The Wolf’s Fake Mate by Layla Silver
Chapter 6 – Hailey
The rest of the week flew by quickly, and before I knew it Monday had come. It was time to start working at Sun and Moon, alongside two other Assistant Chefs. Tomorrow was the restaurant’s grand opening, which meant today we were supposed to get acquainted with the recipes: just us assistants and Silas. The other two assistants were humans—a dark-haired, serious, short man called Nick Lee, and a plump woman with a bright smile named Aisha Rivers. I immediately liked them both, especially Aisha, who had a great sense of humor that brightened our day.
Learning to prepare all the dishes was as hard as it sounded. Silas demanded nothing less than perfection and worked us to the bone. He didn’t hold back harsh words, but they were always directed at our work and never at us personally. We tried our best, but our time in the kitchen felt like a bad episode of a dramatic cooking show. Thankfully we didn’t destroy the kitchen, and there were no large fires. But we ended up with plenty of food that was overcooked, undercooked, too salty, not salty enough, not soft enough, too soft… The day flew by before I realized it. By the end, we had memorized exactly how Silas wanted to have the food prepared. I learned more that day than I had in a year at the diner where I’d worked previously. I felt grateful to our boss for sharing his tremendous knowledge and experience with us.
At the end of the day, all of Silas’ frustration with us seemed to disappear, and he smiled brightly.
“Thank you for your hard work today. You’ve really done your best without complaints. I couldn’t find a better team,” he complimented us. “We’re ready for tomorrow, and I feel we can open the restaurant without embarrassment.”
Aisha cheered loudly, and we all clapped. We thanked Silas for his hard work too. I was dead tired, but when he asked for someone to stay behind today to help with cleaning, I volunteered.
The others left, and it was just the two of us. Suddenly, I felt self-conscious.
“Great work today,” Silas complimented me.
“Thank you for sharing your experience with us,” I answered.
“Don’t mention it.”
We were both too tired to hold a conversation, so we cleaned the place in silence. Finally, when all was in order, it was time to close the restaurant. We turned off the lights and exited through the staff door.
The night was dark and starless, the lights of the town in the distance and the lightbulb above the exit the only illumination. I felt with my wolf senses the presence of another shifter before he stepped into the light. Who could be standing here in front of a side exit so late into the evening?
Silas must have felt the wolf shifter too, because he stopped looking for the right key and turned around towards the presence. A second later, he stood in front of me, shielding my person. Whoever was there would have to go through the panther shifter to get to me.
“Who’s there?” Silas called out, his voice serious. “Identify yourself!”
The wolf shifter stepped closer, and we saw that it was Paul.
“Paul?” I called out to him, confused. “What are you doing here at this hour?”
“I came to take you to dinner,” the wolf boy answered. He looked at Silas, who was still blocking me from his view. “Now, if you would step away, panther, so my future mate can come to me, I would appreciate it,” he added. There was a subtle threat to his voice.
Future mate?! Who had put the idea in his head that I was going to mate with him?! My thoughts went to Aunt Evangeline, encouraging Paul at every step. I suddenly felt furious at my family member trying to control my life. “This must be some sort of misunderstanding—” I started. But before I could finish the sentence, I heard a loud growl.
It came from Silas. I couldn’t see his face, but I knew that the fury I felt was nothing compared to his own when he spoke.
“You dare lay claim on Hailey?” Silas’ voice was quiet, but every word was articulated clearly and resonated powerfully.
“What is it to you?” Paul asked, seemingly oblivious to the threat of the pissed-off panther shifter.
“What is it to me?” Silas asked, laughing mockingly. “I’ll show you what it is to me.” He turned around to me and stepped to the side so that Paul saw me again. I looked from Silas to Paul and back at Silas, confused as to what exactly it was that Silas intended to do. I didn’t have to wait long for an answer.
