It took 60 seconds for Mizuki to figure out that Moonlark was angry at her.

Mizuki admitted that Moonlark was good at masking her anger, minus the fact that she was silent and would cast angry looks at her occasionally.

"Hey, Mizuki?" Skylight asked, her ears twitching. "Have you seen Blackout anywhere?"

Mizuki thought for a moment before shaking her head.

Skylight gave her a concerned look, before whispering to Daybreak.

Daybreak sighed. "Of course, Blackout would disappear," she mumbled. "When I was Alpha, I had to keep a good eye on him. And you'd think he'd be easy to track, but he's tricky that way."

"Even though he's the biggest one out of us all?" Nightshade asked. "And literally stronger than all of us?"

Daybreak nodded at that. "Yes, unfortunately for us."

Mizuki listened on to the conversation, which none of the wolves told her not to listen, but she wasn't sure if any of them even noticed that she was still there.

"Should we alert Alpha that Blackout might be gone?" Nightfall asked. "I mean, I know that Blackout does tend to leave so he can hunt by himself. Last time I hunted with him? He clobbered me and tied me up. At least Shadewalker is respectful of working in a pair."

"Yeah, I remembered that," Skylight said, and Nightfall growled in anger.

"If he's gone out to hunt, we shouldn't worry," Daybreak said, but she sounded very uncertain.

Suddenly, Mizuki had a memory of the night before.

Black fur disappearing into the darkness.

I thought it was Shadewalker, but it wasn't! It was Blackout! Blackout was the wolf who snuck out last night after the fight! Mizuki realized.

"Wait, are you allowed to leave at night without telling Alpha?" Mizuki asked, and the three wolves looked at her in surprise.

"No, we're not," Skylight answered. "Especially without permission by the Alpha, and definitely not by ourselves."

"Did you see Blackout when you guys went to bed?" Mizuki continued.

Nightfall shook his head.

"I think I saw Blackout disappear after the fight," Mizuki said in a rush. "I'm not sure, but it looked like him."

All the three wolves exchanged looks of surprise.

"He's never snuck out at night," Daybreak said. "Especially with the border patrol."

"The wolves who were on guard might have been distracted with the fight," Skylight reasoned. "All of us were."

"So, if Blackout snuck out and hasn't returned..." Nightfall started.

"I don't like where this is going," Daybreak sighed. "Blackout had always talked about removing me from Alpha rank when I was Alpha in my own clan. I never trusted him to be in the same room with me without another wolf. So if he did leave while all of us were distracted, that means he's planning something."

Mizuki shivered and looked around.

What exactly is Blackout planning?