Page 36 of Cruel Mate

“Zander, we don’t have to pretend as if this is what either of us wanted,” Layla said through gritted teeth. “Not all fated mates get along.”

Her words cut him to the bone, and yet they only made him more determined.

He leaned over and whispered in her ear, “I will not allow you to be miserable. Not on our wedding day.”

He felt her shiver, heard her breath escape her, and he knew that his own breath upon her neck had the desired effect.

Pulling away, he saw the need in her gaze before he forced his eyes from hers and looked again at the dancing in front of them.

“You know, you should be happy. You might have been stuck with Eddie,” Zander said, flicking his index finger in the direction of Eddie, who was dancing in the most absurd manner. His friend had never been very good at dancing, though the women close by seemed to be having fun laughing at him.

Layla followed his gaze and pursed her lips as if she were determined not to laugh. It only made Zander try harder.

“Do you think Hanson will ever get the hint that Penny doesn’t like him like that?” Zander asked, seeing the way Hanson leaned over the table to talk to the attractive she-wolf across the way.

“Sometimes, especially now that Karl is gone, he’s too nice,” Layla said, shrugging.

Zander scoffed. “I didn’t realize there was any such thing as being too nice.”

At that, Layla did laugh. “I can tell.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Zander demanded, taken aback.

“It means you don’t have to pander to me just because I’m carrying your child,” Layla said. She rubbed her stomach as if protecting the little life growing inside her.

Zander growled low in his throat and leaned in to whisper in her ear, “I can be less nice, if you want me to be.”

Again, he felt her quiver, and this time she leaned against him. Zander’s stomach twisted, and he knew that this might well be the most receptive she had been to him since that night.

He kissed her delicately on the neck. “I can be whatever you want me to be, wife.”

Layla’s hand snaked up to cup his face and she drew his lips to hers. He might have been wrong, but this felt like as good a time as any to whisper, “By the way, I shall be moving my stuff out of the manor tomorrow.”

Layla pulled back then, her eyes widening. They had been so close to kissing it pained him. Yet he couldn’t stop from smiling when he saw the horror playing out on her face. “Moving it where?”

He smirked, already sure of the kind of rise he was going to get out of her. For one second, he was the old Zander as he tormented her by replying, “Your place.”

Chapter 14 - Layla

Layla could have slapped him. She wished she had. Zander inviting himself to move in with her was practically the last straw. To be mated was one thing, to be married another, but to actually live together…

It was uncomfortable. Layla had been alone for so long that she just couldn’t get her head around all that was happening.

Her wedding night wasn’t at all as she’d expected. She had never really imagined getting married at all, not when most of her life she had been avoiding the bad guys of the old Nightstar pack. But after Zander’s proposal, even with her reluctance to actually say yes, she had imagined it would be far more romantic.

Instead, Zander had dropped her at home, kissed her goodnight and headed back to the manor to make his final preparations for moving in. It was odd to Layla. Shouldn’t they have consummated the marriage or something?

It was a stupid thing to get hung up on considering her current state, and yet hung up on it she was. Had Zander married her out of duty? Maybe having sex just the one time really had been enough for him? How was she supposed to live with a man who had married her out of duty, a man who didn’t truly want her?

Everything is such a mess! she thought as she fell asleep that night, but when she awakened the next morning, she oddly felt better, well-rested for perhaps the first time since she had learned of her pregnancy.

And for once, she didn’t feel sick to her stomach. Perhaps it was the smell of food wafting through the open bedroom door. It made her stomach growl even as she wondered, who the hell is making food at seven in the morning?

Clambering from her bed, where she had most definitely slept alone, she wondered whether maybe one of the other she-wolves had taken it upon themselves to cook the happy couple breakfast for their first morning together. It sounded like something Bonnie would do. She was always determined to make sure their pack had the best now that she was the alpha’s mate.

It made Layla’s stomach clench to think of how she was going to have to disappoint her with the fact that Zander wasn’t even here.

Where is he? Layla wondered, feeling a little lonely. Maybe she should have encouraged him to stay the night, but she had still been angry with him for inviting himself to live with her.

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