Depraved Hero's Path - Chapter 21: Falling In Love?

At dawn.The light of dawn lingered, hesitant to arrive, while the remnants of the setting sun had long faded into darkness. Within the city shrouded in thin mist, the hidden churches in the shadows, veins clinging to the cracks in walls, the gnawing sounds echoing from the sewers, and the murmuring shadows...A lantern bearer strolled forward.

A child was born unable to cultivate Inner Strength. In order to gain his father's attention and regard, he resolutely chose the painful and difficult path of cultivating Outer Strength. As spring gave way to autumn, time flew by, and the child grew up... he became a young man. What truly changed his destiny was a mysterious Crystal Stone formed from a meteor—the Meteor Tear. This Meteor Tear, unbeknownst to the young man, merged into his body, and like a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly, the young man metamorphosed... And with that transformation, everything changed. And his father finally came to realize the astonishing strength of the son he had never truly invested his Heart Power in...

Maria is the only daughter of Jackson, the Alpha of the prestigious Blue Moon Pack in Aberdeen, Scotland. Her mother, the Luna, was revered for her grace and strength. But despite her lineage, Maria's life has been far from perfect.At seventeen, she couldn't shift into her wolf or sense her fated mate, a secret her parents kept hidden out of shame in the pack.By nineteen, still unable to shift, she was forced into an engagement with Bernard, her childhood friend and the future Alpha of their pack, who already had a mate only Maria knows about.Maria and Bernard attended the same college, where their engagement was the talk of the campus, earning Maria both admiration and envy.Yet, behind the smiles, Maria's heart belonged to James Brooklyn, the next Alpha of the Crescent Moon Pack—the sworn rivals of her people.Everything took a darker turn on the night of her engagement to Bernard when her parents were brutally murdered.Will Maria survive the deadly power struggles within her pack, uncover the identity of her true mate, and claim the life she deserves?Or will the curse of the Blue Moon destroy her and everyone she loves after finding out who killed her parents?