Chapter 61\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 61\u00a0<\/p>\n
Selene\u00a0<\/p>\n
I moved quickly down the slope, my boots scraping against the uneven rock. The mountain air was thin, biting cold against my skin. I had to get out of here before the guards came. They must have already seen that flash of light when the phoenix appeared, the guards would be rushing up here by now to investigate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And if they found me standing here, they would find who I was, and start asking questions I can\u2019t obviously answer. There was no way I was going to tell them I made a deal with the powerful phoenix.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I kept walking until I reached the ridge. The same damn gap I had jumped over last time stretched before me. I crouched slightly, peering down. The wind whistled through the chasm, carrying the echo of rushing water far below.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nope. Not a chance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t stupid enough to try that again. Mira had used her energy to open the phoenix\u2019s seal, and I\u2019d used mine to keep it stable. My body felt heavy now, like every movement was twice the effort. If I tried to jump in this state, I wouldn\u2019t make it halfway across, I\u2019d just fall to my death.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I exhaled sharply. \u201cGreat,\u201d I muttered. \u201cTrapped on a mountain with no wolf, no energy, and a phoenix who couldn\u2019t bother to help.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
If that damn bird had just carried me down, I wouldn\u2019t be wandering around like some lost pup.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Rolling my eyes, I turned around and started searching for another way out. There had to be one. Mountains like this always had more than one way out, I just had to find the right one.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I walked for a while. After a while, I noticed the ground changing beneath me. The rough stone gave way to patches of green\u00a0<\/p>\n
grass.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I frowned, crouching down to touch it. It was soft. That meant I\u2019d gone deeper into the mountain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did I even wander this far?\u201d I muttered, glancing back over my shoulder. I couldn\u2019t even see the path I\u2019d come from\u00a0<\/p>\n
anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lost. Wonderful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked around to find a cave. It sat tucked between two jagged rocks. I tilted my head, debating. Every instinct in me screamed that walking into dark caves on cursed mountains was a terrible idea.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But the logical part of me, the part that had learned survival meant taking risks. If the cave existed in this part of the mountain, there might be something useful.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cJust a few minutes,\u201d I muttered to myself. \u201cI\u2019ll look around and leave.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stepped inside. The air grew cooler immediately. My boots crunched over loose gravel as I moved further in. Thin beams of sunlight pierced through cracks in the ceiling. For a place that no one dared come near, it was strangely clean.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sound of voices outside the cave made me stop. \u201cSearch everywhere! We have to find out where that strange light came from! Check every ridge, every damn corner-\u201cThere was a pause, \u201cEven that cave over there!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart stopped.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I spun around, eyes darting toward the cave\u2019s entrance just as a shadow appeared there, it was a man, holding a torch, scanning the darkness. I barely had time to think before I felt someone grabbing my waist.\u00a0<\/p>\n
12:55\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tue, Dec\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 61\u00a0<\/p>\n
I gasped.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before I could even fight back, the person yanked me forward, deeper into the cave. My body slammed into someone\u2019s chest. The air rushed out of my lungs as my fingers instinctively clutched the fabric of his cloak.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My head was pressed against him, and gods, his chest was so warm it felt like it was burning beneath my cheek, rising and falling slowly with each breath. His hand was firm around my waist, and even though my brain screamed danger, my body refused to move. His scent curled around me, intoxicating and impossible to ignore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When I still didn\u2019t move, his deep voice echoed through the cave. \u201cWhen are you going to get off?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That voice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I lifted my head slowly. The moment my eyes met his, my breath hitched.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Crimson. A pair of crimson eyes stared back at me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No. It couldn\u2019t be.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was the man from the auction, the cloaked stranger who had watched me so intently. But now, seeing those eyes up close, my whole body trembled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I knew those eyes. I\u2019d seen them before in my past lives.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Red like fire. Red like death.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Alpha Dominic, the Demon of the West.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My executioner. The same monster who ended my past eight lives, the only one who could defeat me when I was at my strongest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What the hell was he doing here? Why was he in the Mooncrest Pack? And wait, had I seriously scammed this man at the auction for gold coins?!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Oh, gods. I was so dead.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I tried to rationalize, to tell myself it could be someone else. There could be another man with glowing red eyes, right? Right?! But the moment his gaze sharpened, glinting in the darkness, I knew.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fucking hell. I\u2019m done.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He tilted his head slightly, studying me with that calm look of a predator studying his prey.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Did he recognize me? Did he remember me? Am I about to die?\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWho\u2019s there?!\u201d someone shouted from the cave\u2019s entrance, closer now. The echo of footsteps bounced off the walls. I panicked. I couldn\u2019t be caught here by the guards.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked up at the man I was still lying on, swallowing hard. His eyes narrowed, questioning, and dangerous. I didn\u2019t have time to think. Before I could talk myself out of it, I reached up, grabbed the edge of his hood, and yanked it down.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was really him!\u00a0<\/p>\n
Those crimson eyes locked on me, and for a second, I felt like I was staring straight into the gates of hell.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSelene, don\u2019t think about it. Think later. Survive now.\u201d I whispered under my breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He opened his mouth. \u201cWhat are you-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
12:55 Tue, Dec 23\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 61\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before he could finish, I did the only thing I could think of. I leaned forward, and kissed him, and his body went completely\u00a0<\/p>\n
still.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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12:55 Tue, Dec 23\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Hope Is Not Optional \u2014 Manuel Flores 61 Chapter 61\u00a0 Chapter 61\u00a0 Selene\u00a0 I moved quickly down the slope, my […]<\/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-27855","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\/27855","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=27855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27855\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}