The Lunar Curse: A Second Chance With Alpha Draven-Chapter 33: The Blood-thirsty Presence

Draven.

When the convoy slowed to a stop along the remote roadside, I stepped out of the Maybach and immediately felt it—a stare.

I turned slightly, gaze flicking toward the Mercedes van parked behind us.

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.

My jaw tensed, a breath leaving through my nose. She was still bitter from last night.

Good.

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.

But instead, she had hidden. Ten whole minutes in the bathroom last night—stalling. It had amused me.

Almost.

I didn’t know what disappointed me more. That she had chosen cowardice, or that a part of me had missed the fight.

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.

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.

It made me wonder the kind of fear they instilled in her that even I couldn’t touch.

I was still mulling over the thought when Jeffery returned to my side.

"The lady went into the woods," he reported. "I assigned two guards to her."

I gave a short nod, eyes drifting toward the tree line.

"She knows better than to wander too deep, right?" Wanda chimed in just as she walked over to my side.

I didn’t look at her. "She should."

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.

I slipped it back into my pocket—but just then, something shifted in the air.

A low ripple across the skin. Cold. Sharp.

My wolf, Rhovan, stirred awake with a low, warning growl.

"There is a blood-sucking demon in the woods. Go get our mate."

I didn’t have time to argue with him about the word mate. Again.

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.

And that was when I saw her, Meredith. She was merging from the woods. Her maidservants trailed behind her. Two guards flanked the group.

But my eyes stayed on her. freēwēbnovel.com

She wasn’t speaking. Her face had gone pale. Her brows were tight with unease. She looked unnerved.

Frightened.

She had only been in there for a few minutes. That wasn’t long enough for a walk. Something had spooked her.

My eyes briefly scanned the forest behind her shoulder. Nothing moved. No scent lingered in the air. But I knew what I felt.

And so did she.

Rhovan grumbled again. "She felt it. She felt danger."

That shouldn’t be possible. She was wolfless.

But somehow, she had sensed what my guards—trained, armed, with wolves—had not.

When her eyes met mine, she froze. Her voice had left her. She only nodded when I asked, "You done stretching?"

"Our mate is scared. I can smell it so strong," Rhovan whispered in my head again, his tone both concerned and strangely... proud.

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.

She might not be powerless as we all thought.

I looked at her one last time and said, "Good. Let’s continue the trip."

---

Back in the car, I leaned back in my seat and stared out the window, arms folded as Wanda chattered beside me.

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.

Her instincts were sharp. Sharper than they should be.

Wolfless didn’t mean senseless, clearly.

"She’s not moving into your room, is she?" Wanda asked, drawing me out of my thoughts.

I blinked and turned slightly to face her. She was referring to Meredith.

"Give her a comfortable room. Not a guest room," I said. "Big enough. Let her settle in wherever she wants."

Wanda smiled, smug but silent.

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.

When Wanda finally stopped talking, I went back to thinking.

What exactly was in those woods?

I asked Rhovan about it again.

"It was too far," he said. "Its scent was hidden. Masked by the trees."

"Do you know what it was?"

A long pause.

"Not sure. Not werewolf. Not human. It was blood-thirsty."

I exhaled, my hand curling into a loose fist on my knee.

I hoped whatever that thing was wouldn’t dare to enter Duskmoor or Stormveil. And I also hoped it didn’t have a family.

---

By the time we passed the border checkpoint and arrived at Duskmoor, the sky had grayed.

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.

But I tolerated it because of my mission, and my daughter.

As soon as the Maybach stopped, the door was opened and I stepped out—and there she was.

"Daddy!" she cried, barreling toward me in her little pink skirt.

I crouched immediately, arms wide.

Her laughter as she launched into my chest nearly unmade me.

I caught her. Lifted her. Spun her. I didn’t even think about who was watching.

She was the only human I had ever protected with the full weight of my being. And she wasn’t even mine by blood.

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.

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.

She hugged me and asked if I brought her gifts.

I smiled. "They are in the car."

She squealed. And then Wanda appeared beside us.

She ruffled Xamira’s hair, calling her by name and asking, "Is it only your father you missed?"

And of course, Xamira giggled and hugged her, too. She liked Wanda as much.