< The Moon Goddess\u2019 Cruelest Blessing\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claim\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt her body tremble, not from fear but from the weight of that promise-the unspoken promise that you\u2019re in for it later.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And before she could even argue, before she could throw out some half-assed excuse, he scooped her up, carrying her like she weighed nothing, like she belonged nowhere else but in his arms. His grip was unshakable, a force of nature as if daring anyone to f*****g try and take her from him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I barely had time to process it before his eyes flicked to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The intensity in that look slammed into me like a tidal wave, and for a second-just a second-l forgot how to breathe out of fear.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t anger.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t even disapproval.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was something worse.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Pity. He knew.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was knowing. Seeing. Like he was peeling back my layers, ripping through every carefully built wall, and reading every single doubt, every ache, every whispered fear I tried so hard to drown in\u00a0<\/p>\n
alcohol.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Like he could see right through me to the truth I didn\u2019t want to face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That Ethan never really let me go.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That the Moon Goddess never chose me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Deep down, I had always been waiting-hoping-that someone would pick me and claim me the way Theo did Lila. That someone would hold onto me like they couldn\u2019t f*****g breathe without me. Just the way Theo looked at Lila.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But no one had.\u00a0<\/p>\n
No one ever did.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And suddenly, everything-the alcohol, the insecurities, the aching weight in my chest-felt so small compared to what I felt from that one look alone. I turned away\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTheo, wait.\u201d Lila clutched his arm, wobbling slightly but her voice was firm. \u201cI know I f****d up, and I\u2019ll deal with my brothers, but Rhea\u2019s had a rough day. She could\u2019ve left me passed out on the bar floor, but she didn\u2019t. She took care of me when she had every reason not to. She needs to come with us.\u201d She tilted her head, eyes pleading. \u201cPlease\u00a0<\/p>\n
Theo\u2019s jaw clenched, his eyes flicking to me like I was some sort of problem he had to solve. I knew he wasn\u2019t thrilled, and for a second, I thought he\u2019d just say no and be done with it. But after a long, tension-filled moment, he exhaled through his nose.\u00a0<\/p>\n
8\/11\u00a0<\/p>\n
< The Moon Goddess\u2019 Cruelest Blessing\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claim\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFine. She can come.\u201d His voice was sharp, clipped. Then his gaze snapped back to Lila, and his lips curled into something dangerous. \u201cBut you, my love, are not getting off that easily.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I swallowed hard, a weird knot forming in my stomach.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The packhouse was the last place I wanted to be. I had spent my entire life avoiding it as much as possible, even though I loved my adoptive parents and knew they loved me. But it wasn\u2019t them-it\u00a0<\/p>\n
was the pack.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Everyone knew I wasn\u2019t really one of them.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was the pack\u2019s charge-a fancy way of saying we don\u2019t know where the f**k she came from, so I guess we\u2019ll raise her out of obligation until someone adopts her. Everyone knew the story: a baby left at the border with nothing but a satchel holding my birthday and a blanket with diamonds\u00a0<\/p>\n
sewn into one side. No family name. No past. Just me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
People treated me well enough, but there was always this underlying pity-the constant, unspoken reminder that I didn\u2019t belong. And after a while, I just couldn\u2019t take it anymore.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So, yeah. The last thing I wanted was to go back there and have to deal with more whispers. More sad smiles. More f*****g pity. By tomorrow, everyone will know about Ethan and me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I took a breath. \u201cLila, I\u2019m fine. You don\u2019t have to drag me into this. I\u2019ll be okay on my own-\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her expression hardened before I could finish. \u201cRhea.\u201d She crossed her arms, swaying slightly but still deadly serious. \u201cIf you don\u2019t come with me, I\u2019ll think you don\u2019t consider me a friend.\u201d Then, her lips curved into a smirk. \u201cAnd you know I\u2019m not above blackmail.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I groaned. \u201cYou suck.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lila grinned. \u201cAnd yet, here you are.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Theo checked his watch, and his patience was clearly wearing thin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I sighed, giving in. Lila squealed, nearly strangling me with her hug before she turned to say goodbye to everyone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then, Finn-dumbass that he was-stepped up to hug her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t even get close before Luca\u2019s arm snapped around her waist and yanked her back against\u00a0<\/p>\n
his chest, a low growl rumbling from deep in his throat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMine\u201d. His voice was a warning. His eyes locked onto Finn like he was one second away from\u00a0<\/p>\n
ripping out his throat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finn just smirked, hands raised. \u201cRelax, dude. Just saying bye.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Luca didn\u2019t look remotely relaxed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The car ride back to the packhouse was tense as f**k.\u00a0<\/p>\n
9\/11\u00a0<\/p>\n
< The Moon Goddess\u2019 Cruelest Blessing\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lila and Theo whispered back and forth-her drunkenly giggling one second, him growling in frustration the next-while I sat in the back, staring but the window, trying not to think about tonight.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But my mind didn\u2019t listen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead, it went straight to Ethan. To Nora.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Claim\u00a0<\/p>\n
To the way, he looked at her like she was his world ke he couldn\u2019t breathe without her. Like she\u00a0<\/p>\n
was something precious, something *his*.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had never looked at me like that.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I stared down at the red lace peeking from under my dress. Useless. A pathetic attempt to feel wanted for once in my life.\u00a0<\/p>\n
God, I was such a f*****g clich\u00e9.\u00a0<\/p>\n
By the time we pulled up to the massive wrought-iron gates of the packhouse, a weird, uneasy\u00a0<\/p>\n
feeling settled over me. The kind that whispered, Everything is about to change.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I shook it off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Theo parked, stepping out with effortless ease before turning to help Lila. His fingers curled\u00a0<\/p>\n
around her waist, possessive, his lips brushing her ear as he whispered something that made her\u00a0<\/p>\n
blush and press her thighs together.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I wrinkled my nose. \u201cYuck.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Theo didn\u2019t even look at me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Instead, he extended a hand.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I hesitated.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And then, just as I took it, a gust of wind swept over me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And I felt it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not one presence. Four.\u00a0<\/p>\n
A shiver ran down my spine as towering figures stepped out of the darkness, their presence curling around me, sinking into my bones like a slow, insidious claim.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Callum. Jaxon. Rory. Seth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Caine quadruplets.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They moved as one, their identical gazes locking onto me with an intensity that made my breath\u00a0<\/p>\n
catch.\u00a0<\/p>\n
10\/11\u00a0<\/p>\n
< The Moon Goddess\u2019 Cruelest Blessing\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The word was a growl, spoken in perfect, eerie unison, dripping with possession.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I barely had time to process it, to react, to do anything-\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before the world went dark.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Shadows Of Passing Time \u2013 Carter Hughes 104 < The Moon Goddess\u2019 Cruelest Blessing\u00a0 Claim\u00a0 I felt her body tremble, […]<\/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":[86],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-melting-the-ice-princess-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29745","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=29745"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29745\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}