Novels by Duchess Pen

CHAPTER 51Evelyn's POVThe cell was small.Barely large enough for two people. Cold stone walls. A single barred window too high to reach. A bucket in the corner.We sat together, our backs against the wall, our hands intertwined."How long have you been here?" Raphael asked."I lost count. Days. Maybe a week."He cursed under his breath."I should have come sooner.""You shouldn't have come at all."He looked at me. "What?""You heard me." I met his eyes. "You're the Alpha. You have a pack to lead. Children who need you.""They need both of us.""They need you alive."He was quiet for a moment."I couldn't just leave you.""I know." I squeezed his hand. "But now we're both trapped.""We've been trapped before.""Not like this."He turned to face me, his free hand cupping my cheek."We'll get out.""How?""I don't know yet. But we will."I wanted to believe him. I wanted to hold onto hope.But the walls were closing in. And I had seen what these people did to their prisoners.---The

CHAPTER 50Raphael's POVThe first day was agony.I stood at the border, staring into the forest long after Evelyn had disappeared from sight. The snow fell around me, silent and cold.She was out there. Alone. Risking her life.And I was standing here, useless."Alpha." Damien's voice came from behind me. "We should return to the packhouse."I didn't move."Raphael."Finally, I turned. My Beta's face was drawn with worry."She'll be fine," he said. "She's strong.""I know.""Then why do you look like someone died?"I didn't answer.Because I couldn't explain it. The fear that gripped my heart. The certainty that something was wrong.I had felt this way once before. When my mother died.I pushed the thought away."Let's go," I said.---The packhouse felt empty without her.I walked through the halls, past the rooms she had filled with warmth and light. The children were quiet, sensing the tension in the air.Aria found me in the study that evening."Father."I looked up from the repo

CHAPTER 49Evelyn's POVThe years slipped by like water through my fingers.Aria turned sixteen in the spring. She had grown into a fierce young woman, tall and strong, with her father's dark hair and my stubborn heart. She trained with the warriors every morning and studied with the elders every afternoon.She was everything I had hoped she would be.And more."I want to join the border patrol," she announced one evening at dinner.Raphael nearly choked on his wine. "You what?""The border patrol. I want to join.""You're sixteen.""I'm old enough to train. Old enough to fight."Raphael set down his cup. "Training is different from patrolling. Patrolling is dangerous.""I know.""Then why?"She met his eyes without flinching. "Because I want to protect our pack. Like you do. Like Mother does."I hid a smile behind my hand.Raphael looked at me, desperate for support."Don't look at me," I said. "She gets this from you."He sighed."We'll discuss it," he said."Which means yes," Aria

CHAPTER 48Evelyn's POVThe messenger arrived at dawn.I was in the kitchen, preparing breakfast for the children, when Damien appeared in the doorway. His expression was grim."Luna. There's news from the northern border."I set down the knife I was holding."What kind of news?""A caravan was attacked last night. Three drivers killed. Goods stolen."My blood ran cold."Ironclaw?""No." He shook his head. "The attackers weren't wolves."I frowned. "What do you mean?""They were human."---Raphael was already in the council chamber when I arrived.Elder Marcus was there, along with several warriors. A map was spread across the table, marked with the location of the attack."Humans," I said, taking my seat. "That's impossible.""Not impossible," Raphael said. "Unusual, but not impossible.""The treaty with Ironclaw holds. They wouldn't risk breaking it.""This isn't Ironclaw." He pointed to the map. "The attack happened here. South of the border. On our territory."I studied the map.

CHAPTER 47Evelyn's POVAria's first word was "no."I should have expected it. She was her father's daughter, after all.She said it at breakfast, sitting in her high chair, smashing porridge between her tiny fingers."Aria," I said, wiping her hands. "Don't do that.""No."I froze.Raphael looked up from his papers. "Did she just...""She did."He set down his papers, a grin spreading across his face. "Her first word.""It's not a word. It's a sound.""It's a word." He crossed to us, kneeling beside her chair. "Say it again, Aria. Say 'no.'"Aria looked at him. "No."He laughed. Actual laughter."She's a genius.""She's stubborn.""Same thing."I shook my head, but I was smiling.---Aria grew quickly.Too quickly, it seemed. One moment she was a tiny bundle in my arms, the next she was crawling across the floor, pulling herself up on furniture, chasing the servants' skirts.She had Raphael wrapped around her tiny finger."Don't let her touch that," I said one afternoon, watching him

CHAPTER 46Raphael's POVThe first cry shattered the silence.I had been pacing outside the chamber for hours, my heart pounding with every muffled sound from within. The healer had banished me early on, claiming I was "in the way."So I waited.And worried.And prayed.Then the cry came.High and thin and absolutely perfect.I froze.The door opened, and the healer appeared, her face tired but smiling."Congratulations, Alpha. You have a daughter."I didn't wait for permission. I pushed past her and into the room.Evelyn was lying on the bed, her face pale and damp with sweat. But her eyes were bright, filled with tears and wonder.And in her arms was a tiny bundle."Come meet your daughter," she whispered.I crossed to her slowly, my legs trembling. I had faced warriors and rogues and death itself without flinching.But this terrified me.I sank onto the edge of the bed, looking down at the small, squirming creature in Evelyn's arms.She was perfect.Tiny fingers. Tiny toes. A tuft

