“Lila, I didn’t know you were that close to Alpha Enzo,”
Anna said with a playful smile, trying to change the subject.
“Mom…”
Bri murmured, clearly embarrassed by her mother’s boldness.
“What? I’m observant,”
Anna chuckled. “Is there a story there?”
She proceeded to ask me.
“Yes, there is,”
my mother answered for me, also eager to change the subject. “We were hoping everyone would be together before we made this announcement though. It was the whole purpose of this dinner.”
“It doesn’t matter anymore,”
I said, moving my food around on my plate with my fork; I suddenly wasn’t hungry anymore. In fact, I felt like I wanted to throw up. “But it’s true… Enzo and I are very close now and that’s because he’s, my mate.”
Everybody, except for a few who already knew, gasped at the news.
“Oh, my goddess!!”
Anna cooed. “Congratulations, Lila! This is definitely a good reason to celebrate.”
“I’m so happy for you dear,”
Lucy breathed with a fond smile.
“When’s the Luna ceremony?”
Alpha Lucas asked, which caused a slap to the arm from his wife.
“Don’t be rude,”
she murmured.
“It’s not rude. It’s a genuine question,”
he shrugged.
“Not until after her graduation,”
my mother answered. “Enzo respects that she needs to finish her schooling before thinking about marriage.”
“Well, when the time comes, you are going to be a great Luna, Lila,”
Luna Reilly said kindly.
“Congrats, Lila,”
Flynn said with a mouthful of food. But then he glared at Corrine. “Did you know?”
“I did,”
she said without looking at him.
“And you didn’t tell me?”
He seethed.
I frowned at him, annoyed by his tone.
“It wasn’t my place,”
she shrugged casually.
“Maybe if you hung out with her a little more often, she’d tell you these things. But clearly, you’re too busy for your twin nowadays,”
I simply said as I glanced at his girlfriend who sat smugly beside him.
Flynn scowled at me, but I paid him no attention.
“Thank you, everyone,”
I said with a chuckle; but my mind went right back to Enzo. I knew there was something wrong and I was fighting the urge to go to my mate and find out what it was.
“Maybe we should go to him,”
Val suggested. “I don’t feel right, Lila. Something is seriously wrong.”
I looked at my mother who sat silently in her seat and stared down at her plate; she was feeling it too. Maybe having this strong intuition was a Volana thing too?
“Lila, Selene. Can you come to my office for a minute?”
I heard the sound of my father at the doorway.
Both my mother and I stood quickly and gave one another worried looks.
“Excuse us,”
my mother said to the curious table as we scurried after my father.
His office was down the hall from the dining room and when we got there, I was relieved to be reunited with Enzo. He wrapped me in his arms and held me close to him, breathing in my scent, just as I breathed his in.
My wolf instantly calmed, but I still carried that nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach as I looked up at his worried face.
“What’s going on?”
My mother asked, holding onto my father’s arm.
“It’s Hazel…”
Enzo was the first to speak, his eyes never leaving mine.
My heart fell into my stomach; Hazel was the witch from Diana’s village. She was the one protecting the village from outsiders. She was supposed to be escorted from that village to Enzo’s pack so she could uncover that secret ingredient in the protein mix Professor Xander had given me.
“Is she okay?”
My mother asked before I had the chance to say anything.
“My warriors were attacked by a witch,”
Enzo explained, looking from me to my mother. “Hazel was taken away.”
My entire body trembled at hearing this news; suddenly that nasty feeling in the pit of my stomach started making a lot more sense. It wasn’t just the fact that Hazel had been taken; this went deeper than just Hazel.
I knew what was wrong, and if we didn’t do something, that entire village was going to die.
I staggered backward, out of Enzo’s arms, and pressed myself against the wall, trying to calm my breathing. I heard a voice in my head and flashes of fire kept crossing my vision.
“Lila?”
Enzo asked, shaking me slightly. “Are you with me?”
The images were gone and all I saw was a very worried Enzo.
“What happened?”
He asked, staring into my eyes.
“We need to get to your mother’s village…”
I breathed, hardly able to maintain my shaky breath and steady my rapid heartbeat. “The shield has been broken. They are all in danger.”
Lila’s POV
They were all staring at me like I had just grown an extra head; maybe I did. My head was pounding, and this feeling was too overwhelming. I couldn’t explain it even if I wanted to.
“Are you sure?”
My father asked, narrowing his eyes at me. “How do you know?”
“I don’t know. It’s just this feeling I have,”
I said between my teeth.