Rylan’s POV_
My voice shook the halls. “Lisa!”
Silence answered me.
I pulled out my phone. “Jared. Wake the guards. Search every room. Lisa is missing.”
He cursed on the other end, but I cut the line and stormed down the stairs. My heartbeat thundered in my ears.
Within minutes, the Frostbane mansion came alive. Warriors ran through the halls. Alex’s sharp voice echoed. He was giving urgent orders. Guards spread out with torches. Their boots pounded loudly on the marble floor.
I ran outside. The night was cold and still. I dropped to the ground, shifted into Avarok, and sniffed for her scent.
It was there, faint and leading toward the main gate. But there was something strange. Her scent felt off. It was as if there was a shadow over it, faint and unfamiliar. This was not normal.
We followed fast, paws striking the dirt, but then…..nothing.
Her scent ended unexpectedly.
Avarok whined. He was confused and he clawed at the earth. I shifted back. I could feel the rage burning in my chest. “No…”
A voice cut through the dark. “Where is she?”
Kael stood behind me. He was shirtless and his eyes were glowing with his wolf. Fury blazed across his face.
“She was with you,” he snapped. “How could you let this happen?”
I spun. I was so angry. “Don’t put this on me. We’re searching everywhere.”
He stepped closer. His voice was as sharp as a blade. “She is my mate. I should never have trusted her safety to you.”
I bared my teeth. “Your mate? You rejected her. Don’t pretend now.”
His wolf surged close and mine answered. For a moment, we were one breath away from tearing each other apart.
Then a voice rang out.
“Stop this at once.”
Morana.
She walked into the courtyard. Her silver hair was glinting under the moon. Her presence was colder than the night air. Her glowing eyes cut through us both.
“You two fight while Lisa is missing? Save your claws for the enemy.”
I forced myself to step back, though rage still simmered inside me.
Morana turned her gaze toward the gates. Her hands moved slowly, tracing invisible shapes. Faint sparks of light shimmered and vanished. She whispered under her breath, words I couldn’t understand.
After a long silence, she spoke.
“There are no signs of Fenric,” she said at last. Her tone was steady but sharp. “No trail of his men. No magic signature. No struggle.”
My stomach dropped.
“What do you mean?” I demanded.
She looked at me, then at Kael. “When Fenric moves, the air bends. His power leaves scars on the land. But here?” She shook her head. “Nothing. Whoever took Lisa did not break through our wards. That person did not fight and did not leave blood. It is as if she simply… walked out.”
“That’s impossible,” Kael growled. His fists clenched. “Lisa would never leave on her own.”
Back at the gates, Kael stood with his men. His face was grim. He kept glancing toward the shadows, his body tense as if he was ready to rip the night apart with his bare hands.
Morana stood still, her eyes closed, chanting low under her breath. Sparks flickered around her fingers, but nothing came.
At last, she opened her eyes and let out a sharp breath. “This is no ordinary magic. It is buried deep and hidden from sight. Whoever did this knows how to cover their tracks.”
“Fenric,” Kael spat.
Morana shook her head. “I told you….I would feel him. No. This is something else. Something more subtle.”
Her words sent a cold shiver down my spine.
Alex came to my side. His face was pale, his jaw tight. “Rylan… what if she didn’t fight because she couldn’t?”
The thought struck me like a blade. I saw her again in my memory–Lisa’s strange calm smile, her soft laugh, the way she sat so straight and perfect on the bed.
Not Lisa.
I shook my head hard, refusing to believe it. “She would fight. She always fights.”
But the doubt clung to me like a shadow.
Kael’s voice cut through the silence. “We split into groups. We search until dawn. If she is in these lands, we’ll find her.”
I nodded, though fear gnawed at my chest.
Because what if she wasn’t in these lands anymore? What if she was already gone?
What if it was already too late?

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