Page 53 of Lila

“Thank you, Alyssa. For everything.”

“No problem, Lila. Us Springers gotta stick together.” She winks and crosses the street, back to what she was doing before I interrupted her day with my drama.

Straightening my back, I walk back to Mateo, stopping in front of BBW.

“You stayed,” I sigh.

“I couldn’t leave. My chinchilla kept hissing and clawing at me every time I tried.”

“He knew. The spell only affected your human side, not your animal. Listen to your chinchilla, Mateo. What’s he telling you about me?” I plead.

“How do you know my name?”

“Please, Mateo. What’s he saying?”

He tips his head and appears to be having an internal conversation with himself when his eyes widen. “Mate?” he gasps.

“Yes! I’m your mate, Mateo. You may not remember me, but you know it’s true,” I tell him as he stares into my eyes.

He takes a hesitant step toward me, stopping when our fronts meet. He strokes my cheek and electricity shoots through me at the contact. “Mate,” he breathes before crashing his lips to mine. I hold him like I’ll never let him go as the kiss deepens. Suddenly he pulls back and holds my face in both hands. “Mi reina,” he sighs. “It’ll take more than a stupid spell to get rid of me. I told you I would never leave you. Do you believe me now?”

“Yes. I’m so sorry,” I cry. “I thought I lost you.”

“Never. Now let’s go find the others and make sure they remember what a perfect mate we have.”

Chapter 37

Lila

Iorderusaride to Fire Station 26. This is a conversation that needs to take place in person. If I have to kiss them all to make them remember me, that’s a hardship I’m willing to bear.

We pull up to a two-story, red brick building with three tall garage doors open. There are two fire engines in the garage and one in the driveway. We walk around the fire truck and see a fireman in bright yellow pants and a blue polo shirt with the firehouse’s insignia on it, washing the third truck. He stops when he sees us, his soapy sponge in midair.

“Hey. Can I help you?” he asks, dropping the sponge in a bucket of soapy water.

“We’re looking for Luca, Jett, and Harkin,” I say.

His eyes flash with recognition. “Lila?” he asks.

“Yes?” I drag out the word, turning it into a question.

“You do exist. I wasn’t sure. Was starting to think I was going crazy.”

“What are you talking about?”

“This morning the three of them came in all cheerful, way too cheerful for that early in the damn morning,” he mutters. “They told everyone they found their mate over the weekend. We all thought it was awesome they share a mate. But when someone brought you up a while ago, they were acting like they didn’t know what the fuck we were talking about. They were adamant they didn’t have a mate. I thought the fuckers were trying to gaslight us.”

“It was the spell,” I sigh. “That’s why we’re here. To break it.”

“Good. I’d prefer the happy-go-lucky guys of this morning to the grumpy assholes they’ve been the past hour or so. Come on.” He leads us through the garage, past the fire engines, and to a set of stairs.

I follow behind him, Mateo behind me, and I feel his eyes on my ass as I climb the stairs. I shake it and wink at him over my shoulder. He growls and scoops me up, scaring the ever-loving shit out of me and I squeal loud enough for the entire station to hear me.

“That’s what you get for teasing me. You know I love that ass,” he mutters as he carries me up the stairs. When we get to the top, he sets me down and smacks my ass. “Go get your mates back.”

Straightening my spine, I follow the fireman into an open room. There are couches and a TV on one side of the room, and a kitchen on the other. I freeze when I see my men. They’re so sexy in their uniform I can almost forget why I’m here. But then Jett sees me and whistles.

“Who’s the hottie? You looking for a man in uniform?” he wiggles his brows and my heart sinks.At least I know he’s attracted to me even without the mate bond.

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