\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 14\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucas\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was supposed to feel triumphant, wasn\u2019t I? I\u2019d just sworn an oath before the Silvana elders that I would let no harm touch Maurine, not even the tip of her hair. I made that promise with conviction. With fire in my blood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But now\u2026 something itched under my skin. A deep crawl of something I couldn\u2019t name.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I pushed the heavy wooden doors open and stalked through the halls. The packhouse was alive with laughter, soft music, and the lingering scent of wine and perfume. Maurine\u2019s friends must be visiting again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I slowed when I caught her voice down the corridor. The door to the sunroom was cracked slightly open, warm firelight spilling into the hallway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I know I shouldn\u2019t have listened. But I did.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, gods, I can\u2019t believe that witch is finally gone,\u201d Maurine laughed, her voice sharp like broken glass. \u201cRebecca marrying that vegetable Alpha? What a poetic ending.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
There was a ripple of giggles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another girl chimed in, \u201cDidn\u2019t her mom die tragically too? So sad.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSad?\u201d Maurine barked a laugh. \u201cNo, it\u2019s perfect. That old hag raised a whore, and now both of them are where they belong. Forgotten. Rebecca was always in the way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The blood in my veins turned to ice. I stood frozen in the corridor, jaws clenched so tightly it ached. My claws itched to push through my skin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of her friends asked, \u201cBut what about your knight, Lucas? He\u2019s so loyal. It\u2019s kind of cute, honestly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maurine\u2019s voice dripped with amusement. \u201cLucas? Please. I\u2019m just keeping him around like a pet. He\u2019ll do anything I say, and I haven\u2019t even given him a real treat yet. If he\u2019s this obedient now, imagine when I let him think I might love him.\u201d Then she added more, \u201cBesides, the Alpha of Silvana Pack seemed to like me. I\u2019d rather marry someone powerful.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My wolf snarled so loud in my chest I had to bite my tongue to stay silent. I should\u2019ve stormed in there. I should\u2019ve confronted her. But I didn\u2019t. Instead, I turned around and walked away, my fists clenched so tight my claws pierced skin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I should be happy, right? She liked me. No, she liked the version of me that showered her with luxuries. She didn\u2019t like me as Lucas, her wolf knight. The one who served her with loyalty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stormed past the guards who tried to greet me, past the omega tending the fire pit, past the courtyard where the younger wolves were training. I couldn\u2019t stay still. My wolf was pacing inside me, slamming against the walls of my ribs, demanding blood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I ended up at the stables. The horses huffed in their stalls, but even they sensed the fury in me and stayed silent. I sat down hard on a wooden bench and buried my face in my hands. What the hell was I doing?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 14\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3 22.8%\u00a0<\/p>\n
11:37 Wed, Jan 28 MA.\u00a0<\/p>\n
81\u00a0<\/p>\n
For years I told myself this was for the mission. That guarding Rebecca was only ever a smokescreen. That Maurine was the true target-the key mentioned in the oracle. The one the vampires were hunting. The one whose essence, if taken, could cure poisoned vampires and werewolves.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If she was not my fated mate, I wouldn\u2019t care what will happen to her. Besides, curing the infected was the most logical thing to do. But the seer told me she was my mate, and she told me that my mate wouldn\u2019t be able to feel our mate bond because of her overflowing healing essence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And if my mate died, I would probably die in pain too. I couldn\u2019t let that happen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But what I saw tonight\u2026 What I heard her say\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
How could the Moon Goddess bind me to someone who took pleasure in others\u2019 pain? Who mocked the dead? Who lied about everything she was?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked down at my palms, stained with the blood of every vow I\u2019d made for her. Every order I followed without question.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I thought of the way she laughed when I handed her that moonstone necklace, like it was a trophy. The way she smiled when I caught the runaway rabbit hybrid for her, like I was just some dog fetching a stick.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And then\u2026 a face flickered into my mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rebecca.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That quiet, storm-eyed woman who once stood tall even when her name was dragged through the mud. Who never once asked me for anything, yet always carried herself with a grace that demanded respect. Whose shoulder I watched heal after being clawed-too fast. Who disappeared into silence without warning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why did she come to mind now?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I cursed under my breath and stood. I couldn\u2019t afford distractions. Not when vampires were moving again. Not when the infected ones had started to creep back from the edges of extinction, hungry, desperate, searching.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, I couldn\u2019t stop the question echoing in my mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Did Maurine ever love me?\u00a0<\/p>\n
No. That wasn\u2019t even the right question.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Did she even care?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I barked out a bitter laugh. Of course not. I wasn\u2019t Lucas to her. I was a pawn. A tool. A leash wrapped around my own neck.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And maybe I deserved it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because deep down, I knew. I always knew.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The moment I saw her strike the slave, the moment I watched her eyes gleam with cruelty, something cracked inside me. The woman I thought I loved-no, the woman I needed to believe in-is not the one standing before me now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When My Alaba Ev Husband Comel\u00a0<\/p>\n
wee Aready Cope\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3 22.2%\u00a0<\/p>\n
11:37 Wed, Jan 28 DMR\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 14\u00a0<\/p>\n
