74. Chapter 74

Chapter 74

" W e should do a pregnancy test."

Layla had been feeling strange the past couple of days. They'd been cooped up in the bedroom again for days, so she didn't know if she was just losing her mind from being locked up or if she was finally pregnant.

And if she was pregnant, she didn't know how she would deal with that.

She'd accepted that she had to leave her child with Jackson so he could raise their child among fellow werewolves, but that had been easy to agree with when it hadn't been a reality. But now she was getting the sweats, feeling ravenous all the time, and things just didn't feel right. That had to be a symptom of pregnancy.

How could she still go along with leaving her child now?

"You're not pregnant," Jackson sighed as he walked to sit next to her on the sofa.

He sounded disappointed, and she couldn't help but feel she was letting him down, despite knowing she didn't want to leave her child anyway.

But how did he know? He had said the same thing before he'd passed out after he'd been bitten.

"Maybe the doctor can tell us for sure?" she suggested. She had no faith in that hack of a doctor, but that had to be better than guessing.

"You're not," Jackson repeated as he put his hand over hers that was on her lap.

He sprawled his feet out in front of him and sat back. He was topless, as usual, but he had at least put a pair of sweats on before breakfast that morning. The man loved to be naked, and he said it was a wolf thing, but she was positive it was because he was constantly trying to make a baby.

"How would you know?"

"I'd sense it. Your body would go through some changes that I wouldn't miss. You haven't even ovulated yet since you got here."

She frowned at him. It had been over a month since she had agreed to live with him, and she hadn't had her period yet when she'd arrived. She'd already missed one. How could she not be pregnant when she'd spent all that time having sex with him?

Plus, she was supposed to ovulate every month. There was no way Jackson could tell something like that.

"I'm still feeling off. Can you get a pregnancy test?"

Jackson linked their fingers together and brought her hand to his lips. As usual, the kiss sent a jolt through her, and he smiled against her hand as if he had felt that, too. He probably could. It had been an enlightening few weeks getting to know him. He didn't tell her anything about his other form, but she had noticed several things on her own.

"Honestly, I'm not in much of a hurry to get you pregnant anymore," he said. "I'm enjoying spending time alone with you."

In this bubble, this prison he had created for them. She hadn't been out for a walk since he had taken her back to the forest and spent hours driving her crazy.

"I still want to know, Jackson," she insisted.

Jackson sighed again and released her.

"Sure. But I'll have to go over to get it myself. Only Dylan knows why you're here, and I'd like to keep it like that."

Jackson didn't bother wearing a shirt or shoes as he walked to the door.

"Micah's been asking to see me all morning anyway. I'll see what he wants on my way to meet the doctor."

Was he neglecting whatever Alpha duties he had again? Dylan had looked at her so coldly as if she had any control over that. Jackson could easily go and do his job and leave her locked up in the room by herself as he had done in the beginning.

As he walked down the hallway, he started to whistle. She knew because she could hear it as if he was still sitting beside her on the sofa. It had been weeks, and that hadn't faded—she had no idea why. If anything, she was sure it was getting worse. Maybe being among the werewolves for so long was changing her in ways she hadn't imagined. Sometimes when she concentrated, she could hear all the commotion beyond Jackson's balcony, even though it always happened after Jackson led her back inside and locked the balcony door.

Training. She was sure they were sparring. Sometimes she heard growls, snarls and heavy footsteps, so she knew that was the reason she was locked inside. They trained in their wolf forms; she wasn't supposed to see that.

Still, she had spent hours imagining she was out there training with them, too. The incident with those three men still played over in her mind, and all she wanted to do was feel like she could defend herself if it ever happened again.

She followed Jackson's whistle to the front door, and only after he was out of the house did she realise the mistake he had made. He hadn't locked the door again.

She forced her heart to stay calm because she was now positive Jackson could hear it whenever it beat out of control. It was what had brought him racing into the bedroom with his wolf face in the first place. She had to remember that, even when she was outside among them.

Slowly, she walked towards the door, and like the first time, the door opened easily. Why was she leaving the room when something terrible always happened every time she did? That wolf Amber could still be around even after Jackson told her to leave the house. And Dylan... He expected an answer, and she knew what she had to tell him.

She was going crazy stuck in that room; she had to take the chance. She didn't know what was happening in her head, and most importantly, she didn't know how Brit was. Jackson hadn't once offered her his phone so she could find out, and her phone was still being held for ransom.

At the entrance, she saw two huge men guarding it, but she pretended she knew what she was doing as she headed down to the hallway where she had last met Dylan alone.

A door opened before she reached it, and the man himself stepped out as if he had already known she was on her way. He walked further down the hall to the conference room and held the door open for her.

"I have to—"

Dylan silenced her with a finger to his lips and waited for her to enter before he closed the door.

Jackson still didn't trust him; she was well aware of that fact. But if she was pregnant...

She couldn't leave her baby.

No matter how much she had grown to like Jackson, she couldn't leave her baby. That was asking for the impossible.

Dylan closed the door and then turned around to face her.

"Took you long enough," he growled.

"I couldn't leave the bedroom," she shrugged. "Do you have a plan?"

"Yes. In a few days, Jackson will have to go to a meeting. I'll come for you then," Dylan said.

"The first time I tried to run away, he said he would still find me," she whispered.

"You'll just have to keep moving, Layla. He'll give up looking for you eventually when he realises there are more important things for him to worry about. He can have a baby with anybody else."

That hurt. It hurt so much that she could only nod and walk towards the door. Though she tried not to react, she wasn't sure if the werewolf who'd just left the house had sensed that.

Was she really going to do this? Put her trust in a man who she knew wanted her dead?

"You'll have to do exactly as I say when I come for you, or we're both dead," Dylan said just before she opened the door and walked out.

She had no idea how she made it back upstairs, but she was lying on the bed when she became aware of her surroundings. It was set in stone. She would leave and then stay on the run because Jackson would never let her go with his baby in her stomach. She was going back on her word and putting herself in a dangerous situation with an Alpha werewolf.

But if she found somewhere remote, somewhere out of the way, they would be okay, wouldn't they?

She felt lightheaded moments before the heat spread through her veins again. Sweat started to form on her forehead. It came on quicker than before and had her sucking in a breath as she clutched the bedding.

Some women felt nauseated and had backaches and shit like that. Was the fever really a symptom of pregnancy?

The heat turned into something else as it zinged through her core. She squeezed her thighs together, and a loud moan came from her lips.

She should have paid more attention in her Biology classes because that...

That wasn't right.