The drive to Tristan\u2019s pack territory was quiet, and I spent most of it staring out the window,\u00a0<\/p>\n
thinking about everything that had happened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seraphine and Daxon were dead because of their choices, because they\u2019d chosen to side with evil\u00a0<\/p>\n
instead of protecting their own.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They let selfishness and greed blind them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
79%\u00a0<\/p>\n
I should have felt more, I thought. Sadness, maybe, or regret. But all I felt was tiredness and ready\u00a0<\/p>\n
for this to be over.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When we arrived, there were already people gathered. I could see Orion standing with Sarah, his arm around her shoulders, and Derek was there too, standing off to the side with his arms crossed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The pack members had formed a circle around a pile of wood that had been arranged in the center of\u00a0<\/p>\n
the clearing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Two bodies lay on top of the wood, wrapped in white cloth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My stomach twisted when I saw them, and I had to look away for a moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan squeezed my hand. \u201cYou okay?\u201d he asked quietly.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nodded, even though I wasn\u2019t sure if I was.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We walked toward the gathering, and people moved side to let us through.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I could feel their eyes on me, some sympathetic, some curious, and I kept my head up, refusing to\u00a0<\/p>\n
show any weakness.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan led me to the front of the circle, and I stood there, staring at the two bodies on the wood.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Seraphine was never my friend. But she was Jess\u2019s and Sarah\u2019s friend. I didn\u2019t feel anything for her but my heart bleeds for Tristan and Sarah who\u2019d trusted her not knowing she was evil.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But Daxon was once my mate. Someone I\u2019d loved and trusted, but didn\u2019t know he was also evil and a\u00a0<\/p>\n
monster.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:03 Fri, Jan 16\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 243\u00a0<\/p>\n
UP\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t know he was among the people who had taken the ones we loved the most.\u00a0<\/p>\n
79%\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan let go of my hand and stepped forward, his presence commanding as he addressed the pack.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what happens to anyone who betrays their own,\u201d he said, his voice carrying across the\u00a0<\/p>\n
clearing. \u201cAnd anyone who thinks they can stand against us should try and see how it\u2019ll end for\u00a0<\/p>\n
them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His words were harsh, but they needed to be. The pack needed to understand that betrayal wouldn\u2019t\u00a0<\/p>\n
be tolerated, that there were consequences for siding with evil.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re werewolves,\u201d Tristan continued. \u201cWe\u2019re supposed to protect each other, not side with those who want to destroy us. We can\u2019t let hate and strife live in us. We can\u2019t go to great lengths for what\u2019s\u00a0<\/p>\n
not meant for us or who isn\u2019t meant for us.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As he spoke, I watched him with pride. He was a good leader, strong and fair, and he knew how to\u00a0<\/p>\n
bring people together.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I found myself admiring him, the way he stood tall and confident, the way his words made sense and\u00a0<\/p>\n
carried weight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And then, suddenly, I felt it. A wave of heat that started in my stomach and spread through my\u00a0<\/p>\n
entire body.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What the hell?\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shifted uncomfortably, trying to shake off the feeling, but it only got stronger.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My skin felt too tight, too warm, and I couldn\u2019t stop thinking about last night, about Tristan\u2019s hands on me, his body against mine.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t wait to get home, to be alone with him again, to continue where we\u2019d left off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The thought surprised me, and I felt my cheeks heat up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What is wrong with me?\u00a0<\/p>\n
This wasn\u2019t the time or place to be thinking about that. We were here to say goodbye to the dead, to bring closure to everything that had happened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:03 Fri, Jan 16\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 243\u00a0<\/p>\n
But my body didn\u2019t seem to care. It wanted Tristan, and it wanted him now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I tried to focus on what he was saying, on the ceremony, but the heat kept building, and I found myself pressing my thighs together, trying to find some relief.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan finished his speech and turned to look at me extending his hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 243 The drive to Tristan\u2019s pack territory was quiet, and I spent […]<\/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-26400","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\/26400","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=26400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26400\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}