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Chapter 18: The Forest Gate
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2026-07-09 22:33:16Evelyn didn't sleep. She spent the remaining hours of the night packing a single canvas backpack with essentials: two changes of clothes, all the cash she had saved over the last three years, and her medical prenatal vitamins.
By 4:00 AM, the estate was completely silent. The heavy smell of alcohol and stale pheromones still lingered in the air from the ballroom, but the guests had finally retired to their quarters. Evelyn slipped out of the servants' wing, keeping her footsteps entirely silent as she bypassed the main courtyard.
The western border was thick with dense pine trees and treacherous rocky terrain, which was exactly why the pack rarely patrolled it heavily. They relied on the perimeter cameras, but as Mark had promised, the old medical supply gate sat in a blind spot near the overgrown greenhouse.
Evelyn reached the rusted iron gate, her breath fogging in the crisp morning air. Her hands shook slightly as she pulled out the silver key card and swiped it against the ancient, cracked scanner.
The mechanism clicked, a small green light flickering to life. The heavy iron door creaked open just enough for her to squeeze through.
"You're leaving early."
The deep, gravelly voice cut through the darkness, freezing the blood in Evelyn's veins.
She turned slowly, her back pressing against the cold metal of the gate. Stepping out from the shadow of a massive oak tree was Beta Thomas, Julian’s second-in-command and closest childhood friend. His arms were crossed over his broad chest, his sharp eyes fixed on her backpack.
Evelyn tightened her grip on her straps, forcing her voice to remain steady. "Are you going to stop me, Thomas?"
Thomas walked forward slowly, stopping a few paces away. He looked at the open gate, then back at her pale face. Unlike Julian, Thomas’s expression was entirely unreadable. "Julian is practically losing his mind. He spent the night tearing his office apart and threatening the Blackwood delegates. If I let you go, he will burn this pack to the ground looking for you."
"If I stay, Cynthia will have me killed, or Julian will turn me into a prisoner," Evelyn countered, stepping back toward the threshold of the forest. "You know what he did to me, Thomas. He rejected me. He gave up his right to keep me here."
Thomas stayed silent for a long moment. He looked down at her hands, which were instinctively guarding her lower abdomen. As a high-ranking Beta, his senses were sharper than a normal wolf's. His eyes widened slightly as a sudden realization crossed his face. He caught the faint, double heartbeat echoing faintly beneath her own.
"Evelyn..." Thomas breathed, his voice dropping all of its professional hardness. "You're..."
"Don't say it," Evelyn interrupted fiercely, her eyes flashing with a rare spark of desperation. "If you tell him, I will never forgive you. Let me go, Thomas. Let my child grow up away from this nightmare."
Thomas stared at her, his jaw working as he battled his deep-seated loyalty to his Alpha against the blatant injustice staring him in the face. He knew Cynthia's nature; he knew what she was capable of. And he knew Julian’s obsession would only destroy Evelyn in the end.
Slowly, Thomas reached into his tactical vest and pulled out a small, black GPS tracker, dropping it into the dirt and crushing it beneath his heavy boot.
"The perimeter sensors on the outer road will be down for maintenance for exactly twenty minutes," Thomas said, his voice flat as if he were reciting a standard report. "If a vehicle happens to pick you up on Route 9, I won't have any record of it."
Evelyn felt a massive wave of relief wash over her. "Thank you, Thomas."
"Run fast, Evelyn," Thomas muttered, turning his back to her and looking toward the main estate. "Because when he realizes you're gone, nothing on this earth will stop him."
Evelyn didn't waste another second. She turned and sprinted into the dark, uncharted forest, leaving the Silvercrest pack behind.
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The obsidian wolf remained motionless at her feet, a monument of muscle and blood pinned under the weight of her rejection. The soft whimper that left its throat was entirely human in its agony, a sound that seemed to physically tear through the beast’s massive chest. Julian’s wolf wanted to wrap around her, to carry her back to the high tower and hide her from the world, but the cold indifference in Evelyn’s eyes acted like a silver barrier, holding the predator at bay.Slowly, the bones shifted. The dark fur receded, and the massive frame collapsed inward with a sickening, wet series of cracks. Within seconds, Julian stood before her in his human form, naked to the waist, his skin slick with a mixture of rainwater, sweat, and the blood of his enemies. He looked completely broken, his sharp features pale, his broad chest heaving as he stared at her."Evelyn," he choked out, his voice a raw, ruined rasp. He didn't try to close the distance between them. He stayed exactly where his wol
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