Chapter 482\u00a0<\/p>\n
Third Person\u2019s POV\u00a0<\/p>\n
Duke\u2019s\u00a0<\/p>\n
:\u00a0<\/p>\n
eyes widened in disbelief, golden irises almost glowing from shock.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Had he really lost control last night? Did his wolf\u2026 act on its own?\u00a0<\/p>\n
No. No. Absolutely not.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He wasn\u2019t that kind of man. He wasn\u2019t that kind of wolf.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
And yet-the surveillance footage didn\u2019t lie. Carmen Hawthorne had entered his apartment\u2026 and then fled in tears, disheveled and terrified.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He gritted his teeth.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Duke couldn\u2019t remember a damn thing from last night-but the ache in his temples told him he had indeed been dangerously drunk. And the look on her face in that recording?\u00a0<\/p>\n
He couldn\u2019t ignore it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had to find her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After a quick wash and a change into a navy blue patrol jacket, Duke headed to the door-only to halt when his eyes landed on the black, high-grade wolfskin umbrella resting against the entrance bench.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Maybach crest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Memory flickered-the girl\u2026 standing at the bar\u2019s entrance\u2026 her hand offering the umbrella\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
He must\u2019ve asked her to bring him home. Gods.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He cursed under his breath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What the hell had he been thinking? He didn\u2019t even know her name. They\u2019d only met twice.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Duke grabbed his coat and exited the suite.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Inside the lift, the idle voices of two older pack matriarchs reached his ears.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you hear what happened last night? A rogue tried to corner a young she-wolf near the Alpha Quarter gates.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw it on the patrol network this morning! If the guards hadn\u2019t arrived-Moon Goddess bless\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:25 Fri, Jan 16 T\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 482\u00a0<\/p>\n
her\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cGirls these days-what are they doing out past moonrise? No sense of safety.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The chill ran up Duke\u2019s spine like a blade.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wait.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They couldn\u2019t possibly mean\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her?\u00a0<\/p>\n
The one who helped him home?\u00a0<\/p>\n
74\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
A crushing sense of guilt surged through him. If she was attacked because of him-because he asked her to bring him home\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
He turned around at once and headed to the Stormridge Guard Hall.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Within minutes, he was hunched over the console, reviewing last night\u2019s perimeter footage.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There she was.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her blouse torn, face pale, clutching herself as she stumbled toward the gate, a rogue male dragging behind her. Her eyes wide with fear. Her body trembling. The guards tackling the male seconds later.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Duke\u2019s stomach twisted into knots.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was real.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He clenched the edge of the desk until his knuckles turned white.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She nearly got violated. Because of him.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He had to find her. Now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But there was one problem-he still didn\u2019t know her full name.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So he took the next step. He went to the Watch Commander\u2019s Office and requested the incident report. His status as Beta-Assistant under Alpha Storm allowed him direct access.\u00a0<\/p>\n
There he found it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Carmen Hawthorne. Ashmoor University. Emergency contact recorded. Location: the Lunar\u00a0<\/p>\n
Crest Caf\u00e9.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:25 Fri, Jan 16 T\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 482\u00a0<\/p>\n
74\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lunar Crest Caf\u00e9 \u2013 Across from Ashmoor University\u00a0<\/p>\n
The afternoon sun poured in through the high crystal windows, bathing the wood-paneled walls in soft golden light. The warmth did little to calm the tension at the small corner table where Duke sat across from Carmen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She looked\u2026 fragile.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her hands were clenched around her dress sleeves, knuckles pale, shoulders curled inward. Her eyes darted around nervously, as if she expected danger to leap from every corner.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Duke\u2019s throat tightened.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She looked like a frightened fawn cornered by a beast.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2026 I\u2019m sorry,\u201d Duke finally said, voice rough with guilt. \u201cFor last night.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Carmen\u2019s lips trembled as she tried to lift her cup of herbal brew. The porcelain clinked against the saucer from the tremor in her hands. Her fingers barely steadied the handle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She looked like she\u2019d been through hell.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And Duke felt like the one who\u2019d dragged her into it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If he hadn\u2019t let himself get drunk\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
If he hadn\u2019t asked her to bring him home\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
If she hadn\u2019t been walking back alone through the lower alley outside the patrol grid\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI was-\u201d he began again, \u201cI was drunk. That\u2019s not an excuse, but it\u2019s the truth.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Carmen shook her head quickly, stammering, \u201cI-it\u2019s\u2026 it\u2019s not your fault, sir. I know you\u2019re a good person\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her voice broke, and tears welled in her lashes. She blinked them back quickly, curling in on herself even more, like a pup weathering a storm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Duke inhaled sharply, guilt ripping through him. He reached into his coat and placed a carved wooden token on the table-a Stormridge payment sigil, etched with his personal crest.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a compensation token,\u201d he said quietly. \u201cThere\u2019s a hundred thousand marks linked to it. From my personal vault. For the danger\u2026 and what you suffered. Twice, now, I won\u2019t pretend that gold can erase trauma. But it\u2019s the least I can do.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
3\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
15:25 Fri, Jan 16 \u2191\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 482\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
Finished\u00a0<\/p>\n
Carmen didn\u2019t speak. Her head dropped lower, and her long fringe veiled most of her face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Duke assumed she was offended. That he\u2019d insulted her pride.\u00a0<\/p>\n
What he didn\u2019t see-what no one saw-was the flicker of glee behind those lowered lashes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hook. Line. Sinker.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Carmen wanted to laugh with triumph, but she kept her body perfectly still. Her fingers trembled with perfectly calculated grace. Tears clung to her lashes, unfallen. It was an art.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had pulled it off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shallow wounds, deep rewards.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Inside, she was already planning her next move. The moment the token was hers, she\u2019d begin preparations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tomorrow, she\u2019d vanish. With these money. She and Riley would finally leave this cursed territory. Away from the packs. Away from hierarchy. Just them, free.\u00a0<\/p>\n
As for Duke?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Carmen spared him a glance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He really was her type-refined, powerful, oblivious.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But no man, no matter how attractive, could compare to what Riley had given her: purpose.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She wrapped her arms around herself and let out a faint sob.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Across the table, Duke looked at her helplessly, guilt sinking deeper into his bones.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Neither noticed the surveillance raven perched just beyond the caf\u00e9 window, its mirrored eyes glinting in the sun.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1.0K\u00a0<\/p>\n
4\/4\u00a0<\/p>\n
Joseph King is an editor and storyteller who ensures every chapter is clear, polished, and engaging for readers.<\/p>\n
Midnight Letters by Daniel Crowe 482 Chapter 482\u00a0 Third Person\u2019s POV\u00a0 Duke\u2019s\u00a0 :\u00a0 eyes widened in disbelief, golden irises almost […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20757","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pack-princess"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20757","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20757"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20757\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}