77. Chapter 77

Chapter 77

W hat the hell was going on?

Though Jackson had said she had been in heat, he hadn't explained how that was possible. And it didn't explain any of the other things. Was all of it only happening because of all her time with Jackson? And if that was the case, did that mean she would turn into a werewolf like him?

The first thought that floated through her mind was that she wouldn't have to leave her baby behind if that happened. She could stay and be a real family with Jackson.

But she pushed that thought aside. Despite all these odd thoughts and feelings for him, she didn't even like Jackson. And she had Brit to think about. She couldn't abandon her sister. It would have been better if she left before this pregnancy was confirmed.

She sucked in a breath as something else occurred to her. She was feeling completely fine now. No nausea, no fever... That had to mean that she had felt like that because of the heat. She wasn't pregnant. She could leave with Dylan and not feel guilty about taking his child.

And she wouldn't feel guilty about leaving Jackson.

He'd said he had claimed her, and she was making his situation better by being with him, but who would make her situation better? He was still going to throw her out once the baby was born, and that was something she couldn't imagine.

Besides, she had more reasons to leave. What if all this stuff happening to her was permanent? What if she had already damaged herself by being with Jackson? She would never be able to live out in the world alone without being locked away in an asylum when she got caught. Jackson was only worried about himself; he wouldn't think about her future after him.

The man himself came out of the dressing room dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. His hair was still damp from his shower.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he walked towards the bed.

"What do you mean?"

"You're... Are you unhappy, Layla? I don't know what else I can do for you or give you to make you feel... anything else."

How was it even possible that someone could sense how she felt? It felt like a violation and made her uncomfortable. How was she supposed to guard her emotions on top of everything else?

"I'm fine," she lied, giving him a small smile. "It's just a lot to take in."

Jackson looked into her eyes for a moment before he nodded.

"Take all the time you need to get used to it. Rest now; I'll bring some food when I've spoken to Micah."

Jackson knelt on the bed and lowered his lips to hers. His kiss was so gentle and sweet that it tugged at her heart. This was such a far cry from when she had arrived, and he'd locked her in a room. Somehow the lines between a business deal and a real relationship had been blurred, but she had to remember that this was still what it was. Jackson was just taking advantage of the situation until he let her go while she... She didn't even know what to think anymore. It was wild that she felt safe with him just because the hallucination had said to stay with him.

It didn't make sense because she was only in danger because she was in his bed. Once she was gone, her life would return to normal. Or as normal as it could be with the little extras she would take when she left. She could already hear the chatter outside and downstairs as people returned to the house.

"Rest," he repeated before he got off the bed and headed to the door.

He hesitated with his hand on the door handle, and for a moment, she imagined she felt the heavy weight he carried on his shoulders. What sort of trouble could he possibly be in that it would make such a huge beast feel so... destroyed?

"Maybe you should speak to Dylan."

Jackson looked back at her with a questioning frown.

"If you can't talk to me because I'm human, maybe you should talk to your best friend," she suggested gently.

And somehow, her words brought more anger than pain to him. How the hell could she feel that, too? No matter what Jackson said, that wasn't normal.

"No," Jackson said before he opened the door.

He stopped before he walked out and pulled something from his pocket. When he dangled it in the air, she realised it was the room key. He put it on the sideboard beside the door and looked back at her.

"Lock the door. I'll be back soon."

It took her a moment to realise what he had done. He had shown his trust in her.

She clutched the bedding to her chest, and her mouth dropped open. A part of her soared and felt like she finally belonged with him, but another part was scared.

What would happen to her if she got too used to this and he finally got rid of her? His answer to that hadn't changed from the moment he had told her what he was. She would have to leave. Jackson didn't see a future with her in it.

Once she recovered from the shock, she pushed the covers off and rushed to the door. Jackson didn't start walking away until he heard the key turn in the door.

What would she do now? She had to find Dylan and find out when she would get out of the whole mess.

After a quick shower, she dressed casually and rushed to the door. Her body was still stiff from what she had done to Jackson, but she was trying not to think about that. Maybe all wolves made love like that, and she was nothing special. She couldn't put any significance into what had happened if she was going to keep control of her sanity.

She hadn't reached the end of the hallway when she saw the last person she wanted to see coming up the stairs with a sneer on her face.

And for the second time since she had arrived, she froze when faced with danger.

"You have been a bigger thorn than I expected," Amber said as she stopped at the top of the stairway. "I suppose you think there's something special about you."

She stepped back as a wave of hatred almost knocked her back. She could sense Amber's emotions almost as well as she had felt Jackson's, but she had no time to process that as the woman started to walk forward.

For the first time, she cursed the size of this house. The hallway was too long to make a run for it back to the bedroom; Amber was likely to catch her before she got too far.

"He is not yours, Layla. He will never be. Men like him don't get stuck with a nobody like you," she sneered again. "You don't even know the man you're sleeping with, so you can't possibly understand what he needs."

That thing inside her—the thing that assumed Jackson was hers—started to bubble over. Like the first time Amber had declared her intentions and the time she had ended up on their bed with her hands on Jackson. It took over her body, and any thoughts of running away disappeared.

"Oh, I don't know. Jackson made it pretty clear who he wants in his bed, didn't he?"

She had never once thought she would become one of those women who fought over men. It was a pointless thing to do- if a man wanted to leave and be with someone else, she would never stop them. But the very thought of that...

"Oh, he's a man, honey. They always want me," Amber chuckled. "Once I get rid of you, everything will play along the way it should. I will be Luna. I will be the Queen."

Those words set her off.

Like a flame on gasoline, she ran to cover the distance between them and launched herself at the other woman. In the back of her mind, she was aware that this wasn't her; these weren't her intentions, thoughts, or usual behaviour.

But she couldn't stop herself as her kick landed on Amber's chest.

The look on Amber's face told her she had taken her by surprise as she stumbled backwards. But she was aware that the other woman was a wolf; she couldn't give her an advantage at all. She punched her the way she had been taught in one of her classes and was surprised at how easily Amber went down.

Maybe Amber wasn't a wolf like the other girls. She hadn't been able to fight Monica and her friends back, no matter what she had tried, but Amber fell like a sack of potatoes.

"He is mine," she hissed.

And her mind stopped working. Those were not her words. They were not.

What the hell was happening?