Emerging 5G applications impose stringent requirements on network latency and reliability. In this work, we propose a low-latency reliable device-to-device (D2D) relay network framework to improve the cell coverage and user satisfaction. Particularly, we develop a cross-layer low-complexity resource allocation algorithm, which jointly optimizes the rate control and power allocation from a long-term perspective. The long-term optimization problem is transformed into a series of short-term subproblems by using Lyapunov optimization, and the objective function is separated into two independent subproblems related to rate control in network layer and power allocation in physical layer. Next, the Karush-Kuhn-Tucher (KKT) conditions and alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) algorithm are employed to solve the rate control subproblem and power allocation subproblem, respectively. Finally, simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can reach 99.9% of the optimal satisfaction of D2D pairs with lower average network delay compared to the baseline algorithm. Furthermore, the convergence time of the ADMM-based power allocation algorithm is only about 1.7% of that by using the CVX toolbox. © 2019, The Author(s).