\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 18\u00a0<\/p>\n
His eyes snapped open like twin flames in the dark. His fangs were bared, sharp and gleaming under the moonlight, and his gaze fixed on me with raw, killing intent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My breath caught. For a heartbeat, I was frozen, caught in his feral glare.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then, just as suddenly, his grip on the bedpost slackened. His eyes flickered-wild, confused -before he let go and slumped back against the pillows.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stumbled, weak-kneed, nearly collapsing onto the cold floor. The shock hit me like a blow. He\u2019s awake? But\u2026 how? I had believed the poison had trapped him in endless sleep, like a living death.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I pressed my hands to my trembling legs, trying to steady myself. My mind spun. What was happening to him? Was this why I wasn\u2019t allowed past midnight? Was this why the omegas ushered me out, so hurried and fearful?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before I could gather my thoughts, Maximus clutched his head. His fingers dug into his temples as if trying to hold himself together.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked broken. Hurt. But there was something else too something darker, more desperate. A fierce, hungry thirst flickered in his eyes, and his jaw tensed as if fighting some\u00a0<\/p>\n
internal battle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart slammed against my ribs. A primal fear surged through me. The wolf inside me growled softly, warning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I took a step back. \u201cAlpha?\u201d My voice barely a whisper.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t answer. His gaze darkened, flickering to the shadows around the room as if battling an unseen force.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cS-Save me\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then suddenly, he rose with a sharp grunt, teeth bared again, eyes blazing red. His movement was jerky, like he was fighting against himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMaximus!\u201d I cried out, but he only snarled, his breath ragged.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The wildness in him terrified me. I could smell the vampire poison-bitter, corrupting-mixed with the raw wolf scent of pain and rage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My instincts screamed: Run.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I scrambled backward, fear drowning everything else. My hands fumbled for the door, my legs shaking uncontrollably.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I bolted out of the room and slammed the door behind me, locking it quickly. My back pressed against the cold wood as I slid down to the floor.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I held my breath, every muscle tense.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 18\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/2 30.0%\u00a0<\/p>\n
11:38 Wed, Jan 28 M\u00a0<\/p>\n
81\u00a0<\/p>\n
What had I just seen?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Was Maximus losing himself to the poison?\u00a0<\/p>\n
And why did he wake up? How?\u00a0<\/p>\n
My mind raced, trying to make sense of the chaos inside me. I had known something was wrong, something dark lurking beneath the surface of this pack\u2019s power. But this-this was different.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sank onto the floor, pulling my knees to my chest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Why hadn\u2019t they told me? The pack elders had been so secretive. Had they known this could happen? Or were they hiding it to protect me-or themselves?\u00a0<\/p>\n
The silence pressed in until it was shattered by a howl loud, desperate, and raw.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It cut through the night like a blade, jagged and full of pain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shivered, even though my heart pounded wildly in my chest. The howl was not just a cry; it was a scream of something trapped, something fierce and lost.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My wolf stirred violently, ached with a strange mix of terror and longing. I pressed my palm to my chest, feeling the wild rhythm beating beneath my skin. I didn\u2019t understand it but I felt it deeply. Like I was tethered to Maximus in a way I couldn\u2019t explain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d I whispered to the empty room. \u201cWhy am I feeling this.. this brokenness?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The howl came again, this time louder, closer.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I swallowed down the rising panic, forcing myself to breathe. I can\u2019t let fear rule me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Slowly, I stood and moved to the window, peering out into the silver-lit night. The pack was quiet, but the shadows danced with secrets I could not yet unravel.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maximus was awake. And everything was about to change\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wrapped my arms around myself, wishing for answers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wishing I understood why my heart felt like it was dying with him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
11:38 Wed,\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rebecca\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
When My Alpha Ex-Husband Came Looking for Me by Mark Twain 18 \u00a0 Chapter 18\u00a0 His eyes snapped open like […]<\/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-23886","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\/23886","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=23886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23886\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}