Vincent was gone as promised. He must have slipped out before I woke up, because the house was empty. I'd made sure to check every inch of the interior. But it'd seem he left a note. I found it on the floor of my room when I'd found the strength to climb back upstairs. I wasn't sure how I managed to step over it when I left. He must have slid it under the door. I hadn't heard him do that though. So much for putting my good senses to use.

The refrigerator's been restocked with food prepared for you to eat. So, there's no need for you to make a mess. If you should find yourself in any trouble, use the emergency contacts on the door to my office. OR just yell for the guards. Claudia will be in and out to check on you. Stay indoors while I'm gone. And don't break anything in my house, Genesis. I will return later in the evening.

Vincent

"Have you so little faith in me?" I rolled my eyes and tossed the note to the side. My damp clothing stuck to my body uncomfortably. I cringed at my bags in the corner full of dirty clothes, from where I stood in the doorway. "Ugh. Why am I so sweaty? I need a shower."

Dammit. I knew I'd eventually run out of clothes to wear, though I'd brought so many from home. I should have asked him if there was a washer-machine or a dryer in here. How did they wash their clothes? More specifically, him.

"What the hell am I supposed to do to keep myself busy while you're gone?" I blew out a sigh, rubbing my hands over my arms.

November thirteenth must have been a day more important than I thought, for Vincent to wake up and drag himself out of the house that early in the morning, on a Friday. It was for something other than alpha duties too, or so I'd been told. That's what made it alarming.

No one said anything about his absence. Had he always gone MIA on this specific day? It seemed like it. The pack's been moving as normal. His house was loneliest when it was empty. It was just as lonely yesterday when Calamitous gathered to lay the three bodies to rest.

I'd been invited to the ceremony. But I'd also been given the option to stay behind. I'd chosen that option. I didn't care to risk the chances of running into Hudson again, nor did I want to intrude on something that felt so personal to the pack.

My eyes scoped out the interior of the hallway. "It's so creepy in here. . ." I mumbled.

There weren't any windows with curtains to open, so it was washed over in complete darkness. Mostly in the area near his room and his office, per usual. I wasn't sure how Vincent lived here alone on a daily basis. I knew, for sure, I wouldn't have been able to do it. I'd always thought it was weird that alphas lived alone.

Was this how it worked for all of them? Did some of them share a house with their officials? Could some of them have been expected to find a mate, settle down, and start a family in these houses? The possibilities went on forever. I couldn't imagine Vincent doing any of that though. Especially not the whole family, mate thing. He most definitely wasn't a family man.

"Whatever then." I sighed. I returned inside the room and flopped back on the bed, my body bouncing in the air a little. Five minutes. Thirty minutes. Sixty minutes. That was how much time had passed.

Sometime in between, I'd fallen asleep for a few minutes, while the sound of the door knob jiggling downstairs woke me. It sounded as though someone had inserted a key into the keyhole. I'd jumped off the bed, tip-toeing to the door, and placed my ear to it.

I was quiet, unmoving, waiting for the person's scent to reach my nose. When the door downstairs closed behind them; it made a soft click. Then, I smelled her when she neared the bottom of the stairs. Her light footsteps confirmed my suspicions.

"Hey"—I swung open the door and jumped into the hallway—"Vincent told me you'd stop by." I could see Claudia's head coming up the stairs, then her full body, and a smile on her face.

"Did he? Well, it looks like you're fine here on your own." She snickered.

"Not really. I'm kind of bored. And I don't know what to do. It's also pretty freaky here when I'm all alone. What's that?" My eyes fell to her hands. I'd just noticed the green plastic bag dangling from her fingertips.

"Some activities Vincent asked me to grab for you," she answered, holding the bag up.

"Awe, did he?" I chuckled.

"Yeah, and he told me to pass along the message, mess with these instead of whatever's in my house," she said, quoting him.

My smile dropped. I rolled my eyes, scowling. "Of course, he did. When I always think for a second, he's being kind just to be kind, he fools me again. I'll fight him when he gets back."

Claudia laughed. "Good luck with that. Though, I'm not sure if these are too childish for your taste or. . ." She stuffed her arm in the bag, pulling out a colorful book.

I perked up, bouncing on my toes. "What's that?"

"These are activity books for adults. You know, with some color by number pages, word searches, plain old coloring pages, and more. There are different varieties here. Oh! And I've got some crayons and stuff in here too for you to use in the books."

