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Dante roared with fury before running toward the door.

Yulian was at his back the entire time that Dante tore through the house. Nearly literally, as Dante didn’t care who or what was in his way to get to his boy. Carver thought that he could leave Dante? That was not going to happen. Not ever.

They had almost reached the gates when Dante heard his boy’s trembling voice.

“I want to leave! You can’t keep me here!” Carver yelled.

“Sir, please!” Bennet, the guard on duty, begged. “Just wait for Master Dante.”

“I want out now!” Carver shouted.

“Carver.” Dante slowed his approach, not like the crazed animal he felt himself to be.

Carver whirled to face him. The boy was pale and shaking.

“Carver,” Dante said again. He swallowed hard. What had happened? Dante couldn’t have been away from his boy for more than twenty or thirty minutes.

“Am I a prisoner?” Carver demanded.

“Of course not.” Dante had to shove the hurt from the accusation down. “I just want to keep you safe.”

“They won’t let me leave!” Carver told him. “Was that your order? To keep me here?”

Not directly. Yulian had known that Dante wouldn’t allow the boy to be in danger. “It’s not safe for you⁠—”

“I’ve been fine on my own for five years!” Carver hollered. “Five fucking years and I’ve done just fucking fine!”

He really hadn’t. Carver might not realize how close to either dying of starvation or going feral that he’d been. “Baby, please.”

“You can’t keep me here,” Carver said. “I’m not one of your precious clan. I’m not one of you!”

Carver was though. He was clan because he belonged to Dante. “Tell me what happened,” Dante ordered. “Who upset you? I’ll fix it. I promise.”

“You!” Carver snarled, pointing a finger in Dante’s direction.

“Me?” Dante croaked. That wasn’t right. He’d never hurt his boy.

“I said I want to leave. You can’t keep me prisoner. That’s not right! None of this is right.” Tears began to fall down Carver’s cheeks. “This is a lie.”

Dante shook his head, but he could see that he was already losing. Losing the argument, his boy, everything. “I’ll let you go if that is really what you wish.” The words were like swallowing glass down his throat. His entire body trembled with pain.

Carver met his eyes.

Dante wanted to reach out, to pull his boy close, to hold him once again, to never let him go again. He’d carry Carver on his hip everywhere if the boy would just stay with him.

The green of Carver’s eyes glowed in the darkness. “I want to leave.”

“Open the gates,” Dante ordered softly. His guards would still hear him.

“Sir.” Yulian stepped up from behind him.

Dante shook his head. “Let him go.”

The gates opened with an ominous creak. A warning.

Carver gaped at him before he seemed to shake himself out from whatever he was thinking. He bent and picked up the bag that Dante hadn’t even noticed. Just how long had Carver been trying to get out? He’d had time to collect his stuff from Dante’s suite. This wasn’t just some desperate attempt to get away from him. This wasn’t panic. Carver really wanted to leave him.

Dante had to lock his knees and force himself to remain still as Carver turned. “Carver?” he called out.