My Most Precious Human novel Chapter 160

I collapsed to my knees, staring at my father's dead body lying on his throne. Draven was standing next to me. He leaned down and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"I… I don't know…" I muttered, "Are you?"

I felt all sorts of emotions, some of which I was unable to name, and I could understand if Draven felt frustrated because, in the end, he couldn't avenge his father with his own hands. When I lifted my eyes to meet his, I saw anger and relief mixed in his expression.

"Someone must have hated him even more than I did." He stretched his lips into a thin line.

"Randall D'Apolito ruined a lot of lives. He finally pissed off someone powerful enough to kill him." I shrugged, trying to act as if looking at my father's corpse meant nothing to me.

"At least he can't hurt you anymore." Draven gave me a warm smile and reached out his hand to help me stand.

I took his hand, pushing away my uneasiness and trying to wrap my feelings into something lighter. "At least he said that I have my mother's eyes, although he hated that looking at something he loathed, like me, reminded him of his mate…" I let out an ironic chuckle.

"He was a monster. Don't let his sick words torment you. He is finally dead, and our Goddess knows how special you are." Draven grabbed my hand and led me out of the throne hall. "By the way, do you know who he was talking about when he mentioned a child?"

I shook my head. "I have no idea."

"Did your father have any children aside from you?" he inquired restlessly.

I stopped and looked deeply into Draven's eyes. "If my father had had a child strong enough to challenge him, he would have kept it close and presented it to the world with pride," I said confidently.

Draven smiled wryly, "I guess you are right. Maybe it was someone whom he treated like his child…"

"Maybe…" I sighed and started walking down the stairs of the mansion.

I didn't want to continue that subject, not at that very minute. I needed to get out of there before those emotions, which I was crumbling inside me would all surface at once. I walked faster and faster until I started to run, passing by all the pack warriors and Royal Army soldiers still searching throughout the residence. Only once I got out did I feel I could breathe again. My father's death and my conviction that JD had been there, perhaps minutes before we entered, felt overwhelming.

I walked deep into the garden to find the only piece of the ground that wasn't dirty with blood and began taking long, deep, audible breaths. The sun was high in the sky already. Its blinding light forced me to direct my eyes toward my feet. Once I did, I noticed drops of water falling on my boots. It wasn't the rain. I was crying, but I didn't realize it before. I cried out of relief, out of pain, out of ending something in my life, releasing the pressure that had gathered within me in the last few hours.

After some time, my tears naturally stopped falling, as if my system had announced complete detoxification. As soon as I felt like I was regaining my emotional balance, my mind turned into processing mode, making all of my restlessness reappear. It was a quick and drastic wake-up call to reality. I was positive that I sensed JD inside the mansion. Since his aura had been all I could smell, it was only logical to assume that he was the one that defeated my father… Did my father know JD? My father said that "his child" had come to kill him. He also made it disgustingly clear that he wasn't referring to me. It would mean that this "child" had to cultivate a lot of hatred towards my father, enough to rip him to pieces.

JD was becoming more and more of a mystery to me. He challenged Sariel, he led an army of powerful degenerates, and he had unclear connections with my father. Furthermore, for some reason, he was interested in me…

Suddenly, I recalled the words JD had written in his last message: it was a warning not to come near the Southern Woods Pack territory. Was it because he had been planning to kill my father, and if I got in his way, he would have had to kill me too?

"God… I wish Sariel was here…" I muttered to myself, feeling helpless and anxious.

My thoughts drifted towards the one that still occupied a part of my heart. Suddenly, I desperately wanted to see him. I needed him close. Even though my rushed emotional decision led me to Draven's bed, I shamelessly wished that Sariel would fulfill the promise he once made and meet me here, in the Southern Wood Pack's territory.

There was a deep crack in my trust in Draven. Melinda unintentionally made me realize that all the sweet words he had been telling me could have been lies from the very beginning. Without feeling what he wanted me to feel, I needed anything that would prove that I was his destined mate, yet there was no proof. This lack of certainty drove me insane. Moreover, I had a strange feeling that people in the Moon Hill Pack were keeping secrets from me. It even made me think that perhaps I should push Jetta to talk. I figured that she hated me enough to tell me everything if it was meant to hurt me, even despite Draven's orders.