Page 64 of Cruel Mate

One Year Later

Reporting back at the manor was one of Zander’s favorite times. It meant that after days, weeks or even a month away, he was just minutes away from reuniting with his mate.

As he drove up the hill, he could already picture the scene that would be awaiting him, Layla sitting on the manor porch with their infant son wrapped lovingly in her arms, a welcoming smile on her face.

And he would know, I’m home.

He’d had homes before, but not like this, not like he felt when he was with Layla. With her, they could be anywhere, and it would still feel like home. So long as she was there, it didn’t matter.

And true to what had become their norm, there she was as he pulled into the yard and honked the horn of his truck.

“Look, baby, look who’s home,” he heard Layla say as he killed the engine and threw open the driver’s side door. “It’s Daddy. Can you say Dada?”

There was no way that at only a few months old their son would be saying anything anytime soon, and yet just hearing her say the words melted his heart.

When he had returned that night all those months ago to see Jack and his family playing by the bonfire, he never could have imagined that his life might be like this. He’d imagined himself a lone wolf, saying, doing and being whatever the hell he felt like when he woke up in the morning.

But Layla had changed him. Hell, he barely recognized himself anymore as he stepped up to meet her where she rose to greet him with a kiss.

“Good evening, Daddy,” Layla said, grinning up at him.

He wasn’t sure he would ever get used to that, but damn, he loved it.

“Good evening, Mommy,” he responded, kissing her lips and her forehead before he leaned down to kiss his son’s forehead, too. “How’s he doing?”

The baby cooed up at him almost as if he were attempting to answer for himself, and Zander and Layla laughed together.

“He’s been howling the manor down for the last hour waiting for you to get home,” came the answer, though it didn’t come from Layla. Instead, it came from Kane, who appeared in the open doorway of the manor. He leaned against the doorframe with his ankles crossed and his arms folded over his chest, a deep scowl on his face. “We were about to call you and tell you to hurry your ass up.”

“I don’t believe that for a second,” Zander cooed over the baby, taking him from his mother’s arms and holding him aloft. “You would never do such a thing, would you, Jacky boy?”

Jack Junior giggled and batted out with one tiny pink hand, squeezing Zander’s nose until it almost hurt.

“That’s quite a grip you’ve got there, JJ!” Zander said, gently pulling on the infant's hand to remove it.

“Tell me about it,” Layla grumbled. “You should see what he’s doing with my damn nipples now he’s started teething!”

Zander cringed. He was certainly glad he wasn’t the she-wolf. Human babies were likely bad enough, but werewolf babies, though unable to shift before coming of age, always had a beastly side about them.

“I think I have the perfect medicine for that,” Zander told her, holding their son in one arm and hooking his other around her waist, pulling her close.

“Ugh, get a room!” Kane groaned when the two of them kissed.

“We’ve got an entire house down the hill,” Zander pointed out, and he felt Layla stiffen.

“What’s the matter?” Zander asked, raising his brow at her and pulling back to look her in the eye.

“I was kind of hoping you might have JJ for a couple of hours,” she admitted with a shrug. “I’ve got some harvesting I need to do up here.”

The look on her face suggested she expected him to object. He couldn’t say he blamed her. After learning the true extent of the games her last asshole partner had played, he would be surprised if she didn’t look that way.

But Zander was all too happy to be the one to help her heal from such trauma as he leaned in to kiss her and said, “I’ve got a better idea. We’ll help you.”

Layla blushed at that and shook her head. “You don’t have to. Bonnie and Marie have offered to help.”

“The more the merrier,” Zander said, brushing her hair away from her face.

He saw the way she gulped, how relieved she looked.

---