[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-lunar-curse-a-second-chance-with-alpha-drave":3,"chapter-the-lunar-curse-a-second-chance-with-alpha-drave-the-lunar-curse-a-second-chance-with-alpha-drave-chapter-33":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","The Lunar Curse: A Second Chance With Alpha Draven",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":20,"prevChapterSlug":21,"totalChapters":22,"novelImage":23},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":16,"volume":17,"translator":18,"content_hash":19},923655,1212,"Chapter 33: The Blood-thirsty Presence","the-lunar-curse-a-second-chance-with-alpha-drave-chapter-33",33,"\u003Cp>Draven.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the convoy slowed to a stop along the remote roadside, I stepped out of the Maybach and immediately felt it—a stare.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I turned slightly, gaze flicking toward the Mercedes van parked behind us.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That was when I saw Meredith. She seemed to have noticed me, dropped her hands with a sharpness too precise to be casual, and pivoted back toward me. Avoiding me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My jaw tensed, a breath leaving through my nose. She was still bitter from last night.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Good.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had done what I intended. Her pride had cracked, and she couldn’t even bring herself to mouth off that time. But the strange part wasn’t her silence—it was her retreat. I had expected another sharp-tongued comeback, another glare, another game of pride and venom.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But instead, she had hidden. Ten whole minutes in the bathroom last night—stalling. It had amused me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Almost.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t know what disappointed me more. That she had chosen cowardice, or that a part of me had missed the fight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even when I had challenged her, needled at her with truths she clearly hated to admit, I hadn’t lied. I had only spoken what I saw.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My thoughts still drifted back to the fact that she feared her family’s cruelty more than she feared me. That alone made no sense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It made me wonder the kind of fear they instilled in her that even I couldn’t touch.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I was still mulling over the thought when Jeffery returned to my side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"The lady went into the woods,\" he reported. \"I assigned two guards to her.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I gave a short nod, eyes drifting toward the tree line.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"She knows better than to wander too deep, right?\" Wanda chimed in just as she walked over to my side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t look at her. \"She should.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As she turned her head, I reached into my coat for my phone, checking the signal. Empty bars. Duskmoor’s outskirts were always this dead.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I slipped it back into my pocket—but just then, something shifted in the air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A low ripple across the skin. Cold. Sharp.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My wolf, Rhovan, stirred awake with a low, warning growl.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"There is a blood-sucking demon in the woods. Go get our mate.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t have time to argue with him about the wordmate.Again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I moved immediately, leaving Wanda and Jeffery without a word. I walked past the van and two other cars until I neared the edge of the trees.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And that was when I saw her, Meredith. She was merging from the woods. Her maidservants trailed behind her. Two guards flanked the group.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But my eyes stayed on her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She wasn’t speaking. Her face had gone pale. Her brows were tight with unease. She looked unnerved.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Frightened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She had only been in there for a few minutes. That wasn’t long enough for a walk. Something had spooked her.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My eyes briefly scanned the forest behind her shoulder. Nothing moved. No scent lingered in the air. But I knew what I felt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And so did she.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Rhovan grumbled again.\"She felt it. She felt danger.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That shouldn’t be possible. She was wolfless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But somehow, she had sensed what my guards—trained, armed, with wolves—had not.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When her eyes met mine, she froze. Her voice had left her. She only nodded when I asked, \"You done stretching?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Our mate is scared. I can smell it so strong,\"Rhovan whispered in my head again, his tone both concerned and strangely... proud.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t reply to him. Not aloud. But in my head, I admitted something to myself. Meredith is wolfless, but there might be something alive kicking inside her which we knew nothing about.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She might not be powerless as we all thought.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I looked at her one last time and said, \"Good. Let’s continue the trip.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>---\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back in the car, I leaned back in my seat and stared out the window, arms folded as Wanda chattered beside me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I wasn’t listening. Not really. I was still thinking about what Meredith had sensed—how she had known something was off when the others didn’t.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her instincts were sharp. Sharper than they should be.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wolfless didn’t mean senseless, clearly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"She’s not moving into your room, is she?\" Wanda asked, drawing me out of my thoughts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I blinked and turned slightly to face her. She was referring to Meredith.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Give her a comfortable room. Not a guest room,\" I said. \"Big enough. Let her settle in wherever she wants.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wanda smiled, smug but silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I didn’t care where Meredith slept, as long as she wasn’t suffocating in some corner. This wasn’t a punishment. At least, not entirely.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When Wanda finally stopped talking, I went back to thinking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What exactly was in those woods?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I asked Rhovan about it again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"It was too far,\"he said.\"Its scent was hidden. Masked by the trees.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Do you know what it was?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A long pause.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Not sure. Not werewolf. Not human. It was blood-thirsty.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I exhaled, my hand curling into a loose fist on my knee.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I hoped whatever that thing was wouldn’t dare to enter Duskmoor or Stormveil. And I also hoped it didn’t have a family.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>---\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the time we passed the border checkpoint and arrived at Duskmoor, the sky had grayed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had lived here for years, and still—I would never get used to the noise. The congestion. The horns. The scent of oil and metal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But I tolerated it because of my mission, and my daughter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as the Maybach stopped, the door was opened and I stepped out—and there she was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Daddy!\" she cried, barreling toward me in her little pink skirt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I crouched immediately, arms wide.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Her laughter as she launched into my chest nearly unmade me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I caught her. Lifted her. Spun her. I didn’t even think about who was watching.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She was the only human I had ever protected with the full weight of my being. And she wasn’t even mine by blood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I had adopted her two years ago. Saved her from what would’ve been a cruel ending. And somehow, she had filled a quiet void I hadn’t even known existed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She never whined about not coming to Stormveil. Never demanded too much. She was thoughtful. Smart. Gentle. Human, yes. But more—something else. Something brighter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She hugged me and asked if I brought her gifts.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>I smiled. \"They are in the car.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She squealed. And then Wanda appeared beside us.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She ruffled Xamira’s hair, calling her by name and asking, \"Is it only your father you missed?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And of course, Xamira giggled and hugged her, too. She liked Wanda as much.\u003C\u002Fp>",1095,"2026-06-03T06:41:07.231Z","2026-06-03T06:41:13.593Z",1,"novelbin.me","83b88f6c50ac956784069643fddbebe8876200b3bc11cf3c600282e47bc873f5","the-lunar-curse-a-second-chance-with-alpha-drave-chapter-34","the-lunar-curse-a-second-chance-with-alpha-drave-chapter-32",685,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-lunar-curse-a-second-chance-with-alpha-drave-cover.jpg"]