Lila.
Her name hits me like a punch to the gut, lashing at my mind like she was back in search of revenge. But in truth, she never left it, even after four years.
She’s the girl I wasn’t supposed to want. Just an outsider I was expected to reject, and a mistake to never revisit.
The woman who claimed there was something binding us even from a young age, but I refused to acknowledge it. Even after that night… I refused her. I refused the very idea of her.
Not just because of the weight of expectations, but because I had to go. I had already enlisted.
But even now, her scent haunts me. Beckons me, somehow.
Clenching my jaw, I barely register the tight grip I keep on the steering wheel.
“Caleb, you’re freaking us out,” Dominic says, trying to break through my stupor. “What the hell is happening?”
As tempting as it is to get lost in the strange comfort her scent brings me despite everything, there’s a different note to it. Something almost painful and acrid that tangles within that softness.
“Something’s wrong,” I say, hit with absolute certainty despite how crazy I must sound. I glance at Zane. “I don’t know what, but something’s happening.”
His brows furrow. “With who?”
“It doesn’t matter. Just something in the air.”
The longer I smell it, the more prepared I am to lose my mind completely. Those sharp instincts of mine flare so strongly that I have to brace myself against the frame of the jeep.
As much as I want to explain what’s going on, I can’t. It’s a feeling so raw that I can’t ignore it.
It’s a tightness in my chest, a pull in my gut, and a whisperingsomethingthat refuses to quiet.
Lila’s here. Close, even. And something is wrong.
“I have to check,” I mutter, not elaborating as I suddenly veer the jeep to the side of the road and kill the engine before jumping out.
“Caleb!” I hear Luke shout at me from the other vehicle, along with the others’ protests, but I don’t stop.
Moving across the road, I break into a run through the trees, following that fear I can’t help but scent.
Regardless of how vague I had been, it didn’t stop the guys from following. I sense them closing in behind me, not pushing to question me. I’m sure they have numerous things they want to ask, but they don’t.
They know better.
As they follow, the tension between us grows heavier, but my determination doesn’t slow, and neither do I.
The forest thickens, and while the smell of home grows stronger, I ignore it for now. My sole focus is on the wind and that scent. On the woman I haven’t seen in four years.
I told her I didn’t feel anything and that I didn’t need her. I denied her and myself. I convinced us both she wasn’t my mate.
But now, aware that something isn’t right, a new, protective instinct makes my heart race with the need to be released.
Lila’s in trouble, and whether I like it or not, I’m going to find her.
Chapter 3 - Lila
Morning came with the kind of fog that always fills my head when I don’t sleep well. As hard as I tried, I couldn’t shake what happened yesterday, and today, my nerves feel scraped raw.
Astrid plays quietly with her carved wooden animals on the floor, humming to herself without a care in the world. She’s completely unaware of the consequences of her raw magic slipping out yesterday, and while that’s a good thing, I feel the full weight of it on my shoulders.
Pulling in a breath, I press a hand to my forehead and try to centre myself. To think despite how clouded my mind feels.
