29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

J ax stood by the windows overlooking the front of the packhouse as he watched his warriors return from a long night out. The storm had died down but it was still drizzling. They would have been miserable being in it all night, but he knew they wouldn't complain.

He should have been with them. Instead, he'd been stuck between Layla's legs.

He turned and sat on the ledge as he watched the woman sleep. Last night had been different. It wasn't just because of the chase but everything else. Her scent, the emotions, everything. It felt like he had already marked her even though he'd had to push Cain back several times in the night to stop him.

Having her so close to him was becoming too much. But all the other options had been removed from the table when that wolf had tried to hex his unborn child. Layla wouldn't be safe anywhere outside the compound.

She was trapped here, and every second seemed to pull her closer. Once she got pregnant, maybe he would have to be the one to leave the compound to put distance between them. He could protect himself, but even if anything happened, he was already a dead man walking.

‘Jax, Layla's phone was found near the gate. Shall I bring it up?' Dylan said through the mind link.

‘No.'

Maybe he was being irrational. He didn't trust anyone around Layla now.

'What was she doing out there?'

'Nothing.'

‘Okay. Shall I set up a meeting with Micah so he can brief us about last night?'

Micah had already linked him with a report first thing in the morning. The head warrior was the reason he was standing by the window instead of lying in bed next to Layla.

‘No.'

There was silence for a while before Dylan spoke again.

‘Have I done something wrong?'

‘No.'

Dylan would get tired of the one-word answers, but he would probably come back again and again to ask that. Maybe he was being unfair, and Dylan genuinely looked out for Cassie and her friends because it was his job. But there was nothing he could do about how he and Cain felt until he got to the bottom of the Cassie situation.

One person had the whole truth. He watched her sleep now and wondered if he would have to force it out of her. So far, she hadn't lied to him.

Well, except that whole trying to go back on her word and running away thing. But he would overlook that because she was just scared. What he couldn't get over was how she'd even thought she could make her way to the city through the forest, barefoot and in a fucking storm. There was something seriously wrong in that woman's head.

Had her dual nature already started affecting her decisions? Would that affect his child? He didn't want to even think that he would leave such a burden on his innocent child. His kind was still not tolerant of people like Layla, and he doubted that would change by the time his child was old enough for anything like that to be noticed.

Layla stirred and then turned over. The sheet slipped off her naked body, revealing her whole body. The need to go to her again increased, but he had only just left her alone. He needed to let her rest. She'd passed out from exhaustion after riding him the last time. It was her human side that had less stamina.

Would his little runaway mate tell him the truth about Cassie? Judging if she was lying would be easy because, unlike Dylan, she hadn't had years to learn ways to deceive him.

His phone vibrated on his nightstand. He was still expecting the doctor to call with the results so he rushed to it straight away. But it wasn't the doctor; it was one of the warriors he had left with Layla's sister.

"Yes," he answered.

"Morning, Alpha. I just wanted to let you know that Britney left the room last night. We tracked her to the basement of a building not far from here, but she's safe and taking the day off from school to rest."

He almost asked why he was only being told about the disappearance now, but he wouldn't have heard the phone last night anyway.

"Remind her of what will happen to her sister if she tries that again," he growled before he put the phone down,

Of course, nothing would happen to Layla, but he needed both ladies to learn to stay put.

When he put his phone down and looked at Layla, her eyes were wide open as if she had heard his threat. The little bit of fear he sensed in the air confirmed that.

"Please don't scare my sister," she whispered.

"She needs to know that the world is a shitty place so she stops making stupid decisions," he said as he turned to sit back at the window.

He was still naked. Layla's gaze followed him the whole way and watched how he folded his arms with a heat that had already become familiar to him. But her eyes were still showing how sleepy she was. He doubted she had the strength to carry through with what her eyes promised.

"It wasn't her decision. She was happy there; I'm the one who told her to leave," Layla said as she pushed herself onto her elbows and pulled the sheet back over her body.

"Then it's you who needs to learn that the world is a shitty place. Tell me, after I went out of my way to do something that I knew wouldn't go down well with the others, you thought it would be okay to repay me like that? Trying to run through a dangerous forest in a fucking storm?"

Layla shrank back onto the bed and didn't say anything. She probably already knew there was nothing she could say to defend herself. His anger at her returned, but part of him knew he was only angry because she wanted to leave him. He shoved that realisation to the back of his mind, along with everything he didn't want to acknowledge about what was happening to him.

"I had just made it safe for you," he continued. "Do you just like to defy me? To challenge me? Or was it because I'd told you I'd keep you locked up if you didn't behave?"

Her eyes widened, but once again, she didn't respond.

"Is that what you want, Layla? To be chained up in my bed, naked and full of my cum? Ready for me to have any time I want?"

"No!"

Well, that was disappointing.

"Then tell me what the hell you were thinking to be out in that!" he growled.

"I would have found shelter," she whispered.

"You know it's dangerous out there."

The first night she had jumped out of a moving car just to avoid coming into the forest, and then all of a sudden, she felt safe enough to go into it?

"It's dangerous here!" she shouted.

Her words stopped him cold. This was about Cassie and her friends. Why hadn't he worked that out already? Layla had not been as terrified of this place until that fight.

He uncrossed his arms and balled his fists at his side, bracing himself for the conversation he was about to have.

"Tell me what happened," he demanded.

Layla looked away from him, turning her gaze to the ceiling.

"It doesn't matter," Layla said.

He walked over to the bed and sat beside her.

"Tell me what happened, Layla. What was so bad that you were willing to risk your life?"

Layla sighed and then turned to face him again.

"This little girl unlocked my door and told me my food was downstairs. Then the next thing I knew, I was knocked unconscious. I woke up in some basement with three girls standing over me."

His blood ran cold. Basement? She had been lured from the safety of her room and ambushed. And then the same girls had lied to his face about what had happened.

"I thought I could defend myself, but... they were so strong. I thought they would kill me until that guy, your friend Dylan, showed up."

His whole world shook on its axis. Dylan. The man he was so close to they could have been brothers. His Beta.

He had fucking lied, too.

His fists balled again. Rage filled his body.

"Get some sleep, Layla. I'll bring you some food when you wake up."

He didn't look back at her in case she saw that his beast had taken over and his eyes were red. He was going to fix this mess, once and for all.