Page 31 of Cruel Mate

They didn’t make love, they fucked, rutting like two wild animals as their wolves howled to the heavens.

He tasted her sweat on her neck as he opened his mouth and grazed his teeth over her flesh. She tasted just as sweet as she smelled. And Zander knew there was no holding back as she thrust her pelvis up to meet his, her legs hooking around the backs of his knees to pin him to her.

“Fuck!” he growled in her ear, “Layla!”

As if saying her name had unlocked something, she screamed louder than before, and her pussy tightened hard around his cock. It was such a pleasure-filled shock that Zander’s entire body tensed with his release.

He quivered uncontrollably, barely able to hold himself up to stop from squashing her as he spilled his seed deep inside her with one last thrust.

He hovered over her on his elbows, breathing in the scent of her one final time before he pulled his cock free of her and dropped down onto the forest floor beside her.

Still panting for breath, he was about to pull her into his arms when she rolled away from him and grabbed her t-shirt.

What the fuck? he thought as she yanked it on over her head and jumped to her feet to pull on her shorts.

“Was it that bad?” Zander joked, his own words stinging his pride.

Layla didn’t say a word. She just turned her back on him and started to walk away.

Nobody had ever reacted like that after sex with him before.

In an instant, he was on his feet and standing before her, blocking her path.

“Don’t. You. Dare. Walk. Away. From. Me,” he drew out every word through gritted teeth, glowering down at her with his hands clenched at his sides.

“Or what?” she snapped at him, and the desire to take her again was all-consuming. The way she looked up at him said she wanted him to, but before he could even attempt it, she planted her palms in his chest just as she had done before and snapped again, “That was a one-time thing, Zander. Get out of my way.”

She half-stepped around him, but he grabbed her wrist and yanked her back around to face him. “Like hell it was.”

Layla met his gaze again. “It was. Our wolves are satisfied now. We can forget about all of this ridiculous business, go home and go back to hating each other’s guts.”

Zander stepped back, his chest aching. “Is that truly what you want?”

He thought he saw a flicker of doubt in her gaze, but when she spoke, it was gone. “Yes.”

The pain in Zander’s chest grew, but he forced it down deep. He could tell from the look in her eye and knowing just how stubborn she was that she wasn’t about to change her mind just like that.

“Fine,” he growled out through gritted teeth. “If that’s how you want to play it. I’ll see you home and then we can forget all about this.”

It pained him to say the words, but it didn’t last long, anger entirely taking over the moment Layla slipped away from him and started to shift.

“Don’t bother,” she said in the seconds before her human form was gone. “I can see myself home.”

Fuck! Layla!

He growled angrily as he watched her dart away into the trees, headed for home. Her utter disregard for her health, safety and the fact he had told her it was best not to shift made him even more frustrated than before.

If this was the way she wanted to play it, then so be it. He had a duty to his pack, anyway. He had to report all that had happened to Jack and hope he wouldn’t receive a hiding of his own for not hurrying home quicker.

Layla could wait, but he sure as hell wasn’t about to let her get away just like that.

Almost the moment Zander stepped into Jack’s new office in the manor, Jack looked up from his desk with a furrowed brow.

“I was beginning to worry about you.”

Zander scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. “Could have fooled me.”

Jack sniffed loudly and Zander tensed. He knew well enough what was coming.

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