8| Death came for everyone eventually\u00a0<\/p>\n
Adrian\u00a0<\/p>\n
I crossed my arms over my chest, unmoving as the chaos unfolded around me. Not even when Selene crumpled to the floor, her maid crying out and her bodyguard lunging to catch her, did I flinch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat girl,\u201d I said at last, my voice flat, my eyes still locked on her limp form being carried away. \u201cShe\u2019s different.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Beside me, Ethan, my beta\u2013in\u2013training, gave a low chuckle. His smirk was as careless as ever as he leaned back on his heels. \u201cIs she? I don\u2019t see it. She\u2019s still the same cursed girl who keeps clinging to you, calling you her mate, and causing trouble for Lady Sienna every chance she gets.\u201d He shrugged, as if the matter was simple, and not worth discussing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t answer him, or glance his way. My gaze fixed on the courtyard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This wasn\u2019t the Selene I knew.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Selene I knew never fought back. She never raised her head when others hurled insults, never defended herself even when she was telling the truth. She bowed, and shrank, like someone grateful just to be allowed a place in the room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She stood her ground against Kane, eyes locked on his without a single tremor. She turned the maid\u2019s accusation back with ease, a smirk curving her lips as though she\u2019d been in control from the start.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When we were children, she had always been there, smiling, encouraging me whenever I stumbled in my alpha training. She was the one voice that cheered me on, the one person who tried to make the weight on my shoulders lighter. That was until my father found out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He made it clear, Selene was off\u2013limits. She was a cursed child, unworthy of the future Alpha\u2019s time. My duties came first, so I obeyed. I pulled\u00a0<\/p>\n
away and kept my distance. But Selene never did. She trailed after me, clung to me, and loudly proclaimed to everyone that I would be her mate when she turned eighteen. It was suffocating, and humiliating. She looked like a fool, obsessed with a man who wouldn\u2019t even spare her a glance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At least, that\u2019s what I\u2019d always told myself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And yet, right now, I couldn\u2019t shake the thought gnawing at me. The girl I saw today wasn\u2019t the fool everyone whispered about. It was almost as if she had become a different person entirely.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ethan raised an eyebrow at me. \u201cWoah, you look serious. You\u2019re thinking too much, prince. You know that girl, she always finds new ways to draw attention to herself. Maybe she already knew you were coming today and decided to put on a show. Look at you, thinking about her differently now. I wouldn\u2019t even put it past her to be the one who pushed Lady Sienna into the water. Sienna probably lied to protect her. She is an angel after all.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ethan continued, \u201cInstead of wasting your thoughts on that girl, you should be thinking about Lady Sienna. Everyone is waiting for her coming\u2013of\u2013age ceremony. If she turns out to be your mate, the pack will be blessed by the Moon Goddess. Since you haven\u2019t found your mate yet, many are hoping it\u2019s Sienna, and not that cursed twin.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
His words echoed what I\u2019d heard a hundred times before. Sienna. The golden child of the Bloodrose family. The one my father, Alpha of this pack, praised endlessly with hope in his voice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was beautiful, calm, and composed, everything a Luna was supposed to be. She had tried countless times to draw close to me, and my father, the elders, and the entire pack wanted her as my mate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Selene, on the other hand\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
I tilted my head, my gaze unfocused, staring at nothing in particular.\u00a0<\/p>\n
None of it mattered to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I straightened to my full height, turning away from the courtyard. It didn\u2019t matter who the moon goddess marked for me. I didn\u2019t want a mate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What I wanted was the perfect Luna.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Damien\u00a0<\/p>\n
I never understood the point of living. People clung to it, laughed, celebrated, yet to me it all felt pointless. What was the purpose of waking, eating, loving, pretending it mattered, when everything ended the same way? Death came for everyone eventually. So why make such a fuss about the time in between?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Living was nothing but a slow surrender to a meaningless end,\u00a0<\/p>\n
From the ridge, I watched the Mooncrest Pack below.\u00a0<\/p>\n
8 Death came for everyone eventually\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJason,\u201d I said without taking my eyes off them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jason, my beta, bowed his head and spoke, \u201cYes, Alpha.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I turned slowly to him. \u201cI thought I told you not to call me that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI apologise, alpha,\u201d he muttered, uneasy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked past him to the three standing behind, Jason in front, Yara and Kaius just behind. Their heads were bowed, fixed on the ground. My men had long since learned to keep their faces down around me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cCall me by name,\u201d I said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jason swallowed. \u201cWe wouldn\u2019t dare,\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
eyes\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they learn I\u2019m an alpha,\u201d I told him, \u201cit would be stressful. Especially if they learn my identity. I don\u2019t want to destroy an entire pack because of your mistake.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jason hesitated. Yara and Kaius exchanged a fleeting glance. At last, Jason forced the words out. \u201cYes, Damien.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I nodded and turned my gaze back to the pack. After a moment, Jason\u2019s voice echoed behind me. \u201cDo you think we\u2019ll find the Red Sworn here, my lord? Rumor has it that it would appear in the Mooncrest Pack, but I doubt we\u2019ll find what you\u2019re looking for. Nothing good ever comes from Mooncrest.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t respond. Everyone knew my pack despised the Mooncrest wolves, dismissing them as nothing but pests. They couldn\u2019t even be considered an enemy, they lacked the strength to wage a true war against us. And yet, time after time, they attacked. Time after time, they failed, only to rise and try again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
To me, they weren\u2019t worth the effort of my attention. But my people hated them all the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I drew the hood over my head, concealing my face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRumors or not, I have to find my sword.\u201d The words left no room for argument.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jason opened his mouth, then closed it. I tilted my head just enough for him to meet my gaze. \u201cAnd don\u2019t be too sure about that, Jason. You never know what good might come from the Mooncrest Pack.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Editorial Board: Our editorial team works behind the scenes to refine each chapter, maintain consistency, and deliver the best reading experience.<\/p>\n
Hope Is Not Optional \u2014 Manuel Flores 8 8| Death came for everyone eventually\u00a0 Adrian\u00a0 I crossed my arms over […]<\/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":[82],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-ruthless-tycoons-obsession-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27802","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=27802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27802\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}