Marked By the Pureblood Alpha (Deanna and Luis) novel Chapter 235

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**Chapter 235: Fire and Whiskey**

**Erik’s POV:**

As I pushed the bar door open, a rush of vibrant lights assaulted my senses, causing my head to spin momentarily. The atmosphere inside was electric, charged with an intensity that was almost palpable.

The music blared at a deafening volume, a pulsing beat that seemed to resonate in my chest. On stage, bodies intertwined, dancing provocatively, their movements a dance of seduction and abandon. It was a scene that felt both familiar and foreign, a whirlwind of chaos that I had stepped into willingly.

I maneuvered through the throng of people, my heart racing as I searched for Luis. Finally, I spotted him slumped in a dimly lit corner, a solitary figure amidst the crowd.

He lounged back on the worn couch, one hand draped casually over the armrest, fingers delicately clutching a glass of amber liquid. His expression was a mask of indifference as he fixated on the dancers, lost in a world that seemed to exclude everyone around him.

The shadows enveloped him, creating an aura of chilling detachment that caused the nearby Omegas to instinctively pull back, their eyes wide with unease.

Sliding into the seat beside him, I couldn’t resist the urge to poke at his solemnity. “What’s the matter, Luis? I heard you called off your engagement. Why the long face?”

He raised his glass to his lips, savoring the drink with deliberate slowness, before a faint smirk crept onto his face. “Why don’t you try calling off yours and see how you feel about it?”

I quickly threw my hands up in mock surrender. “No thanks. My pack already tore me apart for opening a private hospital. If I rebel again, they’ll probably string me up. Besides…”

I shot him a knowing glance, letting the silence hang between us for a moment. “I don’t have anyone I care about. Whoever my mate is, it doesn’t matter, as long as she leaves me alone.”

Luis’s gaze shot up, his eyes narrowing sharply as if I had just plunged a knife into his heart.

I felt a thrill of defiance at his reaction. Instead of fear, a grin spread across my face, wider and more mischievous.

“By the way,” I continued, my voice teasing, “I finally remembered. Deanna’s that little girl from back then, isn’t she?”

Luis’s childhood was a story I had only pieced together in fragments. He had been sent for psychiatric treatment when he was just a boy, and that very hospital was part of my Frostbliss Pack.

The details of his past were shrouded in sorrow; his father had succumbed to the Blood Moon Curse, and shortly after, his mother had vanished without a trace.

Luis had spiraled into a deep depression, a boy trapped in a world of shadows.

Though we were the same age, he carried himself like a ghost, cold and distant, a mere shadow of the vibrant boy he once was.

My father had often reminded me that Luis was destined to be the future Alpha of the Mooncrown Pack, and it was my duty to befriend him, to forge a bond.