Chapter 141-\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before he could answer, I heard someone behind me clear their throat. I turned to see three of the riders I\u2019d beaten, all of them significantly larger than\u00a0<\/p>\n
me and none of them looking particularly friendly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNice race,\u201d the leader said, but his tone suggested he meant anything but congratulations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you,\u201d I replied carefully, suddenly aware that we were standing in a more secluded part of the racing center. The main crowd was celebrating\u00a0<\/p>\n
closer to the track, leaving this area relatively empty.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFunny thing, though. We\u2019ve been asking around about you. Nobody seems to know much about the mysterious female racer who showed up out of\u00a0<\/p>\n
nowhere and started winning everything.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My mouth went dry. This was exactly the kind of attention I\u2019d been hoping to avoid by keeping my identity hidden behind the mask.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019m just here to race,\u201d I said, trying to keep my voice steady while my heart began to pound.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you?\u201d The man stepped closer, and I could smell alcohol on his breath mixed with something else that made my skin crawl. \u201cBecause it seems like you might be here for something else entirely.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek moved before me, moving to position himself between me and the three men. His entire demeanor had changed from the casual, flirty guy I knew\u00a0<\/p>\n
to something much more dangerous and protective.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d I asked quietly, confused by his sudden transformation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI promised Tristan I\u2019d look after you until he got back,\u201d Derek replied, his eyes never leaving the three men in front of us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I raised my eyebrows in surprise. \u201cLook after me? Where is Tristan? And what\u2019s going on?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The leader of the group continued as if Derek hadn\u2019t spoken. \u201cSee, we think maybe you\u2019re not just some amateur who got lucky. We think maybe you\u2019re a professional trying to hustle us small\u2013timers.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s ridiculous,\u201d I said, but my heart was pounding so hard I was sure they could hear it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Is it? Because we\u2019ve got serious money riding on these races. Real money. And when some nobody starts winning everything, it makes us look bad to the people we owe. People who don\u2019t like excuses.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The threat in his voice was unmistakable now. This wasn\u2019t about hurt pride or poor sportsmanship. These men were in deep trouble with dangerous people, and they thought I was somehow responsible for making their situation worse.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I could smell them, they weren\u2019t human. No, they were wolves. But, wolves or human, I already decided I was staying away from trouble.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Because I seem to attract it wherever I go to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018I think you should back away before it\u2019s too late,\u2018 Derek said quietly, but his voice carried a kind of authority I\u2019d never heard from him before.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I paused, studying Derek\u2019s profile as he faced down these three men without a trace of fear. Who exactly was Derek?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I knew he was like us, a werewolf, but hearing him speak with such command, he sounded like something more than just another pack member.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:19 Sat, Jan 10 G MR.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 141\u00a0<\/p>\n
71\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Derek Stallion,\u201d the leader said, and his tone became even more hostile. Like he was just seeing him. \u201cWhat a pleasant surprise to see you here. So the\u00a0<\/p>\n
rumors are true after all?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek\u2019s entire body went rigid with warning. \u201cIf I were you, I wouldn\u2019t let whatever poison is on your tongue drop from your mouth. Don\u2019t say it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The leader scoffed, clearly too blind or desperate to heed the warning in Derek\u2019s voice. \u2018I heard you\u2019ve been sleeping your way up the ladder, and now you\u2019re pimping out your little racing prot\u00e9g\u00e9 to\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He never got to finish his sentence. One moment he was standing there with a nasty grin on his face, and the next he was sprawled on the concrete\u00a0<\/p>\n
floor, completely unconscious.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I jerked my head up in shock to see Tristan standing behind where the man had been, his eyes blazing red with pure fury.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When did he get here?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t disrespect my woman in my presence,\u201d he said, his words coming out like fire and brimstone. Each syllable dripped with the kind of authority\u00a0<\/p>\n
that made lesser beings submit or flee.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI warned you, didn\u2019t I?\u201d Derek asked no one in particular, though there was satisfaction in his voice. Then he turned toward Tristan, who was already reaching for me and pulling me protectively against his side.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you taken care of it?\u201d Derek asked Tristan, and I caught some kind of understanding passing between them that I wasn\u2019t privy to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan nodded grimly. \u201cDone. No one will dare say such things again.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 141 Chapter 141-\u00a0 Before he could answer, I heard someone behind me […]<\/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":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-second-gear-of-love-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26298","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=26298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26298\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}