~Samantha~

The only thing that kept me from going crazy on the way back was the thought of seeing my kids. I got to the pack house and heard no laughter, excited voices, or even Diana running out to greet me.

“Where are the twins?”

Gamma frowned. “They should be indoors.”

I didn’t wait for anything else. I ran inside and went straight to their room, where I found everything exactly as I had left it. I ran into the bathroom and called for them. A chilly swell passed through my chest.

“Devon! Diana! Mummy’s home.”

Nothing.

Maybe they were hiding from me for fun. Maybe Devon had dragged Diana into one of his little games again. I dropped to check under their beds, searched the wardrobe, looked behind the curtains, stepped onto the balcony, then went over everything one more time.

A miserable ache settled deeper in my gut.

I turned and stormed out of the room.

“Gamma!”

My voice echoed in the hallway loud enough for the omegas to startle.

A second later, he showed up, out of breath, as if he had been chasing me but couldn’t bring himself inside until I asked for him.

“They’re not here. When did anybody see them last?”

His facial expressions altered.

“Answer me.” I stepped closer. “When?”

He cleared his throat. “One of the guards saw them after midday meal. They were in the west corridor.”

“After midday?” My voice rose before I could stop it. “That was hours ago.”

“We assumed they were with one of the staff,” he said quickly. “Or in the garden. You know how restless they can be.”

I laughed in disbelief.

“You assumed my children were somewhere in the manor and decided that was good enough?”

His jaw tightened. “We were not careless.”

I moved so fast the distance between us disappeared.

“You lost two children under your watch. That surely sounds careless to me.”

Gamma lowered his voice. “We started looking the moment we realized they were not where they should be.”

“And when exactly was that? And you knew they weren’t but you gave me false hope that they were indoors.”

He did not answer fast enough.

My temper snapped.

“You had one job,” I hissed. “One. They stayed here because I believed they would be safe in this pack house. I left them under protection, and now you’re standing here feeding me excuses about how clever they are.”

“They are clever,” he bit out, some of his own temper finally showing. “Your son distracted one guard with questions about training formations yesterday for nearly twenty minutes. Your daughter convinced a kitchen maid to smuggle her sweet cakes before breakfast twice this week. Those two can outsmart half the adults in this place when they want to.”

Something finally hit me. Some detail I had missed while panic was chewing through me.

I walked in again, slower this time.

The beds.

A small cloth sachet sat near the top, barely peeking out from the edge.

My fingers closed around it.

Recognition flooded me instantly.

The one Devon had been making for Dominic.

He had nearly stabbed himself twice trying to thread the tie through it while insisting he did not need help because he was not a baby. I had ended up laughing and fixing the knot while he glared at me like I had personally insulted his pride.

Why would he leave this behind?

Unless...

I spun my head towards the cabinet that was against the wall.

In just three steps, I found myself before the drawer that held the sachets along with the others.

Empty!

Each one of them!

The cold air struck me like ice.

The children must have taken the protective sachets!

“No.”

Gamma was in the doorway again. “What is it?”

I turned toward him and held up the cloth in my hand.

His expression darkened.

“They planned this,” I said, and my own voice sounded strange to my ears. “Devon left the one he made for Dominic. The others are gone.”

For the first time since this started, Gamma looked genuinely shaken.

Before he could say anything, boots pounded up the corridor.

Reynold appeared, chest rising hard from the speed of his run.

“Purple is missing.”

“What?”

He swallowed. “A stable hand said he saw Purple following the twins earlier. He assumed the wolf was with one of the guards.”

A maid rushed in holding a cup. “Luna, please drink this.”

“I need my children, not water!”

I slapped it out of her hand before she got close.

The cup hit the floor and shattered.

Water spread across the boards.

The words tore out of me. “I left them here. I shouldn’t have.”

“You could not have known,” Reynold comforted.

“Really? Because my son and daughter apparently knew enough to steal protective charms and disappear with a damn wolf.”

My throat burned.

This was my fault.

“Samantha.”

I knew Dominic’s voice before I turned.

He came into the room already looking tense. His gaze moved over my face, the broken cup, the men behind me, then sharpened fast.

“What happened?”

I almost hated him for asking.

“The twins are gone.”

His face changed so quickly it might have been satisfying under different circumstances.

“Gone where?”

“Those tiny troublemakers just can’t stay still for a second.”

“Ask your Gamma,” I snapped. “Ask your guards. Ask the brilliant people who were supposed to be watching them while we carried out this wonderful plan.”

His eyes narrowed. “What plan?”

“The one that split us up and left them here while everybody focused on the scouting mission.” I stepped toward him, fury and panic crashing together until I could barely separate one from the other. “That plan.”

Dominic caught my shoulders before I even realized he had moved.

“The kids won’t want you worrying like this. They couldn’t have gone far.”

I shoved him hard.

“Then bring them back to me.”

His hands dropped immediately, but his jaw clenched.

“We’ll find them.”

“How?” My voice cracked. “By assuming they’re somewhere nearby? By waiting until another guard decides to mention seeing them hours ago?”

Killian walked in, took one look at my face, and skipped every useless question.

“We start by tracking Purple.”

Dominic turned toward him. “What?”

“The wolf leaves a stronger trail than two children trying to be sneaky.” Killian’s eyes came back to me. “If Purple followed them, he’s the easiest way to find them.”

Hope hit so hard it almost hurt.

A thin, desperate thing, but enough to keep me upright.

I said immediately. “Yes, Killian is right.”

Dominic was already moving again, command sliding over his features like a blade. “Get twenty warriors. Split them into four teams. I want the grounds checked first, then the tree line, then every trail leading away from the pack house.”

I should have felt relief.

Instead, another wave of fury rose.

“No.” I grabbed his arm before he could turn away. “I’m not standing here while everybody else searches.”

“You’re not.”

“I am coming.”

His gaze lowered to meet mine, stubbornness meeting something worse.

“It’ll be faster if we..”

“Faster?” My laugh came out bitter. “My children are missing, Dominic. I do not care about any strategy you have in mind right now.”

“Fuck, Samantha! They are my kids too, why are you making me seem like a stepdad?”

Killian stepped in before the argument could get uglier.

“We split the warriors,” he said, calm in a way that made me want to scream and cling to him at the same time. “But Samantha comes with the team following Purple.”

I turned toward Dominic.

“If my babies are hurt because nobody in this pack did their damn job, I will tear this place apart starting with you and that useless Gamma of yours.”

His face darkened. “Watch how you speak about my people.”

“So you care more about them than your heirs.”

“I never said that,” he shot back. “Stop acting like I love them less than you do.”

“You act like it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Maybe if you had been around enough for them to actually answer to you, we would not be standing here right now.”

“I’m their mother before I’m ever your Luna,” I said. “So I do not give a damn whose pride gets bruised tonight. Find my children.”

His stare turned vicious. “Your loose tongue has no fucking limits.”

I stepped closer. “I’m going to say far worse than this if my kids don’t come home tonight.”

Then Dominic looked past me, straight at Killian.

“And somehow, you skip their stepdad.”

Dominic was surely out of his bloody mind.

“Killian did nothing, so don’t drag him into your usual bullshit.”

“You have no excuse to stand here picking fights while my children are missing.”

I shoved past him.

“I have better things to do than entertain your jealousy. I’m going to save my children.”

Then I walked off without waiting to see who came along. I would do this on my own if I had to.