Page 56 of Cruel Mate

Now she really did feel sick, and she struggled to hold it back even as she cupped Christian’s face in her hands. Please, don’t make me kiss you to make you believe.

Hoping to avoid it, she continued, “Please, let’s just go and get secured at the cabin. It’s where we started, isn’t it? Maybe our future as alpha and alpha’s mate should start there too?”

For several seconds, Layla wasn’t at all sure she had convinced him.

“You aren’t seriously believing this shit, are you?” Gary demanded. He glowered at Layla as if he’d shut her up all too happily, but when Layla saw Christian’s face darken, she knew she had him. She had seen that look a thousand times before.

“Are you questioning me?” Christian demanded. He rose to his feet, turning on Gary.

Though they were of similar height and build, Christian’s power over the man was clear. Gary dipped his head and clasped his hands behind his back.

All around them, the other pack members lurking in the shadows started to murmur. There was almost excitement in the air, as though they actually liked the thought of one of their packmates getting shredded by their alpha.

These wolves were feral. That much was for sure.

Still glowering at Gary, Christian held out his hand to Layla and said, “Let’s get you somewhere safe.”

Once they reached the cabin, it wasn’t difficult for Layla to convince Christian to get his men to give them some space, some time alone. Though Gary and some of the others didn’t look best pleased by the way Christian was being manipulated, they didn’t argue as they left the cabin to set up a guard perimeter all around the building.

Layla wasn’t sure how she might get away with them all around, but first things first, she had to get herself away from Christian, even if that meant subduing him herself before she came up with a plan to avoid the others.

Almost the moment the cabin door shut behind Gary and they were left alone, Christian started in.

He approached Layla where she stood beside the empty fireplace and brushed her hair back from her face. She struggled not to flinch away when his fingertips brushed her cheek.

“I always knew we were meant to be. I knew you couldn’t really reject me,” Christian said confidently. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close.

Nausea filled Layla’s throat and she struggled to keep it down.

“You couldn’t even begin to imagine the things I had to do to get where I am now,” Christian snarled venomously and with great triumph. “The people I had to challenge to become alpha.”

Layla could imagine all too well. There were a great many wolves who had left Nightstar when Jack took over. What had become of them, she hadn’t known until now.

“First there was Dennis. He was the easiest to kill,” Christian scoffed. “Then Mark, he put up more of a fight. A couple of the she-wolves tried their luck, but who's ever heard of a female alpha?”

The way he sneered only made Layla feel worse. Life seemed to mean so little to Christian. He was even further gone than she had realized, and yet she knew she had to play along.

“You’re so strong and powerful,” she said, gripping his biceps as if she were admiring them. “I only wish you had come for me sooner.”

She glanced down at her stomach, the only thing stopping him from pulling her chest to chest.

“Don’t you worry about that,” Christian snarled, glaring down at her stomach. “Once all of this is over and I’ve killed those Blackwell bastards, we’ll get rid of that trash in your belly and put a real alpha pup in you.”

Layla’s throat constricted, but she forced a smile. “Tell me, Christian, please, what else do you plan to do?”

She forced excitement into her voice and bounced a little on her tiptoes.

Christian’s hands traveled from her lower back down to her buttocks and he squeezed. “Well, once I’ve taken care of Jack and his little mate and children, I’ll kill every last one of his men, leaving yours till last.”

Layla struggled to hold it together. “You mean Zander?” she gulped.

“Is that his name? I had quite forgotten. Yes, Zander. I’ll leave him for last, and I’ll torture him, let him heal, and torture him again until he begs me for death for what he has done to you! He has sullied you, and he must pay for that.”

Layla’s face twisted. She couldn’t stop it. What he was describing was simply too horrid to bear.

“What’s the matter?” Christian demanded when she instinctively pulled away. When he grabbed hold of her wrists, she knew what was coming. He always did that when he was going to do something and didn’t want her to fight back. “Don’t you like the thought of me sinking my teeth into that fool over and over again? Don’t you want me to claw out his eyes for ever seeing you naked or rip off his prick for putting that filth inside you?”

He shoved her backwards, and Layla screamed out in pain as the backs of her knees hit the frame of the cot bed.

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