Page 71 of Protected By Her Mate

“Come with me, Luke.” His hand lands on my shoulder and he escorts me to the office, his voice low and soothing as he talks. “There’s a police officer here who’s going to take you to your mother.”

My voice shakes as I ask, “Is my mom okay?”

He squeezes my shoulder, but not hard. Soft, like he’s comforting me. “Your mom is fine. There’s nothing to worry about. This is just a precaution, I believe.”

“What’s going on?” I can’t think of a reason my mom would send an officer to come pick me up. “Why didn’t my mom come if she’s okay?”

He shakes his head and tries to give me a confident look, but his eyebrows are down. He’s worried about something. “I don’t know much, Luke. All I know is something happened with a case she’s working on and she’s asked that you be picked up and brought to her.”

I suppose it makes sense. My mom is protective. If there was even a hint of danger, she’d definitely want me nearby.

“Hey, Luke!” I look up to see my cousin, Dallas, waving at me. “What’d you do?” His wide eyes are on Principal Louis.

“Back to class,” the principal says. “Where’s your hall pass?”

Dallas waves it and rushes off, giving me a pitying look as he goes. Great, now all the cousins will think I’ve done something wrong.

We enter the office and I see the police officer right away. Her gaze falls on me and a chill runs down my spine. I back into the principal. “I want to call my mom.”

“We need to leave the premises immediately,” the officer says to Principal Louis, ignoring me. “There may be some danger to the school.”

Principal Louis looks alarmed. “Should we lock it down?”

She shakes her head. “Probably not necessary but tell your security to stay vigilant.”

“Is there any danger to Luke?” Miss Granger, the school secretary asks, her worried gaze on me. She’s always had a soft spot for me, even covering for me once when I was caught sneaking a bag of crickets I’d gotten at the pet store into the teacher’s lounge.

The officer shakes her head. “He’ll be fine once we get him to his mother. We’re just being extra cautious.” She smiles at me, but it’s not a warm smile. The feeling like something is wrong hits me again.

“I want to talk to my mom,” I say stubbornly. “I’m not going until I can talk to her.”

Principal Louis uses his grip on my shoulder to turn me to him. “Luke, you need to go with Officer…” He looks at her and she supplies her name. “You need to go with Officer Callie. She’ll keep you safe until you see your mother.”

“I want to talk to Lennox,” I argue. “He’s a police officer too. He should’ve been the one to pick me up.”

The woman smiles again. “I know Officer Wolven-North well. We’ve worked together for several years. I’ll get him on the radio when we get to my squad car. Does that work for you, buddy?”

I hate when people call me buddy, but the adults have already started talking over me, ignoring my requests.

Things just aren’t adding up.

“We were told you would just watch over him, that he’d stay at the school for the day.” Miss Granger questions the officer, clearly thinking things aren’t adding up either.

It’s Principal Louis who answers. “I received another call letting me know Ms. Lopez wanted Luke brought straight to her.” He looks at Officer Callie and she nods.

“That’s what I was told. Not sure why they changed my orders, but I know I’m to take him straight to his mother.” Her eyes gleam as they land on me. “Let’s go.”

I feel betrayed as Principal Louis releases his hold on my shoulder and nudges me gently toward the officer. “Go with her.”

Miss Granger’s worried gaze follows me. “I’ll call your mom and let her know you’re on your way.”

“No need,” Officer Callie says, striding toward me. She takes my arm in a tight grip. “We’ll call her from my squad car.”

Officer Callie rushes us out of the office, down the hall and through the front doors of the school, ignoring the security guard who says something to her.

I look around. “Where’s your car?”

“It’s on a side street. I couldn’t find parking out front.”

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