Page 8

Mindlink her again.

I do. Nothing. Just empty static where my mate’s presence should be.

Again.

“I know.” My feet are already moving. “Maybe she's okay. Maybe something just scared her.”

Even I don't believe it. “Arlene? Everything okay back at camp?”

Silence.

Something’s wrong. I can't feel our bond.

My heart kicks into a harder rhythm. I reach out again, trying to push past the barrier that suddenly seems to exist between us. “Arlene? Answer me.” Nothing. Not even the subtle warmth of her consciousness.

Shift. NOW.

This time, I don’t argue with him. The change rips through me, bones cracking and reforming as I drop to all fours. My shirt splits down the back as my massive Alpha wolf emerges, jet black fur, nearly two feet taller than a standard wolf, eyes glowing amber. I shake off the remnants of clothing and break into a run. My paws tear into the earth, each stride eating up ground as I barrel through the forest. Branches whip past my face, but I don’t feel them. My entire being focuses on the family tent at the center of the rogue camp.

Please, Moon Goddess. Let them be safe. Let Arlene be there, laughing at me for overreacting. Let the pups be sleeping peacefully in their beds.

The camp appears through the trees. I slow, my nostrils flaring as I take in the scents. Nothing unusual. No blood. No strangers. Just the familiar smells of cooking fires and unwashed bodies that make up our temporary home. I reach the family tent and shift back, my body reforming in seconds. I don’t bother with clothes. My pups have seen me naked enough times during transitions.

“Arlene?” I call, pushing through the tent flap.

Relief floods through me when I see them, Darlene and Damian, my beautiful pups. Both alive, both healthy. Darlene clutches her stuffed wolf to her chest while Damian sits on the ground, arranging stones in a circle. That relief shatters when I notice Candice standing between them, her hand resting on Damian’s shoulder.

“Darian!” She smiles that sweet, practiced smile. “You’re back early.”

“Where’s Arlene?”

Candice’s expression shifts into something sad, sympathetic. “Oh, Darian. I’m so sorry. She... she left.”

Liar. My wolf’s growl vibrates through my chest. She’s lying.

“What do you mean, left?”

“She took a bag and just... walked away.” Candice kneels beside Damian, ruffling his hair. “I came to check on the pups, and she was gone. Said something about not being able to do this anymore.”

“That’s bullshit.” The words come out sharper than I intend. Damian flinches, and guilt immediately replaces my anger.

“Shhh,” Candice whispers to him. “Daddy’s just upset.”

I push past her, searching the tent. Arlene’s favorite sweater is missing from its hook. Her boots are gone. But so many other things remain, the locket her mother gave her, the notebook where she writes her dreams, the small wolf carving I made for her on our first anniversary.

She wouldn’t leave these behind. She wouldn’t leave THEM behind.

“Which direction did she go?” I demand.

Candice shrugs helplessly. “I didn’t see. By the time I got here, she was already gone.”

I storm out of the tent, bare ass naked and not giving a damn. Every person I pass gets the same question.

“Have you seen Arlene? When? Which way?”

The answers are always the same. Variations of “Candice said she left” and “Not since this morning during breakfast” and “No, Darian, sorry.” With each repetition, something cold and heavy settles in my gut.

She was right. The thought hits me like a physical blow. About everything.