\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 13\u00a0<\/p>\n
81\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucas\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
The fire inside me hadn\u2019t settled since the night before. I paced the floor of my quarters like a caged beast, the soft glow of the moon filtering through the tall windows of the Aethon manor. My claws ached to shift, but I kept myself still.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even as I tried to convince myself that Rebecca was irrelevant to our mission\u2026 I couldn\u2019t stop thinking about her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why marry a man in a coma? Why would she do something so reckless, so permanent?\u00a0<\/p>\n
The vampire venom in Maximus Thane\u2019s blood had sealed his fate. Everyone knew that. Once infected, your soul rots from the inside out. Even a born Alpha couldn\u2019t recover from a wound like that. So why tie herself to a corpse?\u00a0<\/p>\n
She didn\u2019t even know who was the cure. She didn\u2019t even know how to save him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I mindlinked my Beta. \u201cReid,\u201d I growled. \u201cYou got any leads on Rebecca?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Beta Reid\u2019s voice crackled in response. \u201cNo. I tried asking around, but no one knew how she was inside the Thane Pack\u2019s territory.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That made my blood stir with something uncomfortably close to panic. \u201cCheck again. Go through the Thane territory. Discreetly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
There was a pause. \u201cAlpha\u2026 why? We\u2019re here for Maurine. That\u2019s our mission, remember? She\u2019s the one who needs protecting. Not Rebecca.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I clenched my jaw so hard I thought my molars would crack.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know,\u201d I muttered. \u201cI just\u2026 guarded her for years. Hard to ignore her being married off like cattle.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
4\u00a0<\/p>\n
Reid snorted. \u201cYou\u2019re sounding like a wolf with a leash around his heart. You don\u2019t have that luxury anymore.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI said check again,\u201d I snapped, cutting off the comm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What the hell was wrong with me? Reid was right. My loyalty was to the mission. To Maurine. She was the key. I learned that the hard way years ago-when I heard it from the seer of the Silvana Pack.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The girl who would determine the fate of all vampires and infected werewolves. That\u2019s why I attached myself to Rebecca back then. She was the perfect distraction. Everyone thought I was her knight, protecting the quiet, damaged she-wolf no one dared get close to. But all I\u2019d really been doing was staying close enough to Maurine without raising suspicion. If anyone found out what Maurine truly was, she\u2019d be hunted, devoured by the very beasts we were hiding her from.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So why was I losing sleep over Rebecca?\u00a0<\/p>\n
To rid myself of the noise in my head, I set out that morning for Silvana Pack. I needed to talk to the Elders. Maybe get my mind straight again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 12\u00a0<\/p>\n
11:37 Wed, Jan 28 MR\u00a0<\/p>\n
The journey took half the day, through forests thick with the scent of pine and snow. Fog crept low across the mountains, clinging to the terrain like ghost\u2019s breath. Silvana was the most elusive of the allied packs-some even whispered our blood ran ancient, older than the moon itself. Our territory sat nestled in a hidden valley, protected by wards and the bones of fallen\u00a0<\/p>\n
wolves.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I crossed their borders, the air changed. My wolf bristled beneath my skin. A hum of power vibrated through the earth itself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The guards at the threshold stiffened but didn\u2019t stop me. I was expected.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Inside the council hall, the Elders sat in a half-circle of carved obsidian thrones. Their eyes, clouded with time but sharp as blades, pierced through me the moment I entered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou reek of conflict, Alpha Lucas,\u201d Elder Ilya rasped, \u201cSpeak your purpose.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I knelt low in respect. \u201cI came for an update. And to offer a warning. The infected are growing bold.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Elder Merek leaned forward. \u201cHow many?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMore than a dozen new cases in the eastern packs. Same symptoms. Unnatural aggression. Rotting wounds. Eyes black as pitch.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
A low murmur rippled through the circle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why vampires and some infected packs are desperate,\u201d I continued. \u201cThey\u2019re searching for the key. The one in the prophecy. But I want it known: they won\u2019t lay a single claw on my fated mate. Not even a strand of her hair. If they get her, she will die. They will get every ounce of her life essence. I will die if my fated mate dies. You know that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
At this, the Elders fell silent. Then Ilya spoke again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThey grow bolder because the blood moon approaches,\u201d she said, voice gravelly. \u201cThe\u00a0<\/p>\n
hunger in them will rise. They will feel the pull of the key more strongly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s still hidden in plain sight,\u201d I said. \u201cAs long as I am here, I will protect her. No one suspects who she really is.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know. She can\u2019t die, Alpha. Because if she does, you will too. That\u2019s how powerful fated mates are. We can\u2019t afford to lose our Alpha. The entire pack will fall,\u201d Elder Merek said with narrowed eyes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words dug deeper than I expected. I stood and bowed. \u201cI\u2019ll do what must be done.\u201d But as I walked away from their stone hall, those words echoed in my skull.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Back at the Aethon manor, the moon was starting to rise over the ridge. The scent of night-blooming wolfsbane filled the air. I stood at the balcony, watching the pack warriors train in the courtyard below.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t know what I wanted from Rebecca. I didn\u2019t even know why I cared. I had a duty. A secret to protect. But even with all that, some part of me-the old part, the raw part-still remembered her scent. Her voice. The way she used to smile when she thought I wasn\u2019t looking.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3 21.1%\u00a0<\/p>\n
11:37 Wed, Jan 28 MR\u00a0<\/p>\n
When My Alpha Ex-Husband Came Looking for Me by Mark Twain 13 \u00a0 Chapter 13\u00a0 81\u00a0 Lucas\u2019s POV\u00a0 The fire […]<\/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-23881","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\/23881","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=23881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23881\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}