They all believed I was only packing for the Moonbond Ceremony.
No one questioned when their Luna would be back. No one asked if I would go back at all.
That silence answered everything.
I walked to the back of my chamber, where I kept a small velvet-lined case hidden within my chest. My adornments. Simple things collected through cycles, nameday gifts, clan tokens, small keepsakes I once treasured.
I opened the case. The necklace.
A moon-diamond pendant set in pale silver, shaped in an old clan design. It once belonged to my grandmother, then my mother and then me. I was meant to wear it on my mating night, whenever that fate arrived.
But when I looked inside, it was gone.
The necklace was missing.
My body went cold.
I searched the drawers. The shelves. The locked box is beneath my bed. I tore through my travel packs. Nothing.
My heart struck hard against my ribs. I left my chamber and went straight into the main den.
Alden was there, resting on the couch, his crystal communicator in hand.
“Alden,” I said, my voice sharp, “where is my moon-diamond necklace?”
He barely lifted his gaze. “Ah. That.”
“What do you mean by that?”