The Lunar Curse: A Second Chance With Alpha Draven novel Chapter 291

Chapter 291: She Might Get Drunk

Draven.

"Tell me this, how do you think you would have felt if you had discovered I was your mate back then, when things between us were unbearable? Would you have accepted me?"

She wrinkled her nose immediately and shook her head firmly, the expression on her face so unfiltered it nearly dragged a laugh out of me.

I couldn’t help it, so I reached out and gave her nose a quick, playful pinch. "And what does that reaction mean?"

She swatted my hand away lightly, though amusement glimmered in her eyes. "It means I could never have dealt with a man like the past you."

"Oh?" I leaned back slightly, one brow arching. "And what exactly was wrong with the past me?"

She exhaled sharply, almost as if the list was endless. "You were arrogant, overly authoritative and mean. You seemed determined to say hurtful things just to break me. You made me feel as though you were on a mission to crush every ounce of dignity I had."

Her words should have stung, but instead, I let a faint smile touch my lips. "That part was deliberate," I admitted.

Her eyes widened slightly, but I didn’t let her interrupt.

"I saw how prideful and stubborn you were, and I thought the only way to bend you was to break you. I wanted to clip your wings before they made you reckless. But in the end, you..." I gave a low chuckle, "you ended up teaching me what patience truly is."

Her lips parted in quiet surprise, but the glint in her eyes told me she wasn’t as wounded by that truth as she might have been months ago.

So I added, almost teasingly, "Do you know how many times your annoyance tempted me into killing you?"

She burst out in a half-chuckle, half-gasp. "What? You were tempted to kill the woman you claim to love?"

I chuckled with her, shaking my head. "That was back then. Before you stopped hiding the good, the beautiful side of yourself from me. Before I realized just how much of a curse it would be to lose you."

Her laughter softened into a smile, one that lit her features with warmth. I watched her quietly, feeling that strange, grounding peace that only she could draw out of me.

"What baffled me more about you back then," I said with a chuckle, "was how much you feared your family, but didn’t fear me."

The words had barely left my lips when her smile faltered. Subtle, but unmistakably, the spark dimmed from her expression as though I had plucked the wrong string on a delicate instrument.

I cursed myself inwardly. Of all things to mention, that.

I hadn’t meant it as a wound, more as a playful jab, but the silence that followed was sharp, and I could feel her slipping away from the warm current we had built.

My curiosity burned, wanting to know why my observation had struck so deep, but I wasn’t foolish enough to press her now.

’Brilliant, Draven,’ Rhovan said bitterly. "You’ve ruined it."

"Are you trying to get me drunk, Draven?" she teased, her tone carrying that sly edge I had grown addicted to.

My lips tugged into a slow smirk. "Would that be such a terrible thing?"

She arched a brow at me, her silver hair catching the light as she leaned back against the sofa. "It depends. If it means waking up with a headache tomorrow, then yes, it would be."

I chuckled, low and unhurried, savoring the spark in her eyes. "If you woke up with a headache, Meredith, it wouldn’t be because of the drink."

Her lips parted, then curved into a knowing smile, a blush faintly rising in her cheeks as she tried to mask it with another sip from the glass. I wished I could keep that look forever.

Meredith and I lingered there together, the silence no longer heavy but comfortable, softened by the quiet clink of our glasses and the faint sweetness on our tongues. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Meredith sipped slowly, eyes half-focused on the rim of her glass, as though savoring more than just the drink. I didn’t rush her.

Every now and then, I’d steal a glance at her, the faint glow on her cheeks, the way her lashes lowered when she swallowed, the subtle rhythm of her breathing as it grew steadier.

The storm between us had settled, at least for now. And for once, I allowed myself to simply sit beside her, no politics, no weight of crowns pressing down, just her warmth brushing against my side.

When her glass was nearly empty, I set mine down and turned slightly, my voice calm but firm. "Give me the letter. I want to see what it says, and keep it with me."