Page 54 of Cruel Mate

“She…she’s not here, is she?” Darwin asked as if he were terrified of the answer.

Zander shook his head, but didn’t look at the younger wolf. He couldn’t bear to see the worried expression on his face. Instead, he pulled open the closet, still following the scent of blood.

“What do we do now?” Darwin asked. Zander gritted his teeth.

“We find her,” he growled. “And we kill any fucker who stands in our way.”

“How will we find her?” Darwin asked, the pitch of his voice growing higher. “Christian is smart. He’ll hide their trail.”

Zander scoffed. “If Christian was smart, he wouldn’t have taken another wolf’s mate. There is nowhere he could hide her that I won’t find her.”

He was already staring at the very thing that told him exactly where she would be if she was as smart as he thought she was. The blood scent he had followed had not merely been from an injury, as he had at first believed. He smirked as he looked at the small pinpricks of blood on the bandage on the shelf. He’d recognize that dirty old rag anywhere, and yet he couldn’t quite believe Layla had actually kept such a thing.

“How can you be so sure?” Darwin asked, hopping from one foot to the other as if he could barely bring himself to stand still.

Zander picked up the bandage and wrapped it around his index finger. Bringing it up to his nose, he breathed deeply.

“What is that?” Darwin asked when he got no response, clearly understanding it was something important.

“Who do you think is smarter, kid?” Zander asked, holding up the bandage for Darwin to see. “Layla or Christian?”

Darwin placed his hands on his hips then and cocked his head. “I can’t help but feel as if that’s some kind of trick question.”

Zander chuckled. It seemed Darwin was also smart; refusing to answer such a question was definitely a good idea.

“Don’t worry, kid,” Zander said, clapping the boy on the shoulder. “If Layla’s as smart as I think she is, I know exactly where they’ll be.”

All he could do was pray that Christian was also truly as stupid as he believed him to be. Otherwise, it didn’t matter how much time Layla tried to buy or how she tried to manipulate him into staying close to Nightstar territory.

Had Zander been in his place, they’d already be long gone by now. But all he had to do was look at Christian to know he was no army guy. He was just a jealous, narcissistic prick who needed to be knocked down a peg or two. And if Zander was going to be the one to do it, he was sure as hell going to have fun doing it.

Nobody was going to try and take his mate from him and get away with it.

Squeezing Darwin’s shoulder, he asked, “How much juice does your wolf have left?”

Darwin straightened his back and narrowed his eyes. “Enough.”

Zander smiled proudly at the young omega. He’d be a powerful werewolf one day, that much was clear. In fact, he kind of reminded Zander of himself back in the day, long before he had left Blackwell Falls with Jack to join the army.

“Stick close to me and do exactly as I tell you and we’ll get Layla back,” Zander assured him when he saw the worried look in Darwin’s eyes.

The boy gulped and nodded, though he didn’t look entirely convinced. “Should we go and get the others?” Darwin asked.

Zander nodded and turned toward the door. “Let’s go get Jack and the others, kid. Then it's time to get our girl.”

Chapter 22 - Layla

“What’s the matter?” Christian snarled, gripping hold of Layla’s elbow just a little tighter than before.

They were barely beyond the border of pack territory when Layla started to drag her feet.

“I…I need to rest a minute,” she stammered, placing her hand over her mouth to fake a gag.

Christian paused and raised his brow. “Why? What’s wrong?”

“Morning sickness,” Layla answered, burping and gagging again. “Just please, can I have one minute?”

Christian glanced back over his shoulder and sniffed the air. “One minute, then we carry on.”

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