The panther shifter looked me deeply in the eyes. In the artificial light above us, they glistened with something dangerously alluring. I got lost in how blue they were as Silas leaned in closer to me, then closer, until all I saw were his eyes. I looked at his lips, and he smirked before he completely closed the distance between us and connected his lips with mine. There wasn’t anything gentle about Silas’ kiss—it was fierce and possessive. I didn’t resist, though; the thought of denying him my lips didn’t even cross my mind, and when he nibbled on my lower lip, asking for entry, I opened immediately. Silas’ hand went into my hair, angling my head the way he wanted. The kiss was passionate, our tongues intertwining, fighting for dominance, which I happily gave to him. I melted against his chest, so hard and firm against my soft breasts.
We kissed like the world didn’t exist around us. I couldn’t think; all I could do was feel, and I felt ecstatic. Silas’ erection poked against my stomach, and I knew I needed more. When we pulled away from each other, we were both gasping for air.
“Hailey Morran is mine,” Silas claimed, victory shining in his eyes.
I stared at him in wonder, my brain trying to process what was happening. In my lust-filled state, it was hard for my thoughts to catch up.
“Fuck you,” I heard someone curse and leave us, stomping heavily.
Who was that? I asked myself. Did we just make out in front of someone else? Then I remembered with a start—it was Paul, and he had claimed that I was his mate, which had upset me, then Silas… had kissed me and claimed me instead.
I was both shocked and furious at what had happened, and even more so that I had let it happen and submitted to the panther shifter so quickly. I didn’t want a mate. I didn’t trust anyone to marry me, then not abandon me. Mates being for life was bullshit—my father was a great example of that fact. Sure, he was human and had married into the pack, but that detail made no difference to me. I didn’t believe a partner wouldn’t just leave me, wouldn’t just change his mind, no matter if he was a human, a wolf shifter… or a panther.
I looked at Silas accusingly. “What in the world do you think you’re doing?” I asked him, controlling my voice. I sounded serious but restrained.
My boss—I reminded myself that he was, in fact, my employer, which made the whole thing even worse—looked at me confused.
“Whatever it is you think you’re doing, stop it. I don’t want that sort of relationship with anyone,” I announced. Then, not waiting for an answer, I stalked away into the night.
“Hailey!” Silas called after me.
I heard him follow, so without turning around I said, “Leave me alone!” Then I ran all the way to my house.
Back at home, I immediately made my way upstairs and curled into a ball on my bed. I cried, confused and upset by what I’d let happen. I couldn’t sort through my feelings. Did I like the kiss? Did I hate it? What about the claim? If I really hated the idea of mating with anyone, why had I allowed Silas to kiss me?
I couldn’t sleep. Finally, around 2 a.m., I concluded that Silas had kissed me only because he wanted to help me get rid of my unwanted suitor and that I had overreacted. Something told me that I was wrong, but I told my mind to shut up. I needed to protect myself, and that version of what had happened was acceptable.
My dreams that night were heated and full of Silas and I kissing and then doing more. I woke up before I was satisfied, though, to the sound of my alarm. Frustrated, I took a shower to cool down, then made my way downstairs to eat breakfast.
My whole family was already here. Breakfast at 7:30 a.m. was our ritual, no matter if someone was unemployed or self-employed like Waverly. It kept us together—we were a team, facing the day united. It was a wonderful ritual—or so I thought, until Aunt Evangeline opened her mouth to speak, between bites of strawberry-jam-covered toast.
“Hailey, you could have told me you were mating!” she exclaimed. Everyone else in the room momentarily stopped eating. “And to Silas Petterson, of all people. Congratulations!”
I choked on my toast, and Waverly patted my back to help me get myself under control again.
Before I could respond, Aunty continued. “You should have told me! Poor Paul was devastated when he came by earlier today to tell me he won’t accompany you to the wedding.”
Ah, so it was ‘poor Paul’ who had told Aunt Evangeline. For fucks sake, as much as I loved her, she had become insufferable since we’d moved here.
When the rest of the family caught up with the new information, they bombarded me with questions I couldn’t answer. Either I didn’t know enough about Silas to give an accurate response, or I couldn’t address the question—like ‘when did we start mating?’—without lying. I replied with short sentences and excused myself to work.
“We’ll make you spill the beans,” Gabriella called after me.
As I made my way to Sun and Moon, a plan formed in my head. I would make Silas take responsibility for messing with my life. It would be a reckless thing to suggest to my boss, but I liked challenges.
