hear her stomp through the hall with that half-snarl of hers, teeth bared, daring me to challenge her again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But she was gone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And for the first time in years, I couldn\u2019t tell if I\u2019d won or lost.\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\u00a0<\/p>\n
11:37 Wed, Jan 28 MR\u00a0<\/p>\n
When My Alpha Ex-Husband Came Looking for Me by Mark Twain 11 \u00a0 Chapter 11\u00a0 81\u00a0 Lucas\u2019s POV\u00a0 Back in […]<\/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":[64],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-unclaimed-luna-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23879","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=23879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23879\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}