Lila Hayes Novels & Stories

She didn’t have the energy to argue, not tonight. Lila sat quietly on the edge of the bed, watching everything unfold. She looked small and a little out of place among the chaos of professionals buzzing around Hailey. When the stylists brought out the final dress, Hailey could see the spark of excitement in their eyes, it was a midnight blue gown that shimmered under the room’s soft light.

Haley’s heart slammed against her ribs, and her wolf—distant as it was—snapped awake long enough to bare its teeth. The door opened just a crack. A woman’s face appeared—older, kind-eyed, with silver hair braided back from her temples. Pack healer. Lila. Haley remembered her hands from childhood scraped knees and fevers and accidental wolfsbane exposure during training. “Easy,” Lila said softly, as if Haley were a skittish animal. “It’s just me.” Haley’s breath came shallow. “Where are my children?”

Chander's sudden interruption brought her back. "Miss Hila, let me help you take care of the other eleven." She didn't feel light headed or drunk anymore. "Why would you help me? You are in no position to gain anything from their deaths and if you are, just shut it and consider yourself lucky that your competition just got lower." She took off the robe and was left covered by a tiny sleeveless navy blue dress that barely covered even half her thighs. The pair of linen dolphin shorts of the same color loosely swayed as she moved towards him.

shouting in the garden. "Kael?" "Hmm." "The children are awake." "The children are always awake." "Should we get up?" "Probably." Neither of us moved. "We're not getting up," I said. "We're not getting up." "What are we doing?" "Being old." "We're not old." "We're tired." "Same thing." --- Lila came home that afternoon. She had news. "Dr. Hayes is retiring." "She's been talking about that for years." "She's serious this time. She wants me to take over the clinic."

But she took the phone from her friend and scrolled through Laura's gallery on her social media page. Her heart broke anew when she came across a few photos of the other woman posing with Liam's sisters at various social events. She sighed sadly as she gave the phone back to Lydia. Laura was clearly close to Liam's family, seeing she's so buddy-buddy with his sisters. "She's got quite a profile," Cassandra murmured as she looked through her phone. "She's twenty-eight and an attorney at Hayes and Jones." "Wait, isn't that where Isaac, your Hot Connexions match, works?" Sienna asked.

Her voice changed completely while she talked to Lily. It became softer and calmer, almost friendly. “This is serious. Someone is missing, and I have a bad feeling about it. We need to find him before it’s too late.” Lily must have agreed almost immediately because Lila came back to me only a few moments later. “She’s helping,” she said. “Lily is one of the best investigators I know. She’s also an amazing hacker. She can get information that most people can’t. Sometimes she follows the law, and sometimes she bends the rules if that’s what it takes to save someone. Just give her a few minutes. She’s already working.”

CHAPTER 1 My hands are shaking as I grip the dry-erase marker. Twenty-two years old, brand-new teacher, first day at Westridge High, and I already feel like the room is closing in on me. Twenty-five seniors stare back, but only one pair of eyes matters. Lila Vale sits dead center in the front row, legs crossed high, plaid skirt short enough that the hem barely covers the tops of her thighs. She’s eighteen. Just turned, according to her file but she looks at me like she already knows every filthy secret I’ve ever tried to hide. Her lips are glossy, parted just enough that I catch the pink flash of her tongue when she smiles.

“Vanessa, are you hunting?” Lila asked, her voice crackling through the pack-link with a jagged edge of irritation. Vanessa Hale let out a sharp, frustrated breath. “Yeah, I’m hunting. Lila, it feels like a moon-cycle since we actually ran together. Are you at the Sunrise Den? I need to get out of this headspace.”

a voice purred, smooth and young against the rustle of the crops. Lila. The landowner’s daughter. Twenty-two, with hair like spun gold and eyes that held the mischief of a city he’d never seen. She wore a simple sundress, but it clung to her in ways that made his old, tired blood stir with a heat he despised. “A shame?” he grunted, not stopping his work. “A shame that such strength… such rough hands… are wasted on dirt.” She stepped closer, her scent—something floral and expensive—mixing with the earthy smell of the field. “Don’t you ever want to use them for something… finer?”

She hadn’t aged a day in the way that mattered… still beautiful, still calculating, still carrying that fire that had once been mine. Her eyes were burning with hatred. “Well, well,” she said drily. “Hale. I was wondering when the snake would crawl out of hiding.” Always dramatic. “Lila,” I greeted. “You look…” “Don’t flatter me,” she snapped, stepping closer. “What do you want?” Straight to the point. Very Lila. I matched her bluntness. “Cyrus must fall.” Her expression didn’t change, but her pulse quickened. I noticed.