Page 5 of Broken By Her Mate
“Cora.”
“Come on, Laila. I’ve worked for you for three years and never seen you date. You should be dating.”
“Why do you persist in interfering with my love life… or lack thereof?”
“Because I don’t want to see you end up like old Mrs. Henson, who’s still bitter about her husband taking all her money and running away to Vegas. It wasthirty yearsago, for heaven’s sake. She now owns a houseful of cats, and she perpetually scowls. I’ve never seen the woman smile.” Corapouted. “I don’t want you to end up like my dad, either. Miserable and resentful. I want you to be happy.”
Laila’s heart instantly softened. She was about to scold Cora for yet another attempt tohookher up and tell her to mind her nineteen-year-old business. However, she realized the girl might be projecting her fear and guilt onto her. Cora’s mother died giving birth to her, and her father had been distant toward her ever since.
“Oh, Cora… I’m not bitter,” Laila reassured her. Miserable, maybe, but never bitter. Laila had too much going for her to wallow in anger. “I most definitely won’t become a cat lady, either. My apartment isn’t big enough for that many cats.”
Cora snorted her amusement. “Uh-huh. Well, I’m sorry for meddling. It’s just… I’ve felt bad since you told me about what happened with your mate.”
Laila smiled sadly. Even though Cora was quite a few years younger, she’d felt comfortable sharing her failed romance with her. Over the years, they’d developed a sisterly bond. “I’m okay, Cora. Really.”
Nibbling on her lower lip, Laila wondered if Cora was right. After five years, she should be dating if she had truly moved on, as she convinced herself. Maybe it was time to ease back into the dating pool… if even to dip her toes in. “Cora, this professor of yours. How old is he?”
Cora’s face lit up with the possibility of taking on the role of Cupid. “I’ll tell you all about him around back.”
Laila sighed. “All right.”
***
Laila’s heart tapdanced behind her rib cage. She glanced over her shoulder at the closed door and shook her head. She’d just taken out the trash and thought she sensed someone out there. She was being ridiculous. There was no one in the alley. Certainly not who her mind and body told her it was.
It was the strangest thing. For the entire day, she felt as if she was being watched, and the feeling intensified when she ventured into the alley at the back of the bakery. She thought she felt the presence of someone familiar. It had been a while since her wolf had any interest in surfacing to alert her of anything. Five years, to be exact. Her wolf had retreated far into the deepest, darkest corner of her mind… like a wounded, heartbroken animal, licking her wounds in silence.
But tonight, she’d clawed her way to the surface after getting a whiff of the slightest hint of a familiar scent. Though Laila felt eyes on her, it hadn’t elicited the hair-raising, foreboding feeling of being in danger. Instead, she felt the delightful tingle of attraction run up her spine, and butterflies had run amok in her stomach.
She’d only ever felt that way when she was close tohim. He-who-should-not-be-named because the mere mention of his name might cause her to spiral back into depression.
“Nope. Not going there,” she murmured. It had taken years to climb out of the dark emotional vortex she’d plunged into when he rejected her. It was bad enough that he’d been harassing her memories all day. Now she wasfeelinghim. Ridiculous.
Although she convinced herself she’d gotten over him, deep down, she suspected she hadn’t. If she really had, would she still feel so cold and empty inside, as if he’d killed a part of her when he left? Wouldn’t she have a boyfriend or husband bynow? It was like nothing or no one could fill the void he left. The only things that brought her a sliver of comfort were her job and food, and the Lord knew she didn’t need any extra pounds added to her already voluptuous figure.
She reached deep for her composure before she got to the bakery’s atrium. Cora was still there because she was always the last employee to leave. She liked to stick around to help Laila close up, which she thought was sweet. If Cora saw her like this, she’d immediately know something was wrong, and Laila wasn’t in the mood for an interrogation. She just wanted to close the shop, head upstairs, and soak in a warm bath. The bakery had been busy all day, and she’d worked her ass and feet off in the kitchen.
She trudged through the swinging door into the shop. She smiled when she noticed someone standing on the other side of the counter.
“I’m sorry, we’re closed…”
The smile tumbled off her lips, and she froze. Her mind refused to process who she was looking at for a moment. It had to be a trick of the light, or maybe her exhaustion playing games with her senses. Perhaps she was hallucinating after all that weirdness from this morning and just now outside when she thought she’d smelled and felthimclose by. However, when she blinked hard several times and the tall, imposing figure with emerald eyes didn’t disappear, her jaw dropped open.
“Tolliver?”
She gawked at the ghost from her past—the first and only man to break her heart.
Chapter 3 - Tolliver
Tolliver wasn’t prepared. He thought he had been after seeing Laila on screen. He was convinced he’d be able to keep his composure if he saw her face to face. However, this… seeing her right there, just a few feet away, was like being punched in the gut. His breath caught, and the world tilted off its axis for a second. His wolf lifted its head and howled, the sound echoing in Tolliver’s mind.
The beast rippled under his skin and clawed at his chest, wanting to get to its long-lost mate. Tolliver had the overwhelming urge to pounce over the counter, which separated him from Laila and reclaim what was rightfully his. She was the woman Mother Nature had created for him, the other half of his soul…. and she was right there.
He swallowed hard and exercised every ounce of willpower he possessed to stay where he was. “Laila…” Her name tumbled off his lips as a sigh that resonated with longing. His jaw clenched as he told himself and the wolf, creating havoc inside him, to get a grip.
She stared at him, wide-eyed and disbelieving. Her lips parted and closed, then they parted again as if she struggled to find words.
It seemed he’d forgotten how to speak, too. He wasn’t sure how long their staring contest went on as he drank her in. Her hair was caught up in the same messy bun she used to put it in whenever she was baking. Her eyes were alive, so expressive, giving away her emotions like they used to. She was the same, yet different. There was a harder, skeptical edge to her demeanor, contrasting with the trusting innocence she once exuded.