“Brannon, is Kasey with you?” Kira asked as soon as he picked the phone up. “She didn’t show up to work. Layla says she didn’t come home last night either.”

“I haven’t seen her. She left me a message yesterday saying she’d meet me at her place, but she never showed up. I called and left multiple messages, but she never responded. Has anyone talked to Caelan? The two of them are as thick as thieves. Maybe he’s heard from her.”

“Carly is on the phone with him now, but he says he hasn’t heard from her since she left work here yesterday.”

“Where was she going after she left there? Does anyone have any idea? You know what. . . never mind. Give me fifteen minutes and I’ll be there.”

He hung up the phone and jumped out of bed. His mate may have stood him up, or she may have been kidnapped, it didn’t matter. What did matter was that she might be in trouble, and until he knew for sure, he was going to be there finding answers.

Luck was on his side, and he was at the office building of Rakida Construction within ten minutes of hanging up the phone. He strolled in the office like a man on a mission, and he was. He was going to find his mate come hell or high water.

“We’re in here, Brannon,” Carly said as she stuck her head out the door of the conference room. “Come on.”

“Any news?” he asked as soon as he walked in.

A chorus of no filled the air, leaving him frustrated and a bit scared. “What time did she leave yesterday and where did she say she was going?”

Layla cleared her throat. “About three, she gave me the car keys and said she was going to take a taxi and she’d see me later.”

“Wait,” Brannon raised a hand to forestall any more comments for the moment, “why did she leave so early?”

All four women chuckled at his question. “To get ready for your first official date, of course.”

“But we had a date, Kira. We did the group date.”

“Exactly,” Carly said with a roll of her eyes. “It was a group date and one that she had originally agreed to go with Caelan on. This one was with you and only you two. That’s a big deal.”

“All right, this just confirms that I’ll never understand women. Let’s move on. Does she have any friends or relatives she’d go to?”

Everyone turned to Layla for that answer. “She said you guys were her only close friends. She could have gone to Isaac’s but I seriously doubt it. She hates Artemis with a passion. But I can call my uncle and see if he saw her.”

Brannon watched her step out in the hall. They really did need to get to know Kasey and Layla better. This was just proof that they didn’t know the two of them very well. They couldn’t even answer the most basic questions about them.

“Isaac’s out of town. He left early yesterday morning on a work emergency. He talked to Artemis last night and again this morning, but she didn’t mention anything about Kasey being there. He hung up to call and ask her, though. I explained everything that’s happened. He’s on his way back.” Layla sighed. “I asked him if the bodyguards were following her yesterday, but he said he’d pulled them indefinitely. They are to stay on the apartment, but not to follow her anymore.”

“She has bodyguards?” Brannon said in shock. “Following her and at her apartment? Is that what you said?”

Layla nodded. “They always watch the apartment, but only sometimes do they follow her. She said her dad did it for her protection whenever things were more dangerous than usual.”

The chirp of an incoming text message made everyone in the room jump. Layla opened her phone and scowled. “It’s from Uncle Isaac. He said Artemis hasn’t seen her in a few days, but that he asked his men to keep an eye out for her and one already responded back that she was eating breakfast at Lou’s Diner.”

“Layla, will you come with me? I know Isaac’s gone legit, but it might be useful to have a family member there if we need to pull Kasey out.” Brannon didn’t wait for a response, just turned to Kira. “Can you ask the guys, whoever is available, to meet me there in ten minutes?”

It made sense in a way for her to show up at Lou’s considering it was the connection to her family, but something was still off. Why did she ditch him the night before? Where was she all night, and why hadn’t she let her cousin know any of it?

When they pulled up to Lou’s, Brannon had to fight not to cringe at the place. He’d heard about how great the food was, but that didn’t mean he would be willing to brave the grease-coated windows to find out for himself.

“Bastien,” he greeted with a nod. “Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”

“Not necessary. Let’s just get your woman and get out of here. Legit or not, this place always puts me a bit on edge.”

Layla led the way inside, Brannon close on her heels. At first, he didn’t see anything, but movement drew his eye to the corner booth and Kasey kissing another man. His wolf howled in outrage and demanded to be let out so he could tear the other man to pieces for daring to touch his mate.

“Kasey, Elias?” Layla demanded as she came to a stop at their table. “What in the hell is going on here? I’ve been worried sick about you, Kasey. And you, Elias, what happened? We were texting back and forth and then you went silent and haven’t responded since.”

It was taking all Brannon had to not shift right then and there. “Mine,” he growled in a guttural tone of possession.

“Oh, hey, guys. You here for breakfast, too?” Kasey asked with a huge grin. “It’s divine. You’ll love it. Right, babe?” Kasey cocked her head and studied the other man before turning to Brannon and Bastien. “What’s going on? Why are you two growling at my mate like that?”

“Jaguar?” Bastien demanded. “And why are you with her?”

“Yes, and she is my mate,” Elias said as he stood and faced the two men. “Do you have a problem with that?”

“Brannon, come on. Back off, something’s not right. We need to reassess and figure things out,” Bastien whispered.

“She’s my mate. I can’t leave her here like this.”

“Elias, Kasey, can you guys come with us? We need to talk to you about something that’s happened. It’s very important,” Layla said as she pulled Kasey from the booth. “I’m not kidding, Kasey. This can’t wait, please come with us. Both of you.”

“All right, all right,” Kasey said with a sigh. “Calm down. We’ll come with you. Right, Eli? We’ll go with them and see what’s up.”

“Fine, but I don’t like the way he’s acting,” Elias said with a nod toward Brannon. “Watch out for him.”

Layla smiled. “No problem.” She glanced over her shoulder at Brannon and Bastien. “Guys, I’ll take their car and follow you. You call and let them know we found her and fill everyone in.”

Brannon nodded then scowled one more time at Elias and walked away. It was the hardest thing he’d ever had to do, but now wasn’t the time to pick a fight. There was something bigger going on. They just had to figure out what it was and put a stop to it.

By the time they’d climbed back in the car, Bastien had already called the gang and had them agree to meet up on the mountain where they could control things a bit more.

“Caelan’s bringing Isaac and Layla’s father. I never thought I’d say this, but he’s worried as hell about her and why she disappeared. They’re about twenty minutes away from town. If we can stall for about thirty minutes, they should be there.”