55. Chapter 55

Chapter 55

J ackson stood outside his bedroom and made sure Layla was asleep when he locked the door.

His fists clenched as he marched down the hallway and the stairs. Two wolves. How did two wolves go past the wards that the supposedly strongest Circle members had erected? How did they both end up so close to Layla?

He pushed the door to the conference room so hard it slammed against the wall. Dylan, Micah, Jon and a few other warriors were quietly arguing among themselves, but they stopped when he walked in.

"Tell me how the fuck this happened," he growled.

"We checked the walls along that boundary when we looked for the red wolf," Dylan said. "There was nothing."

"The men are still out there patrolling. There are still no signs," Micah added.

"All of this started happening when the human arrived. Maybe we should question her," Jon said.

He looked at his Gamma and felt his face tighten. After almost losing Layla, he did not need this shit. A growl from deep within him had all the people in the room lowering their gazes and cowering in their seats. He was still too worked up. He'd killed the rogue too quickly; it hadn't brought him anywhere near the satisfaction he craved. Cain craved death and destruction the way most wolves desired peace.

If Jon was too stupid to understand that, then there was no room for him at his table.

"Leave," he growled.

It was Cain's command. His voice was deeper and hoarse as his beast took control.

Question Layla? Go anywhere near his mate? If Jon dared...

"Alpha, I—"

"Leave!"

The Alpha tone rolled through the room, and the little coward of a Gamma whimpered and flinched. His claws started to extend as his teeth filled his mouth.

Jon stood so abruptly that he knocked his chair over.

"Yes, Alpha," he answered before he rushed out of the room.

He looked at the remaining men in the room one by one.

"Does anyone else want to suggest we question Layla, or take her back to town or kill her?" he growled.

"No, Alpha," they answered in unison.

"Good. Now tell me how the hell that rogue got near her."

"Maybe the day those rogues attacked, that one got separated," Dylan suggested. "Their scents were distorted and all over the place. Maybe they used that as a distraction to hide in the woods."

That was a possibility. It meant he would have to trust his pack to look after Layla while he went on a hunt, for however long that took. His boundary was extensive, and despite how fast Cain was and how superior his senses were, everything became trickier when magic was involved. For all he knew, the witch knew how to mask the rogues.

And then he had to make sure Cain wouldn't use that as an opportunity to do what he had threatened earlier and hunt down the kids he had let go.

He scented Diedre a few moments before she knocked on the conference room door and entered. He hadn't spoken to her since the day she had taken Layla out for a walk against his wishes.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I had to go around the boundary and make sure everything was as it should be," she said as she came to sit at the table.

"Did you see any of this happening?" he asked.

"Only moments before it started happening," Diedre answered with a worried frown. "Everything is off; I don't know..."

He could feel the worry coursing through her body. Diedre was feared all over the world, but in the past few days, everything that had happened had been unforeseen. He knew she would be worrying about if there was something wrong with her magic.

He hoped there wasn't because he had trusted her to ward up the territory with the Circle.

But he had a theory. Since she couldn't see anything related to him, and apparently to Layla, she wouldn't have seen the attack. But something to do with the whole pack, like someone breaching her magic wards, she would be able to see.

Which meant Micah and Dylan were right. The enemy was already on his soil.

"It's okay, Diedre," he said as he finally took his seat at the head of the table. "Tell me how the wards work."

"Anyone who intends to do any harm won't be able to go past them. The Circle used charms in strategic places, but I took their energy and made them a more permanent solution."

Diedre was the only one he knew who could do that. The Circle had been right to say she couldn't protect all his land alone, but by using the strong magic in their charms, Diedre would have been able to manipulate the magic to do as she wanted.

"Do you think that will stop the witch? These rogues seem to appear and disappear like ghosts," Micah asked. "I swear, that first rogue we brought to the dungeon came out from behind some bushes I had just looked in."

"I think she just masks them and makes them hard to find," Diedre said.

Which was what he had concluded as well. So it meant he could look through the woods for days and not see anything if he didn't know what to look for.

"Fucking great," he muttered as he stood up. "I'm going hunting. All of you have to make sure Layla stays in my room."

"Did she... Did she see anything, Alpha?" Micah asked.

Unease shot down his spine as he turned to his Head Warrior and probably next Gamma.

"No. I intercepted the rogue before it got to her," he lied. "Did she look like she had seen anything?"

"No. She was perfectly calm," Micah answered with a shrug.

He would have to buy Diedre something expensive and shiny the next time he went to town to thank her for her potion.

"Invite Chase for breakfast. I want him out of the way quickly," he said as he walked towards the door. "Diedre, a word?"

He didn't wait for her to answer. He walked to the infirmary and waited outside the door for Diedre to unlock it. It was her domain, and she stocked some potent potions in it. No one entered unless invited, not even the Alpha King.

Diedre waved a hand over the handle before she opened it.

"If this is about the other day, I'm sorry," Diedre said as she walked into the office.

He closed the door behind him and went to sit on the examination table.

"The only thing that makes sense is that she's a part of you, so I can't see her, either," Diedre said. "I'll make her more charms, just in case."

"If you think that would help," he said. "But that's not why I'm here."

He pulled his shirt off and saw the look on Diedre's face when she saw the dressing on his side.

"What happened?" she cried, carefully peeling it from his body.

Her mouth dropped open as she inspected his wound.

"Damn rabid thing bit me. It's not healing."