Sutton reaches out, grabs my arm, and pulls me back into bed.
He says nothing else.
When he starts snoring, I untangle myself from his arms to go get ready for bed.
Even though he’s still fast asleep when I come back, and he wraps his arms around me again when I crawl in next to him, my chest tightens, because I can’t be certain he will be here when I wake up.
Chapter 13
Zayd
“Zayd,”Kydaxcallsmefrom across the training comb. “Strykr needs to see you. It is about Layla.”
I have never dropped what I was doing so fast, or so literally, letting my knife fall to the ground as I turn and make haste toward the exit.
Entering the administration comb and Strykr’s office, my heart sinks into my stomach.
Sitting across the desk from Strykr with her arms wrapped around herself as she sobs uncontrollably is my Layla.
“What happened? Where is Sutton?” Why isn’t he here comforting her? What wrong did he let happen that he is not doing everything in his power to make right?
Layla struggles to catch her breath. Tries to form words, but nothing comes out.
“Sutton is gone,” Strykr says.
“Dead?” My stomach churns, desperate to be wrong.
“Left.” Strykr slides a piece of paper across his desk.
I pick it up and scan the words, barely able to comprehend them.
“How could he?” I bark and slam the paper down on the desk.
Layla locks her eyes with mine. They are pleading for help. I am not sure I can give her the help she wants. Even if I were to bring him back, I could not make him stay. He has broken no law.
“This is a rather volatile situation we are in, Zayd. The Accord is clear: an alpha cannot take a human’s mate. However, Sutton has conceded his bond with Layla, and she needs an alpha.”
“I told you, I don’t want to bond with anyone,” Layla says, sobbing.
“Why can’t Layla go home?” Willow asks her mate. “Their house is one of the most remote, the likelihood of another rogue alpha—”
“No,” Strykr cuts her off. “We cannot knowingly put an omega in danger.”
Layla jumps in. “Sutton has made it very clear he doesn’t want to be with me anymore. And if that’s really what he wants, I don’t want to go home to him. I will stay at the Center, but I won’t take a mate.”
“Your scent, once Sutton’s is gone, will drive the unmated males crazy. There is a reason why every omega that comes to the Center is immediately matched with an alpha. Scent marking is necessary to keep order,” Strykr explains.
Layla’s eyes find me again, a question in them that I ache to answer. “My promise holds, Layla. If all you desire is my mark, that is the limit of what I offer you.”
“Zayd, I can’t ask you to forgo a match of your own. And as strong as I know you are, the restraint you will have to maintain. For who knows how long—”
“What I am offering is no different than what we offer a widowed omega,” I explain.
“But that offering has always ended in the omega taking that alpha as her new mate,” Strykr says, his voice low, warning.
After a long moment, staring into Layla’s bloodshot eyes, she finally says, “I trust Zayd. Even though Sutton’s note gave his permission for us to bond, it’s not what I want. And Zayd is the only alpha I trust to honor that.”
Never taking my eyes off of her, I say, “I promised Layla and Sutton that I would not claim her. Now, I swear to my pack that my promise will remain unbroken.”
