It was clear that the argument I’d heard through the door had been about Simone. Simone, who had been missing for two fucking months with only these two fucking idiots unsuccessfully looking for her.
I clutched a hand to my chest. “Please tell me you have at least heardsomethingfrom her in the past two months? How could you keep this a secret? What if she’s dead? That would be on both of you.”
With each accusation, my words got louder and sharper as my panic attack grew.
My best friend was missing and had been for months.
And I had done nothing to help her.
8
Simone and I were best friends. True best friends.
We had grown up together, and she was literally the only one in this pack to never turn her back on me. That meant it was my duty to ensure she wasn’t being held in some creepy fuck’s basement, having her toes licked.
Toe fetish was only cool when you were into it, not when it was being forced upon you.
And as the alpha-mate of Torma, it was even more important that we ensured the safety of one of our pack. Torin was going to be furious when he found out about this, and I sure as fuck wasn’t about to keep it from him when he had a ton more resources to help track her down.
“We had to protect her place in the pack,” Mika said, still making excuses as tears trailed down her cheeks. “I never thought she would leave the pack without permission, but she did. We played it off as a vacation so that she wouldn’t be punished upon return. Thankfully, Torin is much more accepting than Victor, and he’s just allowed us to update him without pushing to speak with her himself.”
Accepting or lazy. The jury was still out on that fuckhea…alpha whose help I needed. “We have to tell him now.” My tone made it clear that if they argued with me about this, I was going to bring the full force of Torma down on them. “She’s been missing for too long. If anything has happened to her…”
If I hadn’t had my memories stolen from me, I would have been onto this shit weeks ago. My anger and frustration over what happened had reached a crescendo, exploding in growls and curse words. To say I was pissed was an understatement. I’d woken up in my underwear, in the bed of a man I detested, with no memory of how I’d gotten there or the weeks that had passed since my first change. I’d woken to find that someone had messed with me in the most terrible of ways, a true abuse of power, and now it seemed that Simone was involved as well. Maybe hurt—or worse—because of me…
I was finally seeing the bigger picture. “I get it now,” I said slowly. “It’s all finally starting to make sense.”
The Lewisons were understandably confused.
“I’ve been furious since I woke up,” I explained further, “and no matter how much Jaxson and Sisily and everyone else in the damn pack tell me that I should just let it all go and enjoy being alpha-mate, the truth is, I feel like I was completely violated. My life stolen from me. My best friend stolen from me, so I would have no choice but to rely on Torin.”
Mika stepped closer. “No, Mera. You cannot think that Torin would ever act inappropriately toward you; he’s been nothing but a gentleman.”
I nodded. “Uh-huh, sure. Just like the time he rejected me and then fucked Sisily in front of me. A true,truegentleman, that one.”
Wow, the silence was so awkward that evenIwondered if I’d gone too far.
“Let’s focus on Simone,” Mika finally said. “She’s our priority.”
“Let’s go to the alpha,” Gerad added, backing up his mate. “Hopefully, Torin has resources above my own because as far as I can tell, Simone isn’t anywhere in America. We’d have heard something by now.”
A heavy weight settled deep in my stomach, but I couldn’t lose it yet. Simone needed me to keep it together and ensure that this was everyone’s top priority.
Mika and Gerad were quiet as they led me to their Mercedes G-Wagon, one of five cars in their roomy garage. Including… Simone’s old truck?
I hurried toward it. “She didn’t drive? Was she taken?”
When I turned back to Simone’s parents, their faces were blank. “There was no sign of a struggle,” Gerad finally said, and I seriously wanted to throat-punch a motherfucker.
I didn’t, choosing instead to spend my time combing over her vehicle for clues, but there wasn’t a single thing that stood out. It looked, and smelled, exactly as I remembered. Her truck had nothing to do with how Simone had left Torma.
When I’d exhausted that as a lead, I joined the Lewisons in their car, throwing myself into the smooth leather seats with all the dramatic flair of a toddler who’d had their toast cut in triangles instead of squares. But, dammit, these assholes should have cared more about their daughter’s well-being than her place in the pack. It was too late now to do anything except damage control, all the while praying that Simone was okay.
When Gerad exited onto the main road, I decided that I’d never have a better opportunity to question these two, so I leaned forward. “Tell me about my father.”
Gerad hit the brakes, all of us jerking against our seatbelts, as he ground to a stop in the middle of the street. A stunned silence followed, which I ignored. “Why did he attempt to kill the alpha?”
Leaning back against the dark, buttery leather, I crossed my arms. “I’m just going to keep asking,” I said softly.
