The clacking of heels down the hallway was hardly a new sound to Elsie, but this particular clacking made her stiffen in terror.

Sure enough, her nightmares were realized when Lana appeared in her office window. Stifling a groan, Elsie planted her best smile on and waved Lana into her office. To be polite, she stood as Lana walked in. They might look the same age, but Lana had at least a century on Elsie.

“What a nice surprise,” said Elsie.

Lana just scowled at Elsie’s welcome. “We both know you don’t want to see me, so please don’t insult me by lying.”

Elsie kept her smile firmly in place, though her eyes definitely were not filled with warmth. “Believe me. I only lie in the face of people I like. It’s the ones I speak my mind to who should watch out.”

Lana cocked her head as she considered it. Elsie had a feeling she’d just gone up a notch in her grandmother-in-law’s eyes, but she couldn’t be sure. “Anyway,” said Lana. “I’ve come to take you out to lunch. You and I really haven’t had any girl time together.”

Elsie looked around her office at the massive pile of work she’d only managed to take a chip out of in the five hours since she’d gotten in. On the other hand, she really should try to get Lana on her side.

Which would never happen if she rebuffed the first peace offering the werewolf had offered her.

“That sounds lovely. Let me just save what I was working on and I will be out in one minute.”

Lana smiled at her victory as Elsie started to pack up.

Ten minutes later, Elsie led Lana into the nicest restaurant within close proximity to the plant. The service wasn’t known for being fast, but the food was from all local and natural sources and the flavors were to die for.

Hopefully she would get some points for not taking Lana to the closest burger joint.

Not that burgers weren’t amazing. She just had a feeling Lana had expensive tastes.

Her clothes were simple enough: plain black slacks paired with a white silk blouse and stylish black boots. But Elsie had an eye for clothes and would bet her next paycheck that each item Lana wore, underwear included, cost well over a hundred bucks a piece.

What she would give to get a peek at the woman’s closet.

Rebecca also had expensive tastes, but she swayed toward trendy designer clothes that would make all heads turn to her when she entered the room. Lana was old money. She didn’t need people to know she was loaded. She was just happy to appreciate the luxury herself.

“What on earth are you staring at?” said Lana as the waitress seated them.

Elsie fingered her water as she tried to think up a reasonable answer. After a second, she decided honesty was the best way to go. “It’s kind of silly. I was just admiring your outfit and trying to figure out where you got everything.”

Lana made a clicking noise with her tongue. “What did I just say about lying?”

Elsie smiled at the accusation. “No lie. I happen to be very passionate about clothes and I don’t joke around when it comes to my designers.”

Lana looked her up and down. “You do seem to put yourself together well, I’ll give you that.”

The self-satisfied smile that came to Elsie was unavoidable. Her blouse had a geometric pattern with bright turquoise and dark-blue triangles, and she’d had just enough time to paint her nails an almost identical turquoise to match that morning.

It was always nice to know her hard work paid off.

Lana smoothed her napkin on her lap even though the waitress hadn’t even taken their drink order yet. “I assume you know why I asked you here.”

“I was hoping you were going to keep on complimenting my appearance. I would be okay with that.” Lana’s sour expression immediately proved Elsie wrong.

“I want to be clear with you that you cannot stay with Brock.”

Elsie choked on her sip of water and the waitress chose that moment to walk up. Lana ordered an iced tea while Elsie ungracefully cleared the water from her windpipe. “I’m sticking with water, thanks,” she croaked out when the waitress turned an expectant gaze to her without once asking whether she was okay.

When they were finally alone again, Elsie said, “Seriously? What did I do to convince you I am such a horrible person?”

Lana twisted the ring around her middle finger, and for the first time, Elsie realized Lana wasn’t necessarily comfortable insulting Elsie to her face. Not that it made her feel better, but it was nice to know. “I am not trying to keep you away because I hate you. I want you to stay away because I like you.”

Elsie threw her hands up in defeat. “Now I’m confused, because ‘like’ was never a vibe I got from you.”

“I didn’t like that you had suddenly bound yourself to my grandson, but you, personally, have never done anything to upset me. You have to understand, our family has a very dark history. My Diana didn’t even attempt to mate with Brock’s father until her children were at least five years old and she was certain she could survive it. She trained for years with the best. She learned to fight with swords, fists, and teeth. She learned to control her mind in ways I’d never imagined possible.

“But none of those years of preparation kept her safe. Within a month of the mating ritual, she was dead and Brock was motherless. You might think I’m cold to reject you so quickly, but I fail to see how you can accomplish what Diana couldn’t. Brock has already lost one mate to this curse. I’m simply trying to protect him.”

