The Pack's Daughter (Aysel and Magnus) novel Chapter 16

16 /280

**Midnight Letters by Daniel Crowe**
**Chapter 16**

**Aysel’s POV**

As I rubbed the last remnants of sleep from my eyes, a deep yawn escaped my lips. The shadows of the evening had begun to creep into my apartment, wrapping everything in a velvety darkness. It was nearly eight o’clock, and yet I felt as if I had been in a deep slumber, like a wolf hibernating through the long, dreary day. Every muscle in my body felt loose and utterly exhausted, as if I had just awakened from a lengthy battle with fatigue.

Stepping cautiously out of my bedroom, I halted mid-step, my heart racing. There, on my narrow balcony, stood a man—tall and imposing, radiating an air of cold authority that sent shivers down my spine. He was speaking into a phone, his presence slicing through the dim light like a knife. The chill that surrounded him seemed to claw at my skin, leaving me momentarily paralyzed.

I blinked, trying to process the sight before me, and muttered under my breath, “Who the hell are you?”

“Magnus Sanchez,” he replied, turning to face me with a casualness that belied the tension in the air, as if he had plucked the very question from my mind before I could voice it.

My heart skipped a beat. The name echoed in my thoughts—Magnus Sanchez of the Shadowbane Pack. The legendary Alpha, notorious for his ruthlessness, the merciless wolf who commanded the continent’s most feared pack. My ears perked up involuntarily, the weight of his reputation pressing heavily on my chest. “You… you’re the Alpha of Shadowbane Pack? The one everyone whispers about, the cold-blooded killer?”

A flicker of amusement danced across his face, a brief crack in his icy demeanor. “Guilty as charged,” he said, his tone smooth yet laced with an undercurrent of danger.

I inhaled sharply, my mind racing. I needed to regain control of the situation. Turning abruptly toward the kitchen, I reminded myself: do not show weakness. Not in front of a predator like him.

In the background, another man’s voice drifted faintly from the phone, providing Magnus with updates on the chaos my unexpected actions had stirred. Word had spread like wildfire that Magnus had gone missing, gravely injured, and now Conor Sanchez was making his rounds among the shareholders, scheming to sway loyalties in his favor.

Magnus’s gaze tracked me as I moved, a lazy coolness radiating from him. “Ignore his little games, Jackson,” he said, his voice smooth and dangerous, like a predator assessing its prey. “The higher he climbs, the harder he falls.”

“Alpha, you shouldn’t be exposing yourself like this right now. Don’t you want to retreat to… Shadowbane Court for recuperation?” the man named Jackson interjected, his concern palpable. I could imagine the secluded estate he referred to—staff and healers always at the ready, a sprawling mansion that would dwarf my modest apartment.

“I have my own arrangements,” Magnus replied simply, his eyes flicking to mine for a fleeting moment before returning to gaze out into the night. “Keep your eyes on Conor.”