Brannon leaned back in his chair and smiled as he thought about his encounter with Kasey in her parking garage. She was breathtaking and never more so than when she was arguing with him. His heart had pounded as he walked away—he couldn’t tell if it was from adrenaline, lust, or admiration that she had stood up to him.

Not many women would dare face him as she had. But his mate wasn’t just anyone. She was everything he could ever want. The first moment he’d laid eyes on her when she’d been set up as Caelan’s date, he’d known she was his. Never did he expect her to be so feisty and perfect for him, though.

Now if she would only give him a chance, or hell, just trust him enough to tell him what was going on. He wasn't stupid. He'd seen her reactions whenever they'd mentioned the pack teenagers’ behavior. She knew something, and he was going to find out what.

He just had to get her to trust him, let him close enough to help her without wanting to strangle her stubborn gorgeous ass.

"Only time you look like that anymore is when you've got a certain Latina goddess in your thoughts," Bastien called out as he sat across from Brannon. "Better wipe that shit-eating grin off your face before the others arrive. They’re right behind me."

"Whatever, man, you wanna talk about looks. You, Garrett, and Luke are so whipped, it's not even funny. One word to your mates about how you're giving me hell and making fun of me and you know they'll put your asses on the couch."

"You're an ass. That's not even funny," Luke grunted as he walked up beside the two men. "Garrett and I weren't even here. Don't drag us into your lovers’ quarrel."

"This time maybe. But you two are far from innocent."

Silence fell over the three men as they mock glared at each other.

"Is this a bad time to ask if you guys want a drink while you're waiting?" a hesitant waitress asked as she stopped beside their table. "It's my first week here, but I've heard about you guys and your antics."

Her words did the trick and the stare off ended with gentle rebukes and teasing around the table. A few moments later, Garret and Caelan arrived and the group ordered drinks and settled to discuss the latest news within each of their groups.

"Nothing new on my end. The teenagers are still acting the same, the infection rate seems to have slowed, though." Luke shrugged. "Not that there are many teenagers left not showing signs. I’ve had only a couple new reports of stealing, vacant stares, and missing time."

The four other alphas agreed and acknowledged it was the same all over the mountain. They were running out of ideas, and frustration was starting to get the better of them.

"We need our mates. They came up with some ideas last time," Garrett muttered.

"About that," Brannon said softly as he took a deep breath. He'd been avoiding telling them his suspicions, but things were getting out of a hand. They needed to know what he suspected, what he'd seen, and help him come up with a plan to get the truth one way or another. "It's about Kasey. I think she's hiding something and we need to find out what it is."

Caelan scowled but nodded in agreement. "I agree, and I hate to admit this, but something is going on there."

Luke held up his hand in the universal wait gesture. "Why don't you start from the beginning and explain. Together we can figure this out, I'm sure."

"It's little things. She's extremely private to the point of paranoia. Last night, for instance, I surprised her in the parking garage of her apartment and she freaked out. Said I was going to get her in trouble and that she couldn't be seen talking to me." Brannon stopped for a moment to collect his thoughts before continuing. "She kept glancing around the garage like she was worried about someone seeing us together."

"You don't know who?" Bastien questioned.

"She's very cagey about her family, too," Caelan supplied. "I can't get the most basic details out of her about them. We were out the other day and her phone rang. I peeked a glance, and it said Papa. She paled and excused herself quickly to talk to him. She swears everything was fine, but why would she react that way to seeing his name?"

"There's more," Brannon said with a resigned sigh. "I've noticed a few times when we're all together and the kids in the pack are mentioned, she gets nervous. She won't meet people's eyes, bites her lip, and just seems like she's trying to disappear."

Bastien growled but didn't comment. As the alpha of the bear pack of the mountain, his growl could scare most people, but his acerbic tongue could and would rip the hide off most men. Brannon was thankful for that. His friend was scary when he was pissed off. He turned his attention to Luke hoping he'd have some insight.

"You got me on this one. I don't know what to say honestly." Luke shrugged. "We don't know much about her in the first place. Have any of you ever smelled her lying?"

Luke Lyon was the alpha of the lion pack and the first to have made his home in the mountain. He was the alpha of the alphas so to speak. If he was worried, then Brannon knew things were bad.

Brannon breathed a sigh of relief as one by one, his friends acknowledged they hadn't. That was something at least, but he knew how easy it was to mislead people without lying. He just had to hope her intentions were good. Otherwise, mate or not, there was going to be hell to pay.

"Good, now we need to figure out what's going on with her. I think we're going to need some help on this one. Brannon, I know she's your mate, but until the two of you are spending time together, your hands are tied. Caelan, she’s your friend. Do you think you can help play matchmaker here? I'll ask Kira to keep an eye on her and see what she can dig up. Caelan, can you talk to Toni and Carly to ask them to do the same?"

The group fell into silence as the waitress placed drinks on the table and took their orders. Brannon was glad for her timing. He needed to think about his next move, and with the eyes of the others flickering to him every couple of seconds, he was getting nowhere fast.

It's not like he could just confess that she was his mate and expect her to fall into his open arms. Hell, she'd practically maced his ass the night before and that was for showing up.

"I know that smile. That's a man thinking of his woman."

"Shut it, Bastien. You did a lot worse than just think about Carly before you got together."

"True. If your thoughts are so innocent, share them with the class then."

Brannon nodded. "Fine. I was thinking of the fire in her eyes last night as she threatened me with a can of mace. She was something else. I think she really would have tried it or to maim me."

"I'd have paid to see that. I bet I could have sold tickets and made a fortune, too," Caelan whispered to Luke with a wink. "The stoic and all mighty Brannon getting his ass whooped by his mate. Epic, I tell you."