79. Chapter 79

Chapter 79

I t was late afternoon when Jackson left the bedroom again. He locked it this time because Layla was still slightly out of it.

No, that was an understatement. She was a lot out of it. It hadn't helped when she had watched the cuts on her knuckles healing right in front of their eyes.

She didn't look mentally prepared to accept what he had to tell her, and he didn't want to say anything until he knew the whole truth. What if being the offspring of a red wolf was worse than being just a regular half-blood?

What if it meant that everything was accelerated, and the Circle would put her down sooner than he expected? They wouldn't give a shit if she was already pregnant with the heir they wanted.

There was a shift in the air when he stepped outside again. He could feel the disappointment crashing down on him even though the warriors standing around outside the packhouse didn't say a word.

What could he have possibly done now?

He felt a wave of anger in his direction and turned to watch Dylan march towards him. Whatever the hell had happened, he would surely hear about it from that untrustworthy fucker.

He folded his arms and waited for Dylan to walk up the steps and come up to the entrance. He couldn't understand how his feelings for his friend had changed so completely just because of his bond with Layla. Dylan was supposed to be his ride-or-die, but now he had to work hard to stop himself from attacking him.

"Alpha," Dylan growled, giving a fake bow.

"The disrespect is unbelievable," he snapped.

"You just beat up a woman and want my respect?" Dylan sneered.

"What the fuck are you..."

Oh. Right. Fuck.

It was one thing to fight women if they were in a battle, but even at his cruellest, he had never put his hand on a woman or child.

Cassie's friend had been an exception for what she had done, but her brothers had been the ones to bear his anger while she had hung on the silver chains.

So now he was the Alpha King who killed his pack members, slept with a rogue and hit women. Great. Just fucking great.

"What do you want, Dylan?" he asked.

"What did she do to you to deserve such treatment?" Dylan hissed. "I told her she was safe here, and you just..."

So he'd been right. Dylan had got attached to the scheming bitch.

"She's lucky I didn't kill her," he said as he walked past Dylan and started going down the steps.

He noticed the grounds start to clear out as the pack members moved out of his way. They used to love him. They used to believe that everything he did was in their best interest despite how cruel he'd been to other packs in the name of keeping them safe. How could he lose that all in such a short time?

"Where is she supposed to go now?" Dylan asked as he followed. "She's not welcome back in her pack."

"And why is that my business?"

"You're being a dick just because you have that—"

He rounded on Dylan and dared him to finish his sentence. Though the others had moved away, they would all be listening to the conversation.

Dylan took a step back and lowered his head.

"Listen to me very carefully. Anyone who treats Layla like that will have the same treatment. I'm getting sick and tired of explaining myself, so let this be a warning. I don't give a fuck who you are to me; that rule still stands," he growled. "Now, unless you have something to say to me regarding the duties you're supposed to be worrying about, get the fuck away from me."

He felt like shit before he even finished speaking, but he turned away and started walking. There were times in the past he'd been accused of being a dick, but that had never been intentional. But now he'd done it on purpose just to buy himself some more time.

Dylan didn't stay away as he had hoped, though. He came to walk beside him even though he was bristling with anger. His Beta was usually good at masking his emotions, but this had to be messing him up more than he had expected.

"Alpha Chase wants to show us something. He said it's to do with the wards that Diedre did for them," Dylan said.

His voice was calmer now like he was finally resigned to the situation. Knowing Dylan, he had finally convinced himself that his Alpha was past the point of saving, like his father.

"Are their wards working?"

"Yes. They don't seem to have the same problem we have. Diedre said she will know more once she comes back," Dylan said.

Maybe that was part of the curse. Besides the fact that he would die on his next birthday and could only have children with his mate, any magic meant to protect him didn't work either.

Diedre was probably wasting her time. It was time she accepted that there was nothing she could do and everything would be okay once he was gone.

"We'll go tomorrow afternoon," he stated.

"Great. I'll make the arrangements."

Dylan said nothing else as he turned and headed back towards the packhouse. His Beta's mood had changed again. He was still angry, but there was something else, almost a sense of relief, even though it was only brief. Maybe he was just glad to part ways.

He shook his head and continued walking around the house until he came to the trail where he had taken Layla for a walk the first time. When he opened up his senses, he didn't find anyone who wasn't supposed to be there, as expected.

How did one find a wolf that could hide so well? Would she come out to him as she had done the first time? He could only hope so. There was no way he would bring Layla out to the woods to use as bait when she was still so shaken.

He stayed alert as he walked. Though he was sure he'd got all the rogues, even they could still be lurking in his woods, masking themselves like the red wolf. But at least he could find those when he followed the magic. The red wolf was new territory that even Cain couldn't understand.

When he arrived at the spot he had seen the wolf before, he stopped and looked around. Nothing. No scent, no beating hearts, no emotions that he could sense. The birds and little forest animals stayed in the trees or foraged on the ground for food, undisturbed by his presence or the red wolf's.

"Where are you?" he asked quietly with a sigh. "Your daughter needs your help."

Something changed in the air.

He caught a new scent where there had been nothing. He heard a heartbeat where there had been silence. He felt the worry.

It was as if he had said the magic words. Words that would make a mother rush to her child's aid.

The red wolf slowly stepped out from the darkness between the trees in the forest, with her head lowered as if she were gauging the threat around her.

And then, with a speed similar to his, she shifted.

It was like looking at a slightly older version of Layla. The shock made him step back as the naked woman stepped forward.

"What did you do to her?" she hissed.

Her anger was like a force that made him step back again. Not out of fear. Rebecca Carlisle wasn't masking herself, so her emotions hit him in the face. It was a lot to unpack, and he wasn't sure he wanted to.

"Nothing. She's fine. But you need to tell me what's happening. She's changing, and I can't tell if she's going to shift or I have to prepare myself for a bigger fight than I imagined," he answered quietly.

The woman's intense green eyes narrowed on him as if she was reading him the way he was reading her. Could she do that? Were her strengths the same as his?

"You're going to have to fight either way, Alpha Jackson," Rebecca said. "So why does that matter?"

"I need to be prepared. I need to make the right choices."

"All you need to do is protect my daughter. That's the only choice," Rebecca said as she turned away.

"Wait! You can't go yet; you haven't told me anything at all," he said as he stepped closer to her. "I don't know what the fuck I'm supposed to do."

Rebecca turned her head to speak over her shoulder.

"My daughter has had several mental breakdowns over the years because she doesn't understand who she is. Tell her the truth and let nature take its course."

And then she disappeared again through the trees, taking any trace of herself with her.

The truth? How the hell would he do that when he didn't know what that was?