Gerad and Mika Lewison, a.k.a. Simone’s father and mother, were two of the worst for withholding the welcome wagon. I couldn’t really blame them. Their daughter had suffered for her friendship with me, and even though I’d been too selfish to walk away from someone I loved and needed, I’d always felt guilty about it.

So, no, I didn’t blame them, but the scars were there nonetheless.

Their wrought-iron gates were open, so I walked up the path, and just as I reached their door and went to press the buzzer, I heard shouting. Simone’s parents were enforcers, but I’d never heard them yell. They tended to favor the silent and deadly style of intimidation… especially her mother, who was of Japanese descent and proficient in a variety of martial arts and fighting disciplines.

Torin had said on more than one occasion that we were lucky to have the Lewison family defending ours, and despite my personal feelings toward them, I hadn’t disagreed because they were great at what they did.

The door jerked open before I could decide if now was a bad time to be here, and I found myself face to face with Mika. Her elfin features, which had been scrunched in anger, smoothed into a look of surprise as she ground to a halt. The very dark, blue-black hair she had passed onto her daughter flew around her face as she stared at me.

“Mera,” she choked out, blinking a few times before she pulled herself together.

In an instant, every ounce of her fear, surprise, and fury was buried deep beneath a calm sheen of serenity. Her dark brown eyes, also like her daughter’s, were now regarding me with a look of respect.

This fake alpha bullshit was annoying.

“What are you doing here?” she pushed. “Is there an issue at the pack house? Why didn’t Torin just alert us through the two-way radio?”

I waved her off, shaking my head at the same time. “Oh, no. Everything is okay at the pack house.” Or I assumed so since I hadn’t bothered to answer any of Torin’s messages to actually check in. “Sorry to just drop by, but I’ve been worrying about Simone. She still hasn’t returned any of my calls or texts, and I wanted to find out if you’ve heard anything new.”

Mika swallowed hard, and I could have sworn her lips trembled before she pulled herself together again. “Yeah, she’s still doing so well,” she said stiffly. “Totally fine and busy with her—”

“Stop fucking lying to me.”

My patience ran out the second she gave me the same tired line. Simone was not fine. We all knew it, and I was done allowing my friend to suffer because these bastards wanted to lie to me.