13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

J ax 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 heir behind depended on him finding one had been a kick in the nuts. The bond would get stronger and make him as insane as his father. If he didn't mark her, it would torture him and make him a danger to his pack. But if he went ahead and marked Layla to stop this insanity, she would die when he did.

All he wanted from her was a child, not her life. She would never see the baby if everything went according to his plans, but she would still be his child's mother, the only person in the world who would have that bond with him that his pack wouldn't. He didn't want her dead. He didn't want to make his child an orphan, even if Layla was a useless half-blood.

Besides, no one would ever accept Layla as their queen. They would kill her without a thought if anyone found out what she was. Wolfless half-bloods were abominations- they were worse than humans. To have the blood of a wolf flowing through your veins but still have your human genes more dominant? It wasn't natural. It wasn't too long ago that people like Layla were put down because of the problems that came with that as they aged. Only a decade before, The Circle had ruled that people like Layla could live out their lives among the humans until the changes started happening.

Layla would go through that at some point in her life. The Circle didn't know about her yet, but she wouldn't be able to hide when the change happened. When that happened, they'd have to kill her.

He felt his chest tighten at the thought and heard the growl in his head.

"We'll be dead," he said out loud. "It doesn't fucking matter what happens to her decades from now."

But Cain continued to growl. He continued to push images of his mate into his mind until he was hard and sensitive.

"For fuck's sake!"

He shoved the bedding off his body and got off the bed. There wasn't much of a breeze from the open window, but he took a deep breath of the fresh air to get rid of Layla's scent. But it seemed to have fused itself to his insides. Cain wasn't helping—but then again, why would he even think that impulsive, murderous wolf would help him do anything?

‘I'll help you fuck her.'

"Shut the fuck up."

It was so incredibly screwed up already. How the hell was he supposed to last a whole year?

A year.

Almost a year until he died.

Fuck.

That dark thought cooled his body down. Scenes from that night replaced images of Layla. The senseless killings. Innocent women and children. The witch who cried tears of blood as she cursed him with her dying breath.

He deserved his fate.

Without bothering to dress, he marched out of his room. He rushed past Layla's room with his fists clenched, fighting against his beast's urge to unlock the door. By the time he made it out of the back doors, he'd already partially shifted. His vision was sharper as he scanned the area for the warriors on patrol, and then he intentionally jogged the opposite way.

The last thing he wanted was for anyone to wonder why he was running in the middle of the night. Having his father's blood already frightened most of his pack, he was sure some were already watching him and waiting for his demise. Those would throw a party when they found out about his curse.

He waited until he'd run deep into the woods before fully shifting, but Cain turned right back around and ran towards the packhouse like hell hounds were after him. He should have known the beast would do that.

He was running back to Layla. Was this his life now? Would he never have a nice run again? Instead of chasing after rabbits and deer, Cain would run towards his mate.

Before he reached the packhouse, he took control of the wolf, forcing him to stop beyond the treeline. Cain howled loudly, a pained cry that the entire pack would hear, one he'd have to explain away. Another lie to pile on the ones already weighing him down.

A run in this state may have been a bad idea.

‘You can't keep me from her,' Cain growled in his head as he shifted.

‘I have brought her here because of you! You will have her, Cain. Just be patient.'

Asking Cain to be patient was like dangling a juicy steak in front of a hungry lion and expecting him not to eat it. Impossible.

By the time he walked out of the woods, his warriors were already approaching, and he could see Dylan coming out of the packhouse, dressed only in his pyjama bottoms. The warrior in charge shifted and approached with his head lowered.

"Is everything okay, Alpha?" he asked.

Dylan frowned as he reached him, clearly waiting to hear his answer.

"Yes."

"We felt some distress—"

"Don't worry about it," he said as he walked towards the house. "Get back to your patrols."

The warriors on duty did as he asked them without question. Out of everyone in his pack, they were the ones who would stand by him to the end. He'd hand-picked them himself even before he had become the Alpha King. He trained with them, and when the time had come to prove himself, he had fought with them.

But he didn't want them to start doubting him, and he didn't want to worry about their loyalty now.

‘What's going on, Jax?' Dylan asked in his head.

‘Nothing. I needed a run,' he lied as he pushed the door open.

Immediately, he realised that all his efforts had been in vain. Layla's scent hit him like a truck when he stepped into the packhouse, and the little clarity he'd acquired on his run disappeared.

‘I've known you since we were in diapers, and you've been acting strangely lately. You're hiding something from me.'

‘And why would I do that?' he asked without stopping.

Dylan followed him up the stairs.

‘I don't know. Something's stressing you out, and you won't let me help you. Is it the Hunters? The rogue attacks? I know the Circle has been pressuring you to have an heir, but maybe now isn't the time. We can send the human home until you've sorted out whatever is eating at you. There's no rush; your mental health is more impor—'

"My mental health is just fine," he growled out loud. "I'm not my father."

For a moment, he felt a frisson of fear in the air and that angered him. Dylan knew him better than anyone, so for him to even insinuate... And for him to fear him when he'd admitted already that they were raised together and were more like brothers than just friends was a low blow.

He didn't bother saying anything else as he reached his floor. Dylan's eyes were on him as he walked past Layla's door so he didn't stop. He didn't react to her scent or the sound of her rapid heartbeat that told him she was now awake.

He'd told Layla to get some rest because they would start today, and that was exactly what would happen.

When the doctor checked Layla and declared her healthy, he would take her to his bed. Maybe after that, Cain would let him be.