"Oh, I love those!" I clapped my hands together, cheering with a giddy smile on my face.

"Really? Good! He suggested them. I think they're recommended for people with anxiety. To help them focus. So, you can keep yourself calm with these, maybe?" Claudia passed the book to me, leaving her sentence hanging on the brim of a question.

"Oh . . . he did?" I glanced down at the books again, biting my bottom lip.

"Yeah, they're all yours."

"Wish I had some music too. . ." I muttered, removing the book from her hand. The last time I listened to music was the night I ran into Amaury. Ever since then, the sound of silence, and voices, seemed to have become my form of music.

"Sorry. I don't have any headphones for you. But come on." She nodded to the side.

I followed her inside my room, and watched her stroll to the edge of the bed. She turned the bag upside-down, dumping all of the stuff out onto the blanket. She began moving them around to line them up beside each other. I peeked over her shoulder.

"Do you guys not listen to music?" I asked, curiously.

She hummed and put a finger to her chin. "Most of us don't. The sound of nature is our music, basically," she said, shrugging.

"That sounds . . . huh." I thought about it for a second.

My dad used to play soft nature tunes on YouTube, at a low volume, to put himself to sleep at night. Mostly bird noises, cricket noises. All within a rain forest theme. I knew there were other people who enjoyed doing that too. So, I guess it wasn't weird at all.

"Do you need anything else before I go? I won't be back for another hour or two." Claudia turned to me. As she turned, I caught a glimpse of the pocket knife with a rose gold colored handle, sticking out from her back pocket.

"Hmm, not really. But hey, you like playing with knives too?"

"What?" She twisted her body, following my eyes to her back pocket. "Oh, no! Bennett and I borrowed this from Dimitri. Thanks for reminding me. I need to give it back to him."

"Claudia, does Dimitri own a lot of knives?"

She nodded. "He has a collection. Not just pocket knives. But swords. Military knives. I think he has some other ones too. He likes to keep them on a wall in his house."

My ears perked up at her words. That was a lot of different types of knives. Could he have collected daggers too? She hadn't mentioned any daggers just now. But I couldn't have been too sure unless I got a look for myself.

"Does anyone other than him have access to this collection?"

"Hmm, no. Not that I know of. Except Mariah, probably. However, he allows people outside of him and Mariah to use his knives sometimes. For instance, us. Well, all of the knives he cares less about. No one's allowed to touch the fancy ones."

"Is that so?" I hummed.

"It is so. Why? What's up? Is there something bothering you?" Claudia raised her right eyebrow, waiting for me to confirm or deny her suspicions.

"No, no! I was just curious. I always see Dimitri with a knife in his hand. So, I was wondering if he was a collector or something. But now I know. Thanks, Claudia!" I said all of that in one breath, putting on a smile to seem extra convincing.

She didn't look convinced. Nonetheless, she accepted my excuse.

Could she see right through me like Vincent and Amaury could? I was starting to learn, during my stay in Calamitous, that I was more transparent than I thought I appeared. I didn't think I liked that very much.

I didn't think I could accuse Dimitri of anything yet. For all I knew, it could've been anyone who's used his knives before. I didn't think Dimitri would walk around fanning knives out in the open, in the way he'd been doing, if he was behind all of this either. Unless he didn't fear anyone would catch onto him. But that didn't seem right.

"Ah, okay," Claudia said. I nodded and sent her another smile.

If I was being completely honest, to me, Dimitri seemed like too obvious of a suspect anyways. But I wasn't sure. I could have been wrong. Like super wrong. Dammit, this was going to drive me crazy if I didn't get some answers. I needed to know if he owned any daggers.

I felt like I was losing my mind, overthinking about it! All I could do was suspect those around me, and convey my suspicions to Vincent when I had the chance. Shit. I would need to consult Amaury on this too. Amaury always knew what to do in these situations.

I changed the topic. "Where is everyone anyways? How come you're the only one who's checking in on me?"

"I believe Mariah is assisting her parents. Bennett is beta, so it's his responsibility to fill in for Vincent when he's gone. I'm not sure what Dylan and Dimitri are doing. And well, I didn't have much to do today, so I volunteered to watch over you. That's all."

"Oh, okay. I get it."

"Well, if you don't need anything else, I'll see you again later, okay?" Claudia began to retreat from the room.

