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“Wrong answer.”

His knee hits the ground.

“I'm telling Mom and Dad!”

I stare at him as a strangled sound escapes Darian. When I glance over, he's definitely laughing. It's barely there, one sharp breath that he quickly gets under control, but it's the first sound either of us has made since Selena and Arlene disappeared that hasn't come from fear or rage.

Ronan grips the tree and drags himself upright. “I came here to help you!”

“Then stop calling my mate yours.”

“Fine!” He points at me while backing away. “Look into Vale. And I'm still telling Mom and Dad.”

He turns and disappears through the trees. I pull my pressure back, watching until he's gone before I take out my phone and check the training schedule. Vale and the two thousand fighters he took with him are still several hours away.

Darian watches the path Ronan disappeared down before looking at me. “What the hell was that?”

“I'll tell you later.”

His mouth twitches. “Don't.”

“I didn't say anything.”

“You were going to.”

“Vale.”

The humor disappears immediately.

“Yeah.”

We don't go back to the pack house. We go straight to Vale's.

His house is quiet when we reach it. His scent surrounds the property, but nothing is fresh enough to suggest he returned early. He's still hours away with the warriors, which gives us time, but not enough to waste.

I knock once.

Nothing.

Darian glances at the door. “Want me to open it?”

I grab the handle and break the lock.

He looks at the pieces left in my hand. “Or you can do that.”

“We're in a hurry.”

The house looks completely normal when we step inside. The furniture is neatly arranged, the kitchen is clean, and nothing suggests Vale left this morning expecting anything other than returning tonight. I don't know what I expected to find, but it wasn't the quiet home of a male currently training thousands of Silver Moon warriors as though today were any other day.

Darian inhales deeply before turning toward the hallway. “Office.”

We find it at the end of the hall behind another locked door. Darian gets this one open before I can, then heads directly for the computer while I start searching Vale's desk and cabinets. He works through the security on the system as I open drawers, move files, and check anything that looks out of place.

“Rylan, look at this.”

I leave the desk and move behind him. “What did you find?”

“Vale took two thousand fighters to mandatory training.”