Chapter 11 - Zander

Zander tried to stop, but damn, she tasted so good. The way her tongue caressed his, how her body curved against his as he held her there by her cheeks was too inviting.

His hands slipped further around to the back of her head, his fingers gripping the roots of her strawberry blonde hair. He growled warningly against her lips when she gently bit his tongue, enticing him. His cock was harder than ever before.

He couldn't help himself. He needed her. And the way she returned his growl said she needed him just as badly.

Her hands snaked up his chest and hooked around his neck, pulling him down to her.

Fuck! He was unable to resist. Pulling on her hair, he urged her down onto the soft bed of leaves that littered the forest floor.

Yanking her t-shirt and shorts off, he found her naked before him once more, slipping off his own shorts before either of them could have a change of heart.

He had come too far now. He couldn't turn back as he knelt between her legs and lowered himself back down to her.

Gripping the roots of her hair again, he pulled her hair aggressively to expose her neck. Even as he entered her, he nibbled at the flesh of her throat between her neck and shoulder and felt her quivering beneath him.

She moaned deliciously as his rock-hard cock slipped inside her. She was warm and inviting. Her scent enveloped him, and as he thrust deep within her, he closed his eyes, wishing to commit to memory every second of being inside her.

His excitement and need took a hold of him, and he thrust harder, faster, harder still.

Sweat dripped from his brow and rolled down his back even as she clawed at his spine, screaming and gasping in his ear, "Zander!"

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.

"Smells like you've been having a little fun for once," Jack commented, leaning back in his chair. "I guess you took my advice."

"Not intentionally," Zander growled. He crossed his arms over his chest and warned, "We need to expand patrols past the borders."

Jack raised a brow. "Why would we do that?"

"Because we almost lost a messenger last night," Zander said through gritted teeth. When he blinked, he could still see Layla pinned beneath that huge black wolf.

"What happened?" Jack demanded. He leaned forward, clasping his hands together on his desk.

Zander cleared his throat and explained all that had happened, all that Layla had told him, leaving out only the most personal details. He wasn't ready to tell his best friend that he had been mated yet. He wasn't even sure he was ready to admit it to himself.

"Is Layla alright?" Jack asked when he had finished.

"Physically, yes. Otherwise, she's still shaken up," Zander said, though he suspected the latter had far more to do with what had happened between them than the attack itself. "Maybe it"s time we stopped living in the stone age?"

Jack sighed, glancing down and picking up a report from his desk. Handing it to Zander, he said, "I wish that were possible."

"What is this?" Zander asked, taking the papers from him.

"John sent this via messenger. It's information on the latest hacking of pack technologies. It seems Pine Valley and a couple other packs have been targeted recently, and it"s the reason they prefer to live in the stone age."

Zander only glanced at the report. Communications weren't his area of expertise. "What do we intend to do?"

"Well, eventually, I"d like to think we'll get the fucker, but for now, we have to keep running messages however we can," Jack explained, running his fingers through his dark hair. "I'll send Hanson and a couple of guys to scout for the pack on the way to Pine Valley to let them know what's happened. I'd send another messenger, but by the sounds of it, things are escalating over there."

Zander nodded in agreement. "I'll go myself."

Jack shook his head. "I need you here."

Zander growled through his teeth. He desperately wanted another go at the wolves who had laid hands on Layla. If it hadn't been for hearing their reinforcements, he might have torn them both apart.

"Fine," he said, hands tightened to fists behind his back so that Jack wouldn't see. "But promise me one thing?"

"That depends on what it is," Jack said, pursing his lips.

Zander thought for a second of how Layla had reacted when he'd suggested what he was about to request of Jack. She had been furious. And yet, he couldn't risk her.

"I think it"s best we take Layla off messenger duties for a while." Or forever, he added to himself. Clearing his throat, he added aloud, "She's been through a lot, and she could do with a rest."

Jack looked thoughtful for a second and Zander feared he was going to reject the request.

"She is the fastest messenger we have," Jack pointed out, and Zander's jaw clenched so hard that he almost broke a tooth.

"She's no good to anyone if she doesn't recover properly from this attack," Zander replied. "She's pretty shaken up."

Again, he thought of how it was likely far more to do with their personal problem than the attack, but Jack didn't need to know about any of that—not until they had figured it out.

Jack sighed deeply and nodded. "You're right. I'll take her off duty for now."

This time it was Zander who breathed deeply with relief. It was short-lived. He knew Layla wasn't going to take the news too well.

She had better get used to it, he thought. No mate of his was going to be put in harm's way like that ever again. And whether they liked it or not, she was his mate. He was certain of that, even if he had no idea what to do about it.