Layla sat in the back of the car exactly an hour later, feeling like Jackson King had bulldozed her. Everything had happened too quickly. Jackson had come back into the room with a gigantic man dressed in all black, who he’d introduced as the head of Brit’s security. Who was Jackson to pull something like this that fast? Why did he have bodyguards on call? His earlier statement about needing to keep her safe went around in her head until it dawned on her that she’d dropped herself into some deeper shit than merely Costas Markopoulos. When she imagined someone in the Mafia or other criminal organisations, they looked just like Jackson. An air of authority around them and expensive suits that were a world beyond Costas’ cheesy suit, hairstyle, and gold chains. Though Costas had turned their lives upside down, it felt like he was nothing compared to Jackson King. She'd screwed herself over by agreeing to this. She could feel it in her bones. Fear seeped through her whole body as she r
Jackson had already sent a message to Diedre, the pack witch, through his Gamma, so the woman was already waiting in the lobby when he walked into the packhouse. “This isn’t right, Jax. You’d have to confine her to her room or the basement because she would know the truth the moment she stepped out of the house,” Dylan said as he followed behind him. He refrained from rolling his eyes. Dylan had been mindlinking variations of that the whole drive home—he was giving him a headache. But he couldn’t get mad at his Beta for repeating something he had enforced for years since he had taken the throne. If they were lucky, it wouldn’t take long to get her pregnant and maybe by then, Cain would accept sending her back to the hotel. “You should have just let her run off. She’s going to be a handful—” “Enough!” he growled. It was Cain who made that command. Dylan felt it and shut up, but even with that submission, he still had to push his wolf back down to stop him from going after his fri
Layla inhaled a sharp breath when she heard his words. He didn’t even look like the words he’d said bothered him. A prisoner?And then Jackson closed the door. The sound of the locking door spurred her into action, despite how dangerous the whole place felt. She rushed forward and tried the handle, hoping she had just heard things, and this man hadn’t really just locked her in a room. But the handle didn’t turn. She tried it several times before she banged on the door.“Let me out, you fucking bastard! This wasn’t our deal!” she screamed.Panic welled in her chest again. She’d put herself in this situation because she’d been desperate to keep Brit safe. Jackson had known she would agree to anything. He had taken advantage of her. For someone who had claimed to hate people who went back on their word, he was doing the same thing. He’d said she wouldn’t be a prisoner! Jackson had made her think she would be free to come and go.She banged on the door again, ignoring the pain it caused.
Jax couldn’t close his eyes for a single second. He could still smell her. One touch and Layla had been putty in his hands, despite her obvious anger. She’d been turned on, causing an inexplicable hunger to rip through his body. He could still smell how wet she’d been. And all he’d wanted to do was rip her clothes off and bury himself in her body. The need had almost floored him.He punched his pillow several times and turned it over, but he still felt uncomfortable. It felt like he was trying to sleep on a bed of nails just because every cell in his body was urging him to return to Layla’s room.He knew it was the fucking mate bond. It made people stupid, made them look twice at someone they would never have wanted before. When he’d seen what the mating bond had done to his father, he hadn’t wanted that fate for himself. To be at the whim of unreasonable emotions? To put one person above himself? Above the pack? No, that was never something he’d wanted. Learning that leaving an
Wolves howling way too close for comfort woke Layla up with a start. She sat up in the comfortable bed, her heart pounding, looking at the unfamiliar surroundings. And when the previous day's events registered, she shot out of bed and rushed to the nearest window.Bloody wolves! She was going to get killed in her sleep!Her hand trembled as she pushed the curtain aside and peeked out. The room they had given her had a view of the front of the house where they had driven up, and she could just about make out the gates in the distance. There wasn’t even a hint of dawn in the sky, but the moonlight through the trees cast eerie shadows that gave her a horror movie vibe. No wolf eyes like before, though. If she hadn’t heard that terrifying growl in that infirmary, she would have believed she had just imagined those eyes. They had looked all wrong, for starters. Wolves didn’t have glowing blue eyes. Not in these parts, anyway.Were the wolves beyond the gates, or did they roam the grounds f
Jax pushed his eggs around his plate while his eyes remained glued on the large, finger-shaped bruises forming on Layla’s arm.He had never had to fight Cain so hard to keep him caged.Out of the entire pack, it was Dylan he had trusted to help him protect Layla, despite how he felt about her. His Beta knew the trouble he had gone through to get her to the packhouse. He’d stalked her. Offered her money that should have gone to taking care of the pack. He’d killed for her and possibly started a war with the humans. Dylan should not have dared.Layla’s fear hung in the air and spoiled his breakfast while the man responsible was shovelling his food into his mouth as if he couldn’t sense the danger in the air. He pulled his gaze from the bruises to look at his Beta and Gamma.Jon sat across the table from Layla and glared at her instead of eating. Cain was pissed off with him, too, but it was Dylan he wanted.He gave up pretending to eat and put his fork down before turning his gaze to
Layla watched the nurse place a bandaid on her arm to stem the bleeding from the needle. It had little cartoon characters like it was meant for children. Was this a children’s hospital? Why had Jackson brought her here?She eyed the nurse suspiciously from under her lashes, which she probably didn’t need to do. The woman wasn’t paying her any attention. She was flustered and acting like a love-struck teenager because of the hulking presence in the room. It was a wonder she hadn’t stabbed her to death when she’d drawn her blood. “I’ll run this to the lab. The doctor will see you as soon as possible,” the nurse said. She said this directly to Jackson as if he was the one on the exam table. The nurse hadn’t addressed her at all the whole time she’d done her observations.But she had thrown her that cold look like everyone else she had met so far. Would they even treat her without bias like medical professionals were supposed to do? She didn’t think so. The nurse left the room, but not
Jackson watched Laya take another step back and cursed the beast inside him. Cain was being a hypocrite.‘She’s mine,’ Cain growled.‘She’s a healthy young woman, and sex is natural. Of course, someone fucked her!’Cain growled again and tried to force himself out, but he shoved the beast back. He had lost count of how many women he’d fucked. They were all equally enjoyable, even if he forgot their names the next day. Cain loved to fuck. After ripping heads off in battles, it was his second favourite thing to do. Then in walked little Layla, who dared to admit that she wasn’t pure and the neurotic beast was ready to kill any man in the vicinity. His only options were to kill everyone or fuck Layla. There was no middle ground with Cain. All his plans went out of the window just like that so he could control his wolf’s murderous urges. “What... What do you mean?” Layla asked. “It’s the wrong time of the month, and I haven’t started taking the—”“Don’t lie to me, Layla,” he cut in as