Lana’s tone was firm, but her eyes glistened with unshed tears. Elsie wanted to be upset, but it was hard to be mad at a grieving mother. “I thought I made it clear I wasn’t having the dreams.”

Lana scoffed. “And I thought I made it clear I wouldn’t tolerate any more of your lies.”

A heavy silence stretched between them and Elsie didn’t bother to defend herself. “I didn’t have a nightmare last night. They might be going away.”

Lana leaned forward on her elbows and spoke in a hushed tone. “If you stay with him, you’ll die. And if that curse takes one more woman he cares about, I don’t know what he’ll do.”

“I’m a siren,” Elsie bit out. “I can’t just leave. We are connected in a way that can never be undone. He wouldn’t be able to function if I left.”

“Find a way! Call your long-lost relatives or go on a journey of self-discovery to India or wherever the hell your people came from! Don’t just sit there and tell me there’s nothing you can do.”

Elsie crumpled up her napkin and threw it on the table. Lunch obviously wasn’t happening. “Don’t come in here all high and mighty, as though you’re here to protect your family. Your great-granddaughter has been missing for days and we know for a fact she’s mixed up in some deep shit. Yet somehow everyone seems more concerned about Brock and me.”

Lana sat back and crossed her arms over her chest. “That girl knew what she was getting into.”

“Now who’s lying?” Elsie stood up and fished her wallet out of her purse. “I’m sorry this didn’t go the way I would’ve wanted. The food here really is good, so I hope you stay.” She set a folded fifty-dollar bill on the table. “Please enjoy your lunch and I hope next time we can make it through the whole meal together.”

Lana narrowed her eyes but said nothing.

Elsie strode from the restaurant, refusing to let herself turn back to see Lana’s reaction. She’d probably still be sitting there with a calm and cold expression. She knew better than to show her annoyance.

The balmy spring air hit Elsie like a wall, but a soft breeze lessened the blow. She looked up and down the street, suddenly realizing she was stranded. Lana drove, and Elsie doubted she planned to take Elsie back to the office now.

Not that Elsie would ever ask Lana for a ride anyway. Jackson would get her if she called him. He probably would’ve anyway, but he was especially motivated to prove himself to Brock now.

With a sigh, she shuffled down the street and fished her phone out. Once again she found herself scrolling straight to Lucian’s number. She bit her lip as she stared at the glowing screen.

Before she could chicken out, Elsie pressed the Send button.

––––––––

––––––––

Brock gazed out the window of his corner office, wishing he had a better view. Stupid of him. Most New Yorkers would kill for his view overlooking Central Park, and normally he loved it.

But not today. Today he wished he could see the shipyards of Jersey. All the way to Elsie’s office.

Was she thinking about him? He’d been texting her periodically throughout the day, but she’d never text him first. Not that he’d given her the chance.

He turned away from the window and cursed himself. He wasn’t a fucking teenager. He was over a hundred years old. Besides that, he knew Elsie liked him. She certainly liked being with him enough.

Sex might not mean much to most of the women he knew, but he was Elsie’s first. She hadn’t touched anyone else until him. That had to mean something.

Once again, he looked down at his phone, but there were no calls or texts for him. Growling at his own impatience, Brock sunk into his chair and stared blankly at the computer screen. He had so much work to catch up on, but all he could think of was his mate being alone and out of his reach.

He only got about ten minutes’ worth of work done before his cell phone finally went off. Before the second ring started, the phone was to his ear. “Brock here.” Of course, in his rush, he didn’t even look at who was calling.

“It’s Seth.”

Brock straightened in his chair. “What’s wrong?” He’d agreed to let Elsie catch up on her work without him to watch her, but he wasn’t about to let her go without protection. Seth was not only one of Brock’s best men, but he had also never met Elsie so, hopefully, she would never know he stuck her with a babysitter.

Elsie was one of the strongest and most capable women he’d ever met. She was also his mate. He’d already lost one mate and fielded two assassination attempts on Elsie’s life. She needed to be protected, and Jackson could barely protect himself.

“Nothing’s wrong,” said Seth. “I just thought you’d want an update.”

“I sent you there to protect her, not spy on her,” ground out Brock. Elsie would already be pissed enough at him if she found out about Seth.

“I still thought you’d be interested in her coffee date this morning,” said a smug-sounding Seth.

Brock took a calming breath. “What are you talking about?”

“Your girl met a guy for coffee this morning.”

“Are you implying it was romantic?” Brock started to second-guess his faith in Seth’s abilities. Elsie told Brock he was the first man she’d ever kissed, and he was damn sure he was the first she’d ever slept with. Even if she was the cheating type, she wouldn’t be meeting with the bastard this soon.

