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Wild Wicked Mate

Page 107

by Laurie Gilmore

Ruby didn’t have time to answer before Sal came and scooped her into a big hug.

“We found her!” he said with a laugh.

“We sure did, Sal,” Ruby said as he lowered her back to the ground.

“Can you believe she was with a friend the whole time?” Sal asked, looking from Rafe to Theo. The way he said it implied the old man wasn’t buying it at all.

“Crazy, huh,” Rafe said.

“Hard to believe,” Theo added, and Ruby shot him a look that said he better keep his mouth shut. Which was fine by him.

“We got her back just in time, too, with all these wolf attacks happening,” Sal said, studying Theo and his brother closer than he liked.

“Exactly,” Ruby said with a placating smile, patting Sal on the back.

Theo left them and found Lena in the center of a crowd at the bar between Callie and some other friends.

“Theo!” she hopped down from her stool and gave him an unexpected hug. “Thanks for coming.”

“Uh … sure.”

“I want to talk to you.” She grabbed him by the hand and led him back through the crowd he had just fought through to get to her in the first place.

The air out front was cold and crisp and made Theo question why he’d wanted to come to this hot and stuffy and overcrowded bar in the first place. Oh, that’s right, he hadn’t wanted to come. He was coerced.

Lena hugged her arms around her body to stay warm. Theo took off his coat and draped it around her shoulders. She smiled up at him.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Look, I just wanted to say I’m sorry.”

“For what part? My brother kidnapping you or my…” He cleared his throat. “For Phoebe lying about it?”

Lena winced. “He would have let me go,” she said. “He offered to.”

“Gee, what a guy.”

She shook her head. “I know. I’m not making excuses for him. I just wanted to take responsibility for my part in it. I should have told you all where we were, but I was just so … tired.”

“Tired?”

“Yeah, exhausted from feeling like a burden to everyone in my life. And it was very tempting to just … disappear for a while. It was selfish. I’m sorry you got dragged into it.”

Theo studied her in the moonlight. She certainly looked better than she had when she was stuck at home hiding from the world.

“So, did he … help you? I mean, with your visions?”

Lena shrugged. “It’s a work in progress.”

“He’s not a seer you know.”

“I know but we … when we’re together, things are … clearer for me.”

What that could mean, he didn’t even want to think about. He had enough of his own problems.

“I’m just glad you’re okay,” he said.