A tear spilled down Mika’s cheek, tracing the smooth, brown skin. That was when the panic burst to life in my chest.

“If Simone’s in trouble, you have to let me know,” I said with force. “How long has she really been gone? Where is she?”

Mika didn’t want to answer me, I could tell that, but maybe today she knew I wasn’t leaving without a real response. “I don’t know where she is, Mera.” Her entire body deflated, like that secret had been bursting at the seams of her being, desperate to get loose.

“She ran away just after the stasis was lifted.” That part of the story came from Gerad, who appeared behind his mate. “She was here when we went to sleep, and the next morning when we woke, her bed was empty.”

Gerad, six-feet-seven and built like a brickhouse, actually took a step back when Mika whipped her head around and glared at him. “You’ve been forcing me to remain quiet while you investigated her disappearance, and yet you have no issue telling Mera all the details?”

Gerad sighed before shaking his head. As he moved back into the light, I was surprised at how wrecked he looked. Tired and broken, the fine lines around his face aging him ten years. His dirty blond hair stood up in sections, as if he’d run his hands through it a dozen times today, and his shirt was most definitely buttoned up mismatched. He hadn’t looked like this the last time I’d checked in, but today he clearly had zero fucks to give.

“I’ve searched everywhere,” he said quietly. “We haven’t slept. We hardly eat. We need help…”

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 heard something from 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.