Sorry I'm Mated To The Commander novel Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Layla was taken aback but nodded. “I do like him. I especially like the scent of his pheromones. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have agreed to help him through his rut. But…”

“That’s enough,” the Empress interrupted gently. “Once Atlas’s rut is over, his reason will return, though he’ll remember everything that’s happened. There are less than two days left. After that, whether you want to continue the marriage or end it is entirely up to the two of you.”

Layla was surprised. The Empress, a woman of such high station, was so warm and easygoing.

‘Isn’t Atlas royalty?’ she thought. ‘Can his marriage really be treated so casually?’

Leilani seemed to read her mind and smiled. “Atlas isn’t in line for the throne. He was frail as a child, and all I’ve ever wanted for him is to be healthy and safe. I ask for nothing more. So, Layla, please give him a chance.”

After the call ended, Layla noticed the uniform Atlas was wearing. It was the same freshman uniform she had.

“You already have a commander’s rank, don’t you? Why are you attending the academy?”

Atlas blinked, his Klein blue eyes sparkling. “I was accepted into Imperial Academy, but I never attended a single class. I just went straight for the final exams and passed.”

Layla was speechless.

‘Well, good for you,’ she thought irritably.

His casual flexing was genuinely annoying. Other students struggled to get into Imperial Academy, and then they had to work their butts off.

But Atlas? He got in and didn’t even bother to attend, graduating in the blink of an eye.

He could even bend all the rules to become her roommate.

Privilege was a truly infuriating thing.

After Adjutant Roger had completed his task, he bowed respectfully and left. Layla watched, a vein throbbing in her forehead, as Atlas began pushing their two single beds together to form one large one. “What are you doing?”

He looked at her with wide, innocent eyes. “I want to hold you when we sleep tonight.”

“Absolutely not!”

Tears welled up in his eyes, threatening to spill over.

Layla’s resolve wavered, a pang of something tight and uncomfortable in her chest.

Even the scent of his pheromones in the air seemed to carry a note of pitiful dejection.

It turned out Atlas wasn’t the only one affected by them spending his rut together.

Layla finally caved. ‘It’s just for one night, anyway, she told herself.

By this time tomorrow evening, Atlas would be back to his senses.

He probably wouldn’t even be in this dorm, let alone want to sleep with her.

“Fine. Go ahead.”

“You’re the best, Star!”

With a gentle push, Atlas merged the two beds.

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The strength of an SSS-Tier shifter was ridiculous; he moved the heavy furniture with zero effort.

After arranging the bed, he hung his clothes in the closet right next to hers. He then turned to her, his eyes shining. “Star, let’s go to Everdom Commons for dinner. To celebrate us being together!”

“We’re not exactly ‘together”,” she corrected.

“We should still celebrate. Please?” he wheedled.

Layla looked at the handsome young man and finally relented, but not without laying down the law. “We can go to dinner, but you are not to mention our marriage to anyone.”

She didn’t want any complications when it would be annulled in a day.

The handsome, fox-eared man looked crestfallen but, worried about angering her, reluctantly agreed. “Okay.”

Then he added, “But we can say we’re good friends!”

“Whatever you want,” Layla sighed.

‘It won’t matter once you’re back to your senses. We’ll be strangers again!’

When Layla and Atlas walked into Everdom Commons together, the entire cafeteria went dead silent.

Annie Knight’s spoon clattered onto her plate.

‘Holy cow, Layla’s on another level!’ she thought, stunned.

‘She gets dumped yesterday and shows up today with a pretty boy who’s way hotter than Caleb?’

No one, including Annie, recognized the prince.

Atlas looked very different from his pictures online, and he rarely made public appearances anyway.

But he was so devastatingly handsome and exuded such a powerful aura that he was impossible to ignore.

Everyone else was thinking the same thing.

They glanced from Layla to her new companion, then swiveled in unison to look at Caleb, who also happened to be in the cafeteria.

Suddenly, Caleb looked a little… plain.

Caleb saw Layla looking cozy with the other guy, and his hands started to shake with rage. The roommate next to him just had to add fuel to the fire.

“Hey, Caleb, that guy has a really strong presence. You think his shift tier is higher than yours?”

“If you don’t have anything smart to say, shut up!” Caleb snapped.

He took a deep breath, stood up, and marched over to their table. “Layla, are you doing this on purpose? Did you hear Xanthe and I are getting married, so you brought this guy here to make me jealous and win me back?”

A murmur went through the crowd.

So that was it.

Annie blinked, then stared at Layla with a look of disappointed pity. “Is that really it? Layla, that’s so lame. Why go back for seconds with an ex? This new guy is, like, a million light-years hotter than Caleb.”

“Totally!” a few other girls chimed in.

It was a simple matter of aesthetics. Compared to this dreamboat, Caleb was a total nobody.

Layla just looked at Caleb, confused. “I’m having dinner with my friend. What’s it to you?”

Caleb gritted his teeth. “Since when do you have such a… close and impressive male friend? How come I never knew about him?”

“And I never knew you were such a scumbag,” she shot back.

“You!” Caleb sputtered.

Annie couldn’t help it; she let out a snort of laughter.

‘Okay, maybe my rival’s not a total pushover after all,’ she thought.

Caleb, however, was fuming.

The expressions of the onlookers mirrored Annie’s, and he felt his anger rise. With no good comeback, his glare landed back on Layla.

He pulled out his optical computer. “I’ve already sent you the wedding invitation. Xanthe and I are getting married in two months. You’d better be there!”

Layla frowned.

Caleb smirked, triumphant. “What, you don’t dare to come? That just proves you’re not over me!”

Chapter 9

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Layla met his gaze. “I just don’t want to buy you a wedding gift. Giving you two my starcoins feels like a total waste. I’d rather donate the money to the starving children on Wastelands-9.”

“You!” Caleb was practically vibrating with rage.

The gossiping students wondered if a fight was about to break out.

Just then, Atlas returned with their food, breaking the tense standoff.

He glanced at Caleb with mild curiosity. “Layla, who’s this monkey? Do you know him?”

Caleb’s shift form was an ape, a very intelligent type of shifter. Being called a monkey by Atlas made his already dark face turn almost black with fury.

A smile tugged at Layla’s lips. “Just someone unimportant. Did you get the food? I’m starving.”

“Yep! Let’s go eat, Layla.”

The two were incredibly close. If nothing else, the handsome stranger’s devotion to Layla was obvious to everyone.

The crowd started to doubt Caleb’s earlier claims. It didn’t look like Layla was using a stand-in to make him jealous at all.

It looked like she’d kicked Caleb to the curb and was already starting a new romance.

As they turned to leave, Caleb called out to Atlas. “Hey! Don’t you know? Layla is my fiancée!”

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11:51 Wed, Jan 7