Layla stretched and then opened her eyes. Something still didn’t feel right, but it differed from the previous day. She didn’t just feel mentally broken; she also felt bereft. Something was missing.Maybe it was the fact she knew Jackson would see Britney and had left her stuck in this room. She rolled over and punched her pillow several times before finally dragging herself to the bathroom. The stress had taken a more considerable toll on her than usual. She felt drained, just a shell of herself, as she stood under the shower spray. She didn't understand why it felt worse this time when it hadn't got as far as it usually did. She hadn't even seen a wolf or heard the voices in her head, for that matter. All she’d had were hallucinations and feeling separated from reality. It had been pretty mild compared to her usual meltdowns.But still, the feeling wouldn’t let her go. Once dressed in another t-shirt and jean outfit from Jackson's wardrobe, she walked over to the windows to look

“You know the rules better than anyone, Jackson. No humans on pack territories,” Hugo said. “There are Hunters who have been operating not too far from you. Now isn’t the time to take any chances.”“Who told you about her?” Jackson asked as he sat back in the chair.He was willing to bet it was Zach. That old man hadn’t been happy that he had shut him down during that dinner. But of course, after the rogues had declared Layla one of them, it could have been anyone in the pack. “That doesn’t matter, Jackson,” Lincoln said. “What matters is that you need to fix this before things escalate. We don’t want to have to take any... extra measures.”The threat was clear in Alpha Lincoln’s tone. He’d seen some of their ‘extra measures’ before. The Circle was so sadistic that he wasn’t sure who was worse; them or the Hunters. Whole packs had disappeared—maybe moved off their lands or worse, he didn’t know for sure—just to make sure the Hunters found nothing when they arrived. All in the name of

Layla sat on the edge of Jackson’s bed and ignored the woman hovering around her.“I thought you were safe. I should have seen it...”The mumblings of a crazy person. But who was she to talk? She spoke to wolves in her head.Still, that was better to focus on than the fact that she’d almost been raped and killed. And that Jackson was blaming her for that.Anger fought with despair and shock. The turmoil in her head threatened to consume her. Almost raped. Almost raped.She could still feel their hands on her body as if it was still happening. Still feel their breath on her face. Still see the looks in their eyes. “I’m sorry, Layla. I don’t know what came over them,” Diedre continued.She didn’t want to hear about it anymore, so she stood up and walked to the bathroom. She stripped and threw her clothes in the trash before entering Jackson’s colossal shower. The spray was icy at first and then very hot, but she was too numb to feel it. All she wanted was to get rid of the feeling of t

Jax looked over at the woman still sitting on the bed, in the same spot she’d been in all day. She was in no state to be put through anything else.Those fuckers. They should have listened to him. ‘Keep them at the gate. I’m coming.’He stood and stretched, paying attention to Layla’s emotions. At least she’d got used to him being in the room; she hadn’t flinched at any movement for a while.“I’m going to check on a few things before I sleep,” he said as he walked over to her. “You should get some rest.”He didn’t like the look she had in her eyes as they followed his movements. She was still looking at him as if he was the enemy, and that was crushing him. He was in an uncharted place with his emotions, stuck somewhere between his rage and his need to protect her. Protect her from his pack, from the Circle, from the witch coming after her. From himself. Because while he’d had nothing but his thoughts to accompany him, he had realised he was dangerously close to marking her, and tha

There was a lot of shit happening in his territory.But there he was, getting ready to go jogging with a half-blood.Jackson opened up his senses and scanned as far as he could reach. He’d sensed the Circle in the area when they’d been having breakfast, but they’d left as he had ordered. They wouldn’t have gone too far, though. They'd probably only gone back to the city. Those three were the most arrogant people he had ever met, so they wouldn’t take kindly to being reminded that he was more powerful than them, and they still meant nothing to him. They would try to find a way to bring him down a peg or two, despite having come to ask for forgiveness.He would need to find Diedre to find out how they had done the wards. He was relying on the fact that they wanted him to provide heirs, but he didn't know who was behind the attacks. Letting them anywhere near his protective magic was a significant risk. Black magic wasn’t Diedre’s thing, but she could handle herself against it if she h