Page 14 of Lila

“Yeah, Ms. Thornton. She’s not alone here. Silver Springs protects their own. And she’s a Springer now whether she likes it or not,” Lavender says.

“You’re aSpringer, huh? Guess you won’t be coming back, then?”

“Apparently not if Lav has anything to do with it,” I huff.

“Just stay safe, Lila. I love you. I want you to be happy. If you’re happy there, stay,”

“Mom. I-”

“Don’t argue with me. I’ll come visit soon. Unless you need me sooner. I’ll always be there for you. No matter how far away you are.”

“I know, Mom.”

“Good. I’ve gotta go. A customer just walked in. Call me later so I know you’re okay.

“I will. Love you.”

“Love you,” she says before the call ends.

Lav and I stare at each other as we register the implications of everything Mom said.

“Don’t worry, Lils. I wasn’t lying. Silver Springs takes care of its own. If they find you, you’ll have the whole town behind you. Between the shifters, vamps, and witches, they don’t stand a chance.

I sure hope so.

Chapter 11

Luca

Ishouldhaveknownshe would sneak out once the events of last night sunk in all the way. I can’t believe I told her like that. Who does that? That’s like asking a stranger to marry you as you’re having sex for the first time. Sorry, for thefourthtime. I couldn’t help it. The word just slipped out as she fell asleep in my arms. After four intense rounds of the best sex of my life, something inside me shifted and clicked in place. That’s when I knew she was it. My world. My mate.

I didn’t think she heard me, but why else would she run out as fast as she could this morning?

Last night, I had my mate in my arms and this morning I let her slip away. We finally exchanged names at some point last night. But that’s all I know about my mate. That and she comes like a freight train when I hit her g-spot over and over again. Still. Not much to go on. How am I going to find her again?

“Dude. What’s up with you? You’ve been mopey all afternoon. If Gray wasn’t so invested in that stupid Pac-Man game Harkin got him, he would be concerned,” Jett says, cutting through my thoughts on my mate. “And why do you smell so good? Did you switch to some fruity body wash or something? You smell like…” He sniffs. “Cherries, and…” Sniff again. “Vanilla?”

Ignoring his asinine question about my body wash, I narrow my eyes at him. “Nothing. Everything’s fine. Remind me why you’re here, again?”

“Because you ditched us at V and I wanna know what happened.”

“And you think I’m going to tell you with my son in the other room?”

“Well, yeah. But if you’re not, that meanssomethinghappened and now Ihaveto know.”

“Well, tough shit.”

“Aww. Come on, Boss. You can’t leave me hanging with that. What’s so bad you can’t say in front of Gray?” he whines.

Glaring at him, I grind out, “I can’t tell you in front of Gray.”

“Right. Hey, Gray! I’ll give you a case of your favorite candy if you go to your room and play for ten minutes,” he bribes my child.

“Jett,” I snap as Grayson jumps up and runs to his room without even turning off his game. This fucker knows how to work my kid against me.

“You were saying?”

“Fine. I met a girl. Are you happy?” I grumble.

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