11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

J ackson stood on his balcony with his hands in his pocket and his senses reaching out as far as possible. It had been three weeks since the attack, and he hadn't slept much.

"We have to do it," someone whispered.

"He just ripped apart a whole pack less than a month ago. You're all crazy right now. Keep me out of it."

"Didn't you hear what that woman said? We're putting our lives on the line for a fucking rogue."

"If that were true, the Circle would have come back by now. That woman was full of shit."

The whispers were coming from deep in the woods, far enough away that other people couldn't hear them. It had been like this since the shock of the attack had worn off. They were unhappy and planning something.

Most of the conversations were had silently between two individuals because none of this treasonous shit could be discussed in the packlink where he could hear them. But lately, the group had become big enough to sneak off in the middle of the night to make their plans.

The old him would have already killed them.

"I vote we wait for the Circle to come back. We don't stand a chance on our own."

"He killed an Alpha and then a whole pack, but the Circle hasn't stepped foot back here even once. Fuck the Circle. We can poison his food to weaken him and do the job ourselves."

"I heard he can withstand silver."

"That's fucking impossible."

He sighed and looked up at the sky as it started to lighten and the stars started to disappear. The nights felt too long lately. Way too long. And the days were spent figuring out how many people wanted to kill him.

"We can kill him the same way he killed his father. Break his neck and then do it. But we would have to kill his Beta and Head Warrior, too. They are too loyal to him."

That voice he recognised. Zach was becoming a pain with his constant power grabs.

He waited until the meeting finished just to make sure that day wasn't the day he died, and then when they had snuck back to their homes, he walked back into his room and looked at his still tidy bed. Layla hadn't shared the bed with him that long, but he still couldn't bring himself to sleep in it.

Damn woman. Why did she have to ruin everything?

He sat on one of the sofas and waited patiently until the sun came up and there was activity in the house. And when the smell of breakfast drifted to his room, he stood and walked out of the room. It was his routine now.

Curse Layla. Worry. Eavesdrop. Curse Layla again. Make his own cup of coffee and then head out into the forest to look for the red wolf.

He should have swallowed his pride and asked more questions that day because the red wolf had kept herself hidden the whole time. But she was still there. Even if she remained in the shadows, he could still feel her anger towards him.

Why wasn't she coming out? He had so many questions and couldn't find the answers. The people who had woken up mysteriously healed were living their lives as usual. It hadn't been a fluke, and there was still no trace of magic on them.

After an hour of wasting time on the rock, he stood and looked back towards the trees. The red wolf was pissing him off as much as her daughter. Maybe that was where Layla got her attitude from.

"Yeah, keep hiding. She's going to find out who you are, and you'll become dead to her for a second time," he snapped. "When I kick her out, she'll be alone and without a clue what's happening to her. The very least you could do is tell me so I can prepare her."

Again, he was met with silence.

His fists clenched as he started the walk back to the house. He was wasting time. It had been three weeks, and he hadn't found the witch or made any headway with the red wolf, and his gut told him something huge was just around the corner. Something worse than his pack trying to get rid of him. The witch had to be getting desperate now. When she realised Layla was pregnant, she would probably try to do something worse.

When he reached the treeline, he stopped as he usually did. Someone would have already taken Layla to her old room to shower and then brought her breakfast. He could sense her already making her way out to the front. All the tents were gone because almost everyone had returned to their homes. A few children had to make the packhouse their permanent residence, and they came out of the house before Layla.

They had taken to walking with her because the doctor had suggested being out in the fresh air to help them heal. He knew it wouldn't. He had been about their age, only six, when his mother had died, and only time had lessened that pain.

Layla walked out next. Like a starving man, he couldn't take his eyes off her. She was glowing. Layla had been stunning when he first saw her, but with all her changes, she had started to look less human. She'd left her hair out today, and though it was still curly, it was thicker, so the curls had stretched. And her eyes looked like any other