Page 53 of Cruel Mate

“Come on, Lay! I don’t have all day!” Christian yelled from the bottom of the stairs, and she knew time was running out.

Grabbing the pocket knife she’d always kept under her mattress as a last resort to protect herself with, she moved to the closet and placed the bandage at eye level on a shelf before pricking her finger, praying Zander would smell the blood the minute he came looking for her.

She heard Christian’s storming up the stairs just in time to hide the knife and suck the blood from her finger as she closed the closet door. Pulling a knife on someone like Christian would only get her killed faster.

“Come on, we’re getting out of here before your little boyfriend comes looking,” Christian snarled as he appeared in the room, only to grab her by the elbow.

“Please, Christian, be gentle,” Layla protested, playing the weak and frail girl she’d always been with him.

She’d play him as long as it took Zander to come and find her. Even if that meant being the old Layla for a little while.

Chapter 21 - Zander

Nightstar was a bloodbath. Wolf on wolf within the trees surrounding the manor, Zander and the others tried their best to keep the fighting near the house, hoping the humans and other civilians would stay well clear. It would be a challenge to cover things up afterwards, if they survived to do so.

Zander’s energy was failing, but he would never give up. In wolf form, he battled on, thinking only of the wife and child he had to protect and the pack that was depending upon him.

Every so often, he caught a flash of a packmate out of the corner of his eye, but just as quickly, they disappeared beneath a mountain of fur.

They would be lucky if they didn’t suffer severe casualties today. Christian’s pack was much larger than any of them had anticipated, and at any one time, Zander found he was battling off no less than three wolves. They tore at him with tooth and claw until his coat was torn and his flesh raw with wounds.

And yet, though he thought they might have attempted and succeeded, not a one of them dealt the killing blow. They simply fought on, dancing out of the way wherever they could, almost playing with the Nightstar pack. And frustration grew in Zander as he tried desperately to pin even one of them down. He had no problem with dealing a killing blow if it meant protecting his pack. Eventually, their enemies would get bored, and then it would be kill or be killed. It always turned out that way in the end.

But just when he thought all hope was lost and he saw his family members going down all around him under the weight of their enemies, Zander heard the call.

It rang across the town, an order howled to all who would listen, a surrender.

The army man in him felt a huge rush of relief and exhilaration when he came to realize it was not Jack who had made the call, but Christian.

The other enemy wolves started to answer, howling their own surrendering calls, and Zander watched as they fought to unhook themselves from their opponents, slinking away into the trees.

Zander looked to his nearest packmate. Darwin, though a much smaller and inexperienced wolf, looked just as confused as he felt. Something wasn’t right. Christian and his wolves had been winning. Why would they ever give up so easily?

Darwin’s eyes widened at the same time as the answer came to Zander. Layla!

Skidding in the leaf mulch to turn in the direction of home, Zander raced as fast as he could, feeling Darwin hard on his heels. One thing could be said about the young wolf, he was loyal to a fault. Nobody could have kept him from seeing if Layla was okay, and Zander was grateful to him for it.

All down the hill they passed startled and confused Nightstar wolves, many of them looking just as bloody and beaten as he felt. Yet Zander and Darwin didn’t stop, not until they reached the house.

Then Zander skidded to a halt at the end of the driveway, his blood turning to ice. He had locked the door, he was certain of it. And yet it now hung open as if it had been yanked right off the hinges.

This can’t be happening!

Zander didn’t think of himself or what danger might await him in the house. He charged forward, his nose in the air.

Many of the scents inside the house made Zander nauseous. Christian and the two of his pack who had attacked Layla that night in the woods had been here. He would recognize their scents anywhere. He had committed them to memory the second they set Layla as a target.

But he also smelled Layla—not just her, but their child, and worse, fear.

Whatever had happened, Zander knew he wasn’t going to like it. And when he hurried up the stairs, still in wolf form, he realized he could smell something else, too. It was something that made his pelt stand on end.

He growled a warning to Darwin, who followed close behind, slower now, more cautious. Yet it was clear he wasn’t about to leave until they’d either located Layla or had her trail.

As Zander crept up the stairs, his stomach almost bottomed out. The front door wasn’t the only one open. The bedroom door had been flung wide, and the terrible scent of blood coming from inside made Zander sick.

He continued forward, following the scent into the bedroom, to the closet. After assessing that the room was empty, sensing the rest of the house was also, Zander shifted.

Darwin quickly followed suit.

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