Laila shook her head. "I just realized my parents would shit themselves if they knew you were my fated mate and so will your mother. Oh, and congratulations, I heard the news today."
Gilbert's smile faded as he realized what she was congratulating him for. His mother was already announcing to her friends that once the grief over Zoe's death settled, they planned to find him a wife to mate with, since he was too busy to find one himself and had been looking too depressed lately.
Gilbert hadn't said anything back to her about it, because his mother had looked so excited talking about his marriage with his sisters that he'd excused himself today from the hall full of guests.
It was surprising how quickly people moved on from the death of someone they hadn't known personally, talking about mating at a memorial ceremony, but then it wasn't entirely their fault. None of them had known the deceased well enough to put their own life plans on hold for her.
