Literal bastard was there in fifteen on the dot, helping me tear myself free from the tree. It hurt like a fucking bitch, and I barely managed not to cry out as I waited for shifter healing to kick in and the pain to ease.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Jaxson growled, and it seemed less impressive than what I remembered. “You’re a shifter, but that doesn’t make you invincible. You can die, Mera, and then what are the rest of us supposed to do?”

A derisive snort escaped me. “Celebrate. You’ve been trying to kill me off for years; at this stage, you should be grateful that I’m taking myself out. Might be the only way you’ll succeed.”

The wound in my arm was finally knitting closed, which was no doubt why Jaxson felt entitled to shake the ever-loving shit out of me. “Mera, this is not a joke. You’re important to a lot of people and I need you to stop acting like a maniac for one minute. I need you to look after yourself.”

His words snapped something inside of me. “If I’m so damn important, then where the hell is my mom? Where is Simone? Are you trying to tell me that both of them took off the moment we were finally free of our punishment? What sort of moron would believe that? It’s not even a decent cover story. Firstly, my mom is broke and drunk all the time. Secondly, Simone and I planned to leave Torma together.”

“Yeah, but you’re the alpha-mate now,” Jaxson said. “You can’t leave, and she has dreams that don’t include you.”

That stung much more than the branch through my arm.

I mean, I wasn’t completely self-involved; I knew Simone had a life outside of me. It just didn’t sit right with me that she was completely uncontactable. “She wouldn’t go this long without calling me,” I finally said. “She just wouldn’t. I’ve phoned dozens of times and texted just as many, and there’s never any reply. You know how much she loves her phone. The thing is never out of her hand!”

Jaxson finally started to pay attention to what I was saying. “It’s really bothering you, isn’t it?”

Fuck, I wanted to punch his stupid face. “Of course it freaking is. Are you kidding me right now?”

He ignored that, nodding a few times as if he was sorting it all out in his head. “Tomorrow I’ll speak to her parents and find out exactly how they’re talking with her. She’s required to be contactable, so it won’t even be an odd request. How does that sound?”

I wanted to growl. “It sounds like you’re patronizing me, but in the small hope you discover something important, I would really appreciate you putting in maximum effort to find her.”