71. Chapter 71

Chapter 71

M aybe she really had gone insane.

It had been a week since she had embarrassed herself by pulling such a juvenile move. Everyone knew this was Jackson's room, and just because he was sleeping with her, it didn't make him hers.

Mine? Seriously? How could she even say that word?

Yet that was how she had felt at that moment, driven by insane jealousy that had come out of nowhere.

Maybe her mental issues had gone to the next level because she still felt like two people in one body. And when she felt like herself, those emotions still lingered.

"You haven't eaten enough."

She looked up from her food to see Jackson watching her across the balcony table. He had done that a lot since she'd climbed all over him and kissed him in front of Amber.

Jackson hadn't stopped at just looking. She caught him smiling a few times, and she was pretty sure he was fully healed, yet he insisted on being bathed and taken care of every day. He seemed to have undergone a personality transplant of his own.

"I'm not very hungry today," she shrugged as she looked away from his probing gaze.

"Are you bored being stuck in here with me all the time?"

Bored? Her body tingled whenever he was close, and as soon as Jackson had become strong enough, she'd woken up with him between her legs more often than not. It seemed that he was as insatiable as she was, and that was as terrifying as it was thrilling. Being alone with him was far from boring, but they couldn't stay in this bubble much longer.

Dylan had told her Jackson was ignoring everything else to spend time with her; she could see that now. She wouldn't bother to analyse what that meant because she already knew she didn't belong in his world. They had no future together.

"Not bored," she answered, "but I wouldn't mind going out to stretch my legs."

And find Dylan. He couldn't help her leave if Jackson was glued to her the whole time.

"Okay. We'll go for a walk, then."

She looked back at him with a frown.

"Together? Are you well enough?"

Jackson sat back and turned his head away, but she saw his lip quirking up as if he was trying not to laugh.

"I don't know. I think I can make it if we take our time, and I'm very, very careful."

She rolled her eyes, but that stupid part of her was thrilled he still wanted to spend so much time with her. As their leader, their Alpha, she knew he had to have a lot of responsibilities, but he'd spent the last week doing nothing but eating, sleeping and making love to her. He was making it hard for her to remember their reality. This was the reason he had brought her to his house. All he wanted was the baby, and once that was done, their time together would end, too.

"Let's go," Jackson said as he stood up. "You'll have to put your arms around me when we walk. You know, to stabilise me."

He moved slowly and clutched onto his side when he walked around the table to her. His wound was completely healed; there wasn't even a scar left. And just that morning, he'd picked her up and fucked her against the wall. Stabilise him, her ass!

"Uh-huh," she said as she shook her head and threw her napkin on the table to stand.

She took a few steps towards the door but stopped when she saw he was still standing in the same spot, looking at her expectantly. He looked like a boy being naughty instead of the terrifying, murderous werewolf that she knew he was.

Something made her giggle as she walked back to put her arms around him. When his arm settled around her, that terrifying feeling of security returned. That insane part of her felt like his arms were the safest place to be. It was probably because that red wolf had told her so.

Jackson started walking and led them through the bedroom towards the door.

"Imagine the horror if you weren't here to hold me up," he said as he buried his face in her hair and took a deep breath. He did that so much that she wondered if it was a werewolf thing or if he just loved how she smelled.

"They'd all see their Alpha fall flat on his face, and there would be chaos," he continued.

"Hmm. I'm sure," she answered with a smile.

She was still smiling when they walked down the stairs to the lobby. As if they had all known that Jackson was on his way down the stairs for the first time in two weeks, some people came out of the hallways to see him. Since he had woken up, he hadn't allowed anyone into the bedroom except Micah and Faith.

"You look well, sir," Micah said with a small bow. "Are you resuming your duties?"

"No," Jackson answered. "I'm just out to stretch my legs. I'm sure everything is running smoothly without me."

She could tell that the statement shocked some of the people who had come out to greet him, but Jackson didn't seem to care as he led her to the door.

"Jax, can I have a word?"

She felt his arm tense around her at the sound of Dylan's voice.

"Now's really not the time, Dylan," he answered without looking back.

"We have some issues that need your attention."

Jackson opened the door without responding, and when he forced her to keep walking, she looked back and saw Dylan's angry gaze as he looked at her.

She was still being blamed for this, she could tell. Would he still help her escape? The very thought was harder to digest now, but it was still the only option, no matter how much that insane part of her had become attached to Jackson.

"I feel like a stroll through the woods," Jackson said as he walked down the front steps.

"Is it safe?"

The last time she'd been in there, she had almost been mauled by that mangy beast.

"Of course," Jackson answered. "We're not going far because I'm still so terribly weak."

"Of course."

Jackson looked down at her and grinned. It transformed his face and made her heart flutter. Why did he have to be so handsome? Walking away from him would probably be the hardest thing she'd ever have to do.

"There's a spot not too far from here where I can... rest," Jackson said, walking to a different trail than the one he had taken on the first time. "No one will disturb us. I'll stretch your legs really well there."

He didn't even try to hide the meaning of his words.

"When I said I wanted to stretch my legs, that wasn't what I meant."

"I'll remember that next time," Jackson chuckled.

Who was this man? Why was he suddenly acting so differently? The past week, they could have been real lovers instead of people forced together by a deal.

But it wasn't real.

And her heart hurt as she wished, with everything in that insane part of her, that it was.