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I reach for Rylan through the mindlink. "Rylan..."

His answer comes immediately. "Darian, I'm on my way to your house now. I need your help."

I swing my legs over the side of the bed. "I was about to ask you for help."

"With what?"

"I think someone is using dark magic in our pack."

A beat of silence.

"I think you're right. Selena and our baby just flew out the window."

I freeze. "They what?"

A knock pounds against the front door. I rush downstairs and rip it open. Rylan steps inside, barefoot and furious.

“I messaged someone to come sit in the house with the pups.”

Another pulse rolls through my mate bond. My claws slide free. Someone dares impersonate my mate bond. Now. After I buried my mate.

My wolf snarls. Courting death.

"A brutal death."

Rylan's nostrils flare. “What exactly happened?”

“My mate bond woke me up.”

His brown eyes snap to mine. “Your mate bond?”

“It feels like Arlene.”

Rylan goes still.

I shake my head. “It can't be.”

Another pulse moves through my chest. Warm. Familiar. Too familiar. My wolf growls.

Rylan turns toward the door. “Whatever is happening took Selena and my daughter. We find them first.”

“Agreed.”

A soft cry comes from upstairs. Both of us look up as footsteps move across the hallway.

I glance toward the stairs. “How long until someone gets here?”

Rylan pulls out his phone and checks the screen. “Any minute.”

My chest burns. The bond pulses again, stronger this time. Closer. I grab the edge of the table as my wolf freezes.

Apple.

I stop breathing. The scent slips through the open doorway. Apple and cinnamon.

My wolf pushes forward so hard my vision sharpens.

Arlene.