His Moonsilver Mate (Abby and Kade) novel Chapter 67

Chapter 67

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10:57 Mon, Nov 2 A.

Chapter 67

Kade

the second night, we had searched enough abandoned cabins, hunting lodges, caves, and old logging structures to know the obvious places weren’t going to give Abby back to us.

The camp had been set up in a clearing west of Moonhaven, deep enough into neutral terrory that

there were no pack markers left on the trees.

Temporary tents stood between the pines. Maps covered a folding table beneath a hanging lantern. Wolves came and went constantly, carrying reports from different search groups.

None of them had found what mattered.

I hadn’t slept more than an hour at a time since Abby disappeared.

Neither had Liam.

He stood on the other side of the table now, staring at the map while Ryan spoke to one of the

returning scouts.

“Nothing at the mine?” I asked.

The scout shook his head.

“Collapsed entrance. No fresh tracks around it.”

“The cabins farther north?”

“Empty. Haven’t been used in months.”

I looked at the map again.

Another section crossed off.

Another hour gone.

Knox paced inside me.

We’re wasting time.

I knew.

That was the problem.

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Ryan came back toward us.

“The southern team found tire tracks near one of the old service roads.”

My attention sharpened.

“How fresh?”

“Recent enough to matter.” on

“Where?”

He pointed to the map.

The road cut west through forest before disappearing into higher ground.

“We already had a team there yesterday,” Liam said.

“They stayed on the road.”

Ryan tapped farther north.

“These tracks leave it.”

I looked at him.

“Into the mountains?”

“Yes.”

Knox stopped pacing.

“When do we move?”

“Now.”

Ryan glanced toward the edge of the clearing.

“We take him with us.”

I followed his gaze.

The captured rogue sat against a tree twenty feet away.

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57 Mon, Nov 2

More tired.

Less amused.

Good.

Liam looked at Ryan.

“You think he’ll lead us there?”

“No.”

Ryan’s mouth tightened slightly.

“But he doesn’t have to.”

The rogue looked up when we approached.

His gaze moved to me first.

Then Liam.

Then Ryan.

“Field trip?”

Ryan crouched in front of him.

“We’re going west.”

The rogue smiled faintly.

“Congratulations.”

Ryan unlocked the chain around his ankles.

The smile disappeared.

“We’re going to walk.”

The rogue looked toward the mountains.

Only for a second.

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10:57 Mon, Nov 2 DA

One of the warriors hauled him to his feet.

left the camp with eight wolves and four men in human form.

The rogue stayed between Ryan and one of the guards.

Liam and I walked ahead.

The service road narrowed quickly.

Old tire ruts disappeared beneath grass and fallen needles, but farther in, Ryan stopped and crouched near a patch of disturbed ground.

Recent tracks.

Boots.

At least six people.

Maybe more.

Liam looked toward the trees.

“They came through here.”

Ryan stood.

“Yes.”

I turned toward the rogue.

He was looking anywhere but at the ground.

“You recognize it?”

“No.”

“You’re lying.”

His mouth twitched.

“Then why ask?”

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Because we both remembered the last interrogation.

Ryan looked at the man.

“You don’t have to tell us where the base is.”

The rogue said nothing.

“You just have to keep reacting every time we get closer.”

That wiped the last trace of amusement from his face.

We kept moving.

The path became rougher as the road climbed.

Trees crowded closer together. Rock pushed through the soil. In several places, we had to leave the old road entirely where fallen trees had swallowed it.

By late afternoon, two more scout groups joined us.

One had found an abandoned storage shed with recent food packaging inside.

The other had found nothing.

Still, it was the first real sign that people were moving through this part of the mountains.

We stopped beside a narrow stream while Ryan sent two wolves farther north.

Liam stood beside me, staring toward the ridge.

Something in his expression changed.

“What?”

He didn’t answer immediately.

Then he looked around.

“I know this area.”

I followed his gaze.

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I frowned.

Nam pointed toward the ridge.

“My dad used to bring us hiking out here.”

The memory came back slowly.

Adrian walking ahead of us with a pack over one shoulder.

Liam complaining because we had taken the long trail.

Me laughing at him until Adrian threatened to make us carry the food.

Stone stairs.

A carved doorway.

I looked toward the mountain again.

“The temple.”

Liam nodded.

Ryan came closer.

“What temple?”

“Moon Goddess.”

I kept looking toward the ridge.

“It used to be up there.”

“Used to?”

“Part of it collapsed years ago,” Liam said. “They abandoned it after that.”

Ryan studied the mountain.

“How far?”

“Few miles from here.”

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68 Mon, Nov 2

I looked at the rogue.

He had gone very still.

That was enough.

Ryan noticed too.

He walked toward him.

“Know the place?”

The rogue’s expression closed.