Chapter 12: Running on Empty"Who's back there?" Ryan twisted in his seat, watching the headlights eat up the distance behind them."I don't plan on finding out by slowing down." Samuel pressed the gas, and the stolen sedan shuddered like it was already giving up, the fuel needle buried past empty, the engine sputtering on whatever fumes it had left."If this thing dies on an empty highway with them right behind us—""I know." His knuckles had gone bloodless on the wheel. "Working on it."The headlights kept closing, near enough now that Ryan could make out a heavy pickup, the kind meant for hauling, not chasing, which told him whoever was driving hadn't picked that truck for speed. They'd picked it to run something smaller off the road."They're not trying to catch us." The realization hit Ryan like cold water down his spine. "They're trying to hit us."Samuel checked the mirror and confirmed it without a word. "Brace."The impact came a second later, the truck's grille slamming thei

Chapter 11: Nowhere SafeThey hit the fire escape running.Ryan clutched the box against his chest as Samuel led him down the rusted metal steps two at a time, the structure groaning under their weight, every clang echoing far louder than either of them wanted. Below, flashlight beams swept across the alley they'd parked in, voices calling out instructions Ryan couldn't make out but understood well enough anyway."They're at the car," Samuel whispered, freezing them both on the second-floor landing. "We can't go that way.""Then which way?"Samuel scanned the alley below, jaw tight, calculating with the same speed he'd shown all night. "Across the rooftops. This building connects to the next three down the block. If we move fast, we can put distance between us before they even realize which direction we went.""You want me to jump between rooftops? Now?""I want you alive in ten minutes. This is how we manage that." Samuel was already climbing back up rather than down, pulling Ryan wi

Chapter 10: Home AgainThe apartment building looked exactly the way Ryan remembered it, which somehow made everything worse.Samuel killed the headlights two blocks out and coasted the last stretch in darkness, scanning both sides of the street before pulling into an alley behind the building. "Stay low. If anyone's watching this place, I want them looking for a car, not two people on foot.""Nobody's watching. Why would they be? I've been locked up for over a year.""Because your brother left something here that Voss has spent years trying to erase, and the second Griggs reports we're missing, someone in that organization is going to remember exactly where you used to live." Samuel cut the engine. "I'd rather be wrong and careful than right and dead."They slipped out of the vehicle and moved along the back of the building, Ryan's legs unsteady beneath him, half from exhaustion and half from the surreal weight of standing on a street he'd once walked every day without a second thoug

Chapter 9: The Only Way"Marcus." Griggs sounded almost disappointed, like a teacher catching a favorite student cheating. "I thought you had better instincts than this. Guess loyalty beats good sense after all.""Back off, Griggs." Marcus's hand hovered near his sidearm, though he didn't draw it. "You've got no authority to detain me. I still outrank you on paper, whatever Voss signed an hour ago.""On paper." Griggs smiled, and somehow that was worse than if he'd shouted. "Funny thing about paper — Voss can rewrite it faster than you can read it. Right now, you're aiding the escape of a flagged threat and a warden who's already been stripped of command. That's not a conversation you want to have."Ryan's heart slammed against his ribs as the two guards flanking Griggs shifted their stance, weapons lowered but ready, waiting for one word to change that. Beside him, Samuel had gone rigid in a way Ryan recognized now — not fear, calculation."Let them go," Samuel said. "Nobody else nee

Chapter 8: No Command"Say that again," Samuel said."Griggs." Marcus's voice was steady, but his eyes kept darting toward the corridor behind him, checking for company neither of them wanted. "Effective immediately. Voss signed the directive himself, cited you as a security risk following, and I'm quoting the internal memo, an unauthorized alliance with inmate Ryan Carter that compromised facility integrity during the lockdown.""That's insane," Ryan snapped. "He orchestrated the blackout himself.""Doesn't matter what actually happened. Paperwork's already filed. As far as this facility's concerned, Samuel's the threat now, not Voss." Marcus's jaw tightened. "I've got maybe an hour before someone asks why I haven't brought you both in yet.""And are you going to?" Ryan asked.The question hung in the air, sharp enough to cut. Marcus's eyes moved to Samuel, and something passed between them that Ryan couldn't read, years of trust being weighed in real time against a directive that co

Chapter 7: Locked Down"They're sealing the corridor," Samuel said. "Run!"They sprinted through the dark, Samuel's hand locked around Ryan's wrist, guiding him past obstacles neither of them could see. Ahead, the groan of the sealing door grew louder, metal grinding against metal as it descended from the ceiling, a barrier meant to trap them on the wrong side permanently."We're not going to make it," Ryan gasped."We will." Samuel's grip tightened. "Faster."The gap beneath the door had shrunk to less than three feet, closing steadily, unforgivingly. Samuel shoved Ryan ahead of him, forcing him to drop and slide beneath the descending steel with inches to spare, and threw himself after him a half second later. The door slammed shut behind them with a finality that echoed through the corridor like a gunshot, sealing off the pursuit voices instantly, cutting them off mid-shout.Silence. Ryan lay on the concrete, chest heaving, listening to nothing but his own pulse hammering in his ea