Not-So-Fated Mates

Chapter 30: Whoops

Layla POV

She had just finished dinner when she spotted Drake coming inside the house. Considering his normal, autumn forest scent was intensified and accompanied by the scents of the forest just outside, she figured he’d just come in from a run. She smiled and stopped, waiting for him to come up to her.

“Hey, sexy man,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him, not caring that they were in the middle of a very public hallway. Anyone who was going to dinner would be able to see them, but what did she care? It wasn’t like there weren’t plenty of other wolves in this pack that had a friends-with-benefits thing going on. Yes, it was a little unusual considering he was an alpha of a different pack on official business and she was part of that business, but she knew that they both didn’t give a damn. Drake’s reputation wouldn’t suffer any from having fun with her, considering he’d slept with plenty of people in his own pack before meeting her. Though, that specific part didn’t exactly please her. In fact, it made her heart twist in her chest. So, instead, she broke off their hungry kiss and looked at him with a mischievous smile. “Miss me?”

“Indeed,” he chuckled, giving her a quick peck on the lips.

That’s when she saw it. The almost sad look in his eyes that made her heart lurch. “Are you okay?”

“Ugh, not really,” he replied, rubbing his neck as he looked like he was trying to figure out how to say whatever was on his mind. “I…I got news from my pack about that rogue situation I told you about. They may be attempting to attack the pack. Which means -”

“You have to go back,” she finished for him, her smile falling. “Okay,” she said, forcing her disappointment and a twinge of sadness back. “Um, when do you leave?”

“Tomorrow,” he said with a sigh. “I have no idea when they might try something, so it’s best to get back as soon as possible.”

“Yeah,” she nodded. Forcing a smile that looked as genuine as possible, she then added, “Well, will you be too busy for one last night of fun?”

“Not at all,” he grinned. “But I think we should have dinner first.”

At that moment, her stomach growled, causing her to blush at its outburst. “We definitely should, the monster’s awake,” she laughed.

He laughed with her, saying, “Apparently. Anyways, as much as I love your pack’s dinners, I was thinking that we could go to the Blue Moon one last time.”

Ignoring the pain that shot through her when he uttered the words “one last time”, she nodded enthusiastically. “Should we get Jackson and Chelsea to come along?”

“I already texted Jackson,” he said with a wink.

“Aren’t you just one step ahead of the game?”

“Always.”

As they sat at the booth they’d taken a liking to, chatting and joking with each other, Layla noticed a somber feeling hanging heavily in the air. She didn’t, and couldn’t, miss the way that Chelsea and Jackson looked at each other with fake smiles, trying to hide the sadness in their eyes. She guessed that, whatever was between them, they weren’t quite ready to have her follow him to his pack. Which sucked, Chelsea didn’t fall for just anyone, and something about Jackson had drawn her to him like a moth to a flame. And, it seemed, the same could be said of Jackson himself.

“So, this sucks,” Jackson said, abruptly addressing the elephant in the room.

“Well, yeah,” Chelsea responded, rolling her eyes. “Thank you, Captain Obvious.”

“Since when are you such a downer?” Drake asked, one brow raised in question. “I thought you were always saying that was my job.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Jackson grumbled, mimicking Chelsea’s eye roll as one of the waitresses, another member of the pack named Rachel, came up and began dishing out food. Layla’s and Chelsea’s eyes both narrowed when, as she was serving the boys their burgers, she made sure to lean over so her breasts were as exposed as possible as she fluttered her eyelashes at them. To their credit, both guys didn’t even look at her, uttering a simple thank you.

She kept looking at them as she absentmindedly set down the mountain of nachos the girls were sharing between them. Both growled at their overly-flirtatious pack member, but Rachel acted like she hadn’t heard it as she placed her hand lightly on Jackson’s shoulders and said, “If you need anything else, just call.”

Once again, she carefully ignored the glares that followed her as she walked off, making sure to swing her hips just so. Jackson chuckled a bit, turning their glares onto him. “What?” he asked with a shrug, looking directly at Chelsea. “I think it’s cute when you get all jealous.”

Chelsea blushed and smacked him before turning to her food. “Jackass,” she muttered under her breath, knowing full well they’d all hear it.

“You know you love me,” he winked. Chelsea stared at him in shock, her nacho hovering halfway to her mouth. He also looked shocked at his words, and quickly stumbled through an explanation, saying, “Y-you know what I mean. I wasn’t trying to-”

“It’s fine,” Chelsea said, looking away from him as she blushed harder, putting her nacho down. “Um, I’ll be right back.” Layla watched her friend quickly head towards the bathroom before turning to the boys as Jackson put his face in his hands.

“I should go talk to her,” she said finally, placing her napkin back on the table before hurrying to find her friend.

As she was leaving the table, she heard a smack and turned to see Jackson rubbing his arm, still looking worse for wear. She shot Drake a smile before continuing on her way, her wolf ears catching it as he said in a low voice, “Dude, what the hell?” But before she could hear anymore of their exchange, she was pushing through the bathroom door.