58. Chapter 58

Chapter 58

H e hadn't meant to do that.

He was supposed to be given her space to deal with the shit that had happened, but one thing had led to another and... He ran his tongue along his gums because they were itching. The urge to go back and do what she had asked was still riding him hard.

He had to remind himself that she had no idea what she was asking for. And even if she did, he could never do that to her.

He dried himself and then looked at the bite on his side. It had reopened and was still bleeding. It looked worse than it had before he had gone to bed. How the hell was that even possible if it wasn't caused by magic? Could Diedre have got that wrong? If she couldn't see his future, maybe her magic didn't work on him at all.

Maybe the witch had found a way to speed up his death.

He put a thicker dressing on it before leaving the bathroom. Layla was still exactly where he'd left her, looking a little shell-shocked.

He could commiserate. It felt different this time. A little more intense than usual because he had felt their bond the whole time. It was even stronger than before. How long would it be before he became unable to deny her request?

Her wolf blood knew she belonged to him, but her human side would never agree. It was her nature as a half-blood; her two sides would always fight. It was why she would eventually lose her mind.

Fuck, this was hopeless.

There was no point dwelling on things he couldn't change. They were both going to die.

He didn't say anything to her as he walked to the walk-in wardrobe to dress. It was still too early for breakfast with Alpha Chase, but there was no way he was getting back into bed with her now, not with his gums still itching. He chose to wear a suit for the meeting even though there was a very high chance he would shift and ruin it. Even though he tried to keep relations with Chase cordial, that Alpha made it hard. He always needed a run afterwards.

Layla looked up at him when he came out holding his jacket. Mixed in with the flash of heat in her eyes was the look she'd worn on her face since she'd almost been killed.

"How did you get that wound, Jackson?" she asked.

She was probably starting to put two and two together. And then she would begin to question herself about what she really saw in the woods.

"A little accident. Nothing to concern yourself with," he answered as he walked to the door. "Get some rest, Layla. I'll bring some breakfast when it's ready."

When he walked out and closed the door behind him, he hesitated briefly before he pulled his keys out and locked the door. They couldn't have a repeat of the day before with Chase and his people around. Chase was a dick, but he was also a stickler for rules. He would kill Layla on the spot if he even suspected that she knew about their world.

Plus, he wanted to keep Layla as far away from Chase as possible. His reputation with women had never been an issue before, but if Chase even dared to look at Layla like she was his next conquest, he would die. A war between their packs was the last thing he needed.

The house was quiet but he could hear the Omegas starting their duties in the kitchen. He was about to walk into his office when the door to the conference room opened, and Dylan popped his head out.

"Jax, I found something."

The red wolf. Would he finally have her identity now? With all the stuff that had happened with the rogues, he hadn't stopped to think why he hadn't seen the wolf when he'd been hunting. Not her scent or her trail. Why had she shown up now?

He closed the door of the soundproofed room and noticed Dylan had scattered papers all over the conference table. He walked over and picked one up. It was a copy of a police report for a missing person that was over a decade old.

"Did you get any sleep at all?"

"A little. But I woke up early because all of this was bugging me."

"How so?" he asked as he picked up another paper. It was Layla. No, it wasn't Layla. The picture was also dated over a decade before, just before the report had been filed.

"Layla's mother has no information in the city's database except when she was reported missing. No birth certificate, no school transcripts, no employment history," Dylan answered as he started to pick up all the papers. "She was like a ghost."

"Not everyone in the city is in the system. A lot of people move to Wolfdale to disappear."

"Yes, they do, but most of them have a paper trail of some kind. Rebecca Carlisle had nothing at all, not even a picture until the one you're holding. That was taken only four months before she disappeared. She won something at a raffle at Layla's school that was sponsored by the paper."

"Okay," he said with a shrug. Where was Dylan going with this? They had already known Layla's mother had abandoned them, which was the reason he'd been able to make this deal with her in the first place.

"I'd given up on all of this yesterday until I remembered something else. A lot was happening in Wolfdale at that time. Rebecca hadn't been the only one to disappear," Dylan said as he handed him a copy of another newspaper clipping.

It was about the rise in reported missing or dead people. He'd been a boy then, but his father had sat him down and taught him how to recognise when Hunters were operating somewhere. A lot of times, they didn't just get rid of the wolf; they got their entire family, too. So when whole families disappeared, his father always investigated. But those events were few and far between, and happened in other cities besides Wolfdale.

Until that year.

"We had Hunters in the city," he recalled. "Ones that didn't give a shit about the humans that got caught in the middle of it. The king had a hard time outsmarting them."

Dylan nodded and then placed a small stack of papers in front of him.

"The first attack was only days after Rebecca's picture was in the paper. The last attack was on the day she disappeared."

He could see where Dylan was going with this. He'd figured it out. He knew Layla's mother was a wolf, and by that reasoning, Layla was the very thing most wolves despised. So why was Dylan vibrating with excitement instead of the disappointment he had expected?

"That could have been a coincidence," he said with a shrug.

"And that's what kept me up at night. Was it a coincidence?" Dylan asked as he spread the stack of papers. "These are all the people murdered or missing at that time."

He could tell what the connection was straight away. All the women were green-eyed redheads like Layla's mother.

"I think Rebecca came into town and got comfortable once she realised it was safe. She met a man, had some kids and thought she could live among humans. The Hunters came into town for her, Jax."

Could he steer Dylan away from revelation? Or was it time to learn if he could trust his friend again?

"I think that's a stretch," he said. "You only have assumptions to go on."

"Except for the wolf sighting in Rebecca's neighbourhood the night she disappeared. We were all under strict orders from your father to stay out of town. Only a lone wolf would have dared," Dylan said. "Rebecca Carlisle was a wolf, Jax."

Dylan's excitement grew; he was practically bouncing on his feet.

"And that means Layla is a half-blood," Dylan continued.

He frowned questioningly at his friend's attitude.

"And that pleases you?" he asked.

"Yes. That means she's the wrong person to have your child. An Alpha can't be seen with a half-blood; it will destroy your reputation. And having a child with one condemns him to the same life as his mother. The Circle would have killed her themselves if they had known."

Dylan smiled and started to collect the rest of the papers.

"We can get rid of her today after the meeting. Don't worry, Jax. I'll take care of everything."