"Wait, Claudia!" I reached my hand out and called her name. When she turned her head, half of her body was already outside the room. I talked again, "Did Vincent have some important alpha business to take care of outside today?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, no! No important alpha business," she answered.

"Oh, then is something special going on today? I mean, if you don't mind me asking. Or if he doesn't mind me knowing or whatever. Is it okay? I don't want to seem intrusive or anything—"

"Genesis," Claudia said, putting an end to my rambling, "it's okay. You're fine. I wouldn't say it's something important to everyone. It's just . . . today is Vincent's twenty-third birthday."

My body froze. I could feel my eyes coming together in a frown. "His what?"

She smiled and nodded. "You heard me right."

"But how? No, when? Wait, what?" I couldn't convey my words properly, so I stumbled over my tongue every time I opened my mouth.

"Wouldn't have guessed it, right?" Claudia let out a soft laugh.

"Yeah, I wouldn't have! I completely forgot birthdays existed here! Um wait, how old is everyone else? I'm younger than all of you, aren't I?"

"I believe you are. You're twenty?" she hesitated. "Correct me if I'm wrong, please."

"I am," I confirmed.

"Did you just turn twenty?"

"Hmm, no. I'll be twenty-one soon. . . Come to think of it, my birthday is next month." I placed a finger to my lips, glaring up at the ceiling.

I forgot what it felt like to experience excitement about my birthday. As I grew older, it was hard to find much else to look forward to. I mostly celebrated with both my parents every year. For the most part, that was okay. But I didn't know what would happen this year.

"Oh, is it?" Claudia's eyes went wide. "I thought you were only two years younger than Dylan. But I guess you're only one year younger."

"She's twenty-two?"

"Yeah, her and Vincent are the babies of the group. Hmm, Dimitri and I have been twenty-three for a while now. Him, a little longer than I, though. Bennett just turned twenty-four not too long ago. And Mariah's the oldest, at twenty-five. Does that answer your question?"

"Wow, you're all pretty young. . ." I murmured.

I didn't think for a second, Vincent was almost three years older than I was. He didn't seem old, of course, but I was expecting a little older than twenty-three. I couldn't believe it after all this time; I hadn't known his age. Claudia was probably only older than him by a few months then.

But that was even more baffling to me. She didn't seem like she was older than him. If anything, I thought Vincent was older than most of them. Apparently, it was the opposite. There was a seven-year age gap between him and Amaury as well.

"It doesn't feel like his birthday."

"Why is that?" Claudia asked, folding her hands in front of her waist.

"I don't know. I guess I just thought, if it was his birthday, everyone would be celebrating with him! You know, some cake. A gathering. Or whatever you guys like to do for each other's birthdays."

Claudia sighed, continuing, "Yeah, I understand your surprise. Vincent never celebrates his birthday with the pack. I don't blame him. He hasn't had the best experience here. We didn't know when his birthday was for a while either. He wouldn't tell anyone.

"Not even Alpha Amaruq and Lady Teresa. But Amaury found out one day. On Vincent's sixteenth birthday. He caught Vincent sneaking around in an area an hour away from our territory. Somewhere further up north. That's when Amaury pieced it together.

"Vincent used to always ask Amaruq for permission to leave Calamitous grounds for a whole day. And it was always on this day. He was committed to it too. Never once broke the cycle." By now, she had drifted deep into thought.

"Where did he always run off to?" I cleared my throat, as to not seem too enthusiastic.

It was almost impossible to make it appear as though I wasn't too engrossed in her story. I'd have been lying if I told myself I didn't want to know. No matter how much convincing I did to try and make myself believe I didn't care about what she was saying.

"It's funny you ask. . . Because no one knows for sure. He's never told any of us where he goes. We just know he leaves every year, from morning to night, on this specific day."

"Didn't Amaury find out?" I asked, confused.

"He found out why Vincent was leaving. He never found out where Vincent was going or coming from. If I had anything to say on the matter though, I think he always goes back home."

"Back home?" This time, it was my lips that had formed a frown.

"Mhm. To his former pack's territory. Where he can spend his birthday alone."

"What makes you think he runs back to his former pack's territory on his birthday?"

"Because the pack he's from isn't far from where Amaury caught him roaming that day."

I folded my hands behind my back, mouthing an oh. "Is his former pack still standing?"

"No"—she paused and looked me straight in the eyes—"they were left to fend for themselves fifteen years ago, after his father died, and his mother ran away with him."