The Lunar Curse: A Second Chance With Alpha Draven novel Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Demanding for My Bride

Draven.

The Carter estate was less than impressive.

As the Beta of the Moonstone Pack, Gabriel Carter had built a reputation as a refined leader, a man of calculated strategies—but standing in his poorly managed courtyard, I saw nothing but mediocrity.

The stench of decay lingered in the air, and the guards at the gate were unfocused and undisciplined. The servants avoided eye contact, moving like ghosts in their own home.

Weak. All of them.

And yet, Gabriel had the audacity to stand before me now, shoulders squared, gaze unflinching, his expression barely masking his irritation.

"Alpha Draven." His voice was clipped, forced into formality. "To what do I owe this sudden visit?"

I scoffed inwardly. He was pretending he knew nothing.

"As I announced at the Lunar Ball last night," I said, my tone smooth but firm, "I've come to take Meredith to be my wife."

Gabriel's lips pressed into a thin line. "You must be mistaken."

A bold response. A dangerous one.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jeffery Allen, my Beta, tense beside me. His sharp gaze flickered between Gabriel and me, his anger radiating like a slow-burning fire.

"Beta Gabriel," Jeffery said, his voice edged with irritation. "Are you not going to offer us a seat?"

Gabriel turned his cold gaze on him. "My apologies for not being a good host." He didn't mean a single word. Then, looking back at me, he added, "I wasn't informed of your visit."

So that was his excuse for his lack of hospitality. In other sense, he was asking us to endure his insolence.

I said nothing to that. I didn't need his approval, nor did I care for his pathetic attempt at challenging my authority.

Gabriel had not welcomed me and my entourage into his home, not that I cared, but curtesy was something a man like him should know and extend. It was obvious he wasn't going to offer me any seat either. And that was fine. I wasn't planning to stay.

If Gabriel thought a lack of welcome would deter me, he had gravely miscalculated.

I let my power roll off me in slow, unmistakable waves. It was a warning, a reminder, a test.

At that moment, his wife and three older children hurried out of the house, their expressions taut with unease.

"Would you do me the honour of bringing Meredith to me, or should I find her myself?" My voice was calm and devoid of warmth as I offered options.

Gabriel's jaw tightened. "Alpha Draven, you have no right to come to my home and demand my daughter," he declared, and meant it.

"And yet, here I stand," I countered, unmoved.

His gaze darkened with defiance at my comment. "Even if you asked the proper way," he continued, voice low with warning, "I wouldn't give her to you."

Gabriel should understand that I had left my men at the gates out of courtesy and walked in with only my Beta. Therefore, the earlier he understood that I was going to leave with his daughter, Meredith, and no one would stop me, the more time he would save.

Gabriel's wife, Margareth Carter, stiffened beside him. Her fingers twitched, brushing the hem of his sleeve—a subtle gesture, a silent warning.

She feared me. Smart woman. But her husband ignored her.

"Now that I have made my stance clear, please be on your way, Alpha," Gabriel said with finality as he gestured with his right hand. He was dismissing me.

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