“I didn’t get a romantic vibe. She seemed kind of spooked by the guy at first, but she still sat with him for a few minutes. She seemed to get annoyed and left, but he gave her a phone as she was leaving.”

Fuck. “You think Cullen is giving her trouble again?”

“I don’t know who this guy was, but he wasn’t a wolf. I didn’t really get a human vibe either but I couldn’t get too close. I decided to stick with Elsie when they parted and I couldn’t see which way he went.”

Brock’s faith in Seth was going back up. “It was a good choice. Elsie is the priority.”

“I did get a pic of our mystery guy. I’m emailing it to you now,” said Seth.

Brock clicked to his email and opened the attachments to Seth’s email. Fuck. “You didn’t say the dick was a fucking supermodel,” growled Brock.

Seth’s confusion was audible. “It didn’t seem like necessary information. I didn’t sense any romantic element to the meeting.”

Brock flipped through the two pictures sent. One showed Elsie sitting at a table with the man who looked as if he just stepped out of some romantic comedy that women went all gooey eyed over, and the other showed them standing and facing each other as he handed her a nondescript black phone.

Seth was right about the tone of the meeting. Elsie didn’t seem to be interested in the other man at all. In each picture, her posture was super poised, as though she was holding herself as far away from him as possible, and her eyes seemed to be calculating the threat.

Why wouldn’t she call him if she was afraid? She didn’t have all the damn pride Jackson had. It wasn’t as if she would be embarrassed to ask for help. She was too smart for that shit.

Brock wouldn’t know anything until he found out who the mystery man having coffee with his mate was. “I’m going to send the picture around and see what I can find out about this guy. You start circulating it and let me know if you hear anything.”

“Some of my guys already have it. I made sure your mate wasn’t visible in the pic, so no one will know this concerns you.” Brock let out a sigh of relief at Seth’s foresight. Good help really was hard to find. “One more thing,” Seth added.

“What now?”

“I know I’m not supposed to be spying on her for you, but I thought you might want to know this. Your grandmother met Elsie for lunch and they didn’t seem to part on good terms.”

Brock clenched his jaw and fists as he forced himself to keep his anger under control. “Thanks for the update. I’ll be sure to give Lana a call.”

“I’ll let you know if I find out anything else.” Seth hung up.

Brock hit the Forward button and sent the picture on to his security department. He didn’t bother with a message in the email. He was already standing up and striding down to the forty-second floor to discuss the matter privately with his head of security, Russell.

Holt Automated was large enough that most of the employees were the standard variety human, but it was still the top employer of werewolves in the continental United States. Working with family was never easy, but at least he had the added benefit of being king, giving the weight of his authority extra heft.

Brock strode into Russell’s office, where the picture of Elsie and the mystery guy was already on Russell’s computer screen. Russell stood at Brock’s entrance.

“Already feeling the jealousy of having a mate in the modern world?” Russell grinned.

Just seventy years ago, it would’ve been perfectly reasonable for Brock to order Elsie to stay indoors and away from windows anytime he was gone. Now it was expected that he allow her to be in danger every day for the sake of her independence. Theoretically, Brock had never had a problem with independent women. Now that he was going out of his head with worry, he was starting to see the appeal of feminine oppression.

“Not jealousy. At least not this time. Seth snapped these this morning. He thinks this guy spooked Elsie, but she still sat with him a few minutes and he transferred a cell phone to her as she left. I want to know everything about him. Where he was born, what his favorite color is, and why the hell he is scaring my mate.”

Russell raised an eyebrow but didn’t argue. “Understood. I will edit Elsie out of the picture and distribute it around until we find out what was going on.” He paused a beat before he added, “Have you tried asking her who he is?”

Brock looked to the gray and blue speckled carpeting.

“Ahh,” said Russell with understanding. “You are afraid she’s going to lie about it?”

Brock hated how well his brother knew him. It was obvious Elsie was spooked in the pictures, but he never got a phone call from her to discuss it. He was her mate. If she was upset, frightened, or even a little hungrier than normal, she should be sharing it with him.

But this wasn’t a blushing bride he’d wooed and courted. This was a coworker who never even knew he thought about her in any sexual way until very recently. Why would she call him under stress?

“I’ll talk to her as soon as I can and you’ll be updated,” he insisted. “Take care of this.”

Russell nodded. “Will do.”

Brock made his way back to the elevator and punched the button for the forty-fourth floor. Without letting himself overthink anything, he snatched his phone from his pocket and hit the speed dial for Elsie.

It went straight to voicemail.