The Alpha's Unclaimed Mate (Jason and Laila) by Caroline Above Story novel Chapter 281

Jason’s POV

Watching Laila disappear down the street in a car with Carter Fairchild was like a knife wound to the gut. All I wanted to do was chase them down, stop him, and drive her wherever she needed to go myself.

The jealousy didn’t make sense. Carter was not a threat to me. Or at least, he shouldn’t have been. But seeing Laila get into his

car…

Not only that, but I had caught a glimpse of how Carter had looked at Laila, like she was the sun in his sky. I knew that feeling. I sometimes felt it towards her myself, though I’d been trying to contain it lately, knowing it wasn’t as welcome as it would have

once been.

Before I had chosen Brittany and ruined everything.

Now, just as Laila had no choice but to watch my decision in choosing Brittany, I had no choice but to watch her choose Carter.

Except for one key difference: I was an Alpha. I had status. I could speak to anyone, even another Alpha’s son.

So I pulled out my phone and called Marcus. “I want to have a meeting with Carter Fairchild as soon as possible.”

“Carter, Sir? The college student? Not his father?”

“Not his father,” I said. Not yet. I didn’t think it would come to that. “There’s some things we need to discuss.”

“Sir?”

“Things about Laila.”

Marcus went quiet. “Understood, Alpha.”

“As soon as possible, Marcus. I don’t want to waste any time on this.”

“Yes, Alpha,” Marcus said.

As I hung up the phone, I glared down the street. I could no longer see the car, but the churning jealousy remained within me. It didn’t seem like it was going to go away any time soon.

Laila’s POV

“I’m telling you, everything is going to be great,” he said from the driver’s seat. He’s been talking like this the entire trip so far, and we were only halfway to my house. “I’ve already started planning. I even looked at houses. You’d love them. Big enough for a family. We’re going to have so many kids.”

“Carter,” I said gently. “I’ve told you that I can’t return your feelings.”

“You’ll come around, I’m sure of it. Just think about the kind of future we could have, Laila. I’ve got job prospects lined up already. I’m going to be making bank, enough to support you. You could stay at home with the kids.”

“The kids?”

“We’re going to have a whole litter of pups. I want at least ten.”

“Ten?”

“To start,” he said with a nod, not noticing my discomfort. “I’m going to take care of you and our family for the rest of my life, but I’ll love you forever.”

“Carter, you are letting the mating bond take over. You aren’t thinking sensibly. I… I’m grateful for the ride and for what you want to do for me, but accepting this ride is not an acceptance of your feelings, you understand? You would still be so much better off if you rejected me and find someone more easy to love.”

+30 Bonus

“There is no one more perfect than you, Laila. I don’t Inind waiting until you come around. I don’t know what the guys in your past have done to make you feel like you aren’t worth waiting for, but you are. I’m going to prove you that.”

He wasn’t listening to me

Eventually, we pulled up to my house. I reached for the door, but he stopped me. “Wait!”

Before I could figure out what the problem was, he exited and went around the car. Then he opened my door and held out his hand to help me up.

“You don’t have to do this.”

“I want to.”

I accepted his hand and stood with ease. He closed the door behind me, and then started walking with me to my door.

“Really, this isn’t necessary.”

“Who cares what’s necessary?” Carter said. “Walking you to the door is what a gentleman would do, and you deserve a gentleman.”

Despite my best efforts to totally resist him, I was… moved.

Carter, despite his youth and his over–eagerness, had a way that made me feel cared for. I didn’t trust it to be entirely genuine, more a delusion from a first time mate bond, but it was still nice to be on the receiving end. To be treated so kindly.

Only… my heart felt reserved. Deep within it, I knew, though these actions were nice, they weren’t from the person I wanted

them to be from.

Carter wasn’t right for me just because he wasn’t Jason.

I frowned, hating to admit that even to myself.

This was such a nice moment, Carter walking me to my door, making certain I was home safe. Yet, I couldn’t help but wish he was Jason instead.

I knew this wasn’t a good thing. Those feelings were holding me back. I could never allow myself to be with Jason. I needed to be able to move on. And yet.

I unlocked the door, opened it, and turned to say goodnight to Carter.

At that moment, he leaned in and lightly kissed me on the cheek.

“Goodnight, Laila,” he said as he backed away, smiling like the cat who had caught the canary.

I touched my cheek, unsure how to feel.

Inside the house, Hannah was grinning at me, looking for all the world like she was so pleased with herself. “How did it go?”

“You told him about our plan,” I said. “I wasn’t going to go forward with this. I was going to find another way.”

“You were being stubborn because you didn’t want to hurt his feelings,” Hannah said. “I know him better than you right now, so I knew he’d be happy to help, even if it doesn’t end the way he wants.”

I shook my head. “You shouldn’t have done this, Hannah.”

Hannah shrugged. “You need some looking after, Laila. You’ve been looking after the rest of us all of your adult life. Why not let someone take care of you for a change? Carter is basically the perfect guy. You’d be crazy not to see that.”

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