81\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucas\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was supposed to feel triumphant, wasn\u2019t I? I\u2019d just sworn an oath before the Silvana elders that I would let no harm touch Maurine, not even the tip of her hair. I made that promise with conviction. With fire in my blood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But now\u2026 something itched under my skin. A deep crawl of something I couldn\u2019t name.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I pushed the heavy wooden doors open and stalked through the halls. The packhouse was alive with laughter, soft music, and the lingering scent of wine and perfume. Maurine\u2019s friends must be visiting again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I slowed when I caught her voice down the corridor. The door to the sunroom was cracked slightly open, warm firelight spilling into the hallway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I know I shouldn\u2019t have listened. But I did.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, gods, I can\u2019t believe that witch is finally gone,\u201d Maurine laughed, her voice sharp like broken glass. \u201cRebecca marrying that vegetable Alpha? What a poetic ending.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
There was a ripple of giggles.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Another girl chimed in, \u201cDidn\u2019t her mom die tragically too? So sad.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSad?\u201d Maurine barked a laugh. \u201cNo, it\u2019s perfect. That old hag raised a whore, and now both of them are where they belong. Forgotten. Rebecca was always in the way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The blood in my veins turned to ice. I stood frozen in the corridor, jaws clenched so tightly it ached. My claws itched to push through my skin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of her friends asked, \u201cBut what about your knight, Lucas? He\u2019s so loyal. It\u2019s kind of cute, honestly.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maurine\u2019s voice dripped with amusement. \u201cLucas? Please. I\u2019m just keeping him around like a pet. He\u2019ll do anything I say, and I haven\u2019t even given him a real treat yet. If he\u2019s this obedient now, imagine when I let him think I might love him.\u201d Then she added more, \u201cBesides, the Alpha of Silvana Pack seemed to like me. I\u2019d rather marry someone powerful.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My wolf snarled so loud in my chest I had to bite my tongue to stay silent. I should\u2019ve stormed in there. I should\u2019ve confronted her. But I didn\u2019t. Instead, I turned around and walked away, my fists clenched so tight my claws pierced skin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I should be happy, right? She liked me. No, she liked the version of me that showered her with luxuries. She didn\u2019t like me as Lucas, her wolf knight. The one who served her with loyalty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stormed past the guards who tried to greet me, past the omega tending the fire pit, past the courtyard where the younger wolves were training. I couldn\u2019t stay still. My wolf was pacing inside me, slamming against the walls of my ribs, demanding blood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I ended up at the stables. The horses huffed in their stalls, but even they sensed the fury in me and stayed silent. I sat down hard on a wooden bench and buried my face in my hands.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What the hell was I doing?\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3 22.8%\u00a0<\/p>\n
11:37 Wed, Jan 28 MR.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For years I told myself this was for the mission. That guarding Rebecca was only ever a smokescreen. That Maurine was the true target-the key mentioned in the oracle. The one the vampires were hunting. The one whose essence, if taken, could cure poisoned vampires and werewolves.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If she was not my fated mate, I wouldn\u2019t care what will happen to her. Besides, curing the infected was the most logical thing to do. But the seer told me she was my mate, and she told me that my mate wouldn\u2019t be able to feel our mate bond because of her overflowing healing essence.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And if my mate died, I would probably die in pain too. I couldn\u2019t let that happen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But what I saw tonight\u2026 What I heard her say\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
How could the Moon Goddess bind me to someone who took pleasure in others\u2019 pain? Who mocked the dead? Who lied about everything she was?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked down at my palms, stained with the blood of every vow I\u2019d made for her. Every order l followed without question.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I thought of the way she laughed when I handed her that moonstone necklace, like it was a trophy. The way she smiled when I caught the runaway rabbit hybrid for her, like I was just some dog fetching a stick.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And then\u2026 a face flickered into my mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rebecca.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That quiet, storm-eyed woman who once stood tall even when her name was dragged through the mud. Who never once asked me for anything, yet always carried herself with a grace that demanded respect. Whose shoulder I watched heal after being clawed-too fast. Who disappeared into silence without warning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why did she come to mind now?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I cursed under my breath and stood. I couldn\u2019t afford distractions. Not when vampires were moving again. Not when the infected ones had started to creep back from the edges of extinction, hungry, desperate, searching.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Still, I couldn\u2019t stop the question echoing in my mind.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Did Maurine ever love me?\u00a0<\/p>\n
No. That wasn\u2019t even the right question.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Did she even care?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I barked out a bitter laugh. Of course not. I wasn\u2019t Lucas to her. I was a pawn. A tool. A leash wrapped around my own neck.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And maybe I deserved it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because deep down, I knew. I always knew.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The moment I saw her strike the slave, the moment I watched her eyes gleam with cruelty, something cracked inside me. The woman I thought I loved-no, the woman I needed to believe in-is not the one standing before me now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 14\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3 22.8%\u00a0<\/p>\n
11:37 Wed, Jan 28 MR\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shoved open the stable door and let the night wind hit my face. This wasn\u2019t over. I still had a duty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But maybe\u2026 it was time I stopped lying to myself about who I was really protecting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And maybe, just maybe, it wasn\u2019t Maurine at all.\u00a0<\/p>\n
11:38 Wed, Jan 28 MR\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lucas\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
When My Alpha Ex-Husband Came Looking for Me by Mark Twain 14 \u00a0 Chapter 14\u00a0 Lucas\u2019s POV\u00a0 I was supposed […]<\/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-23882","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\/23882","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=23882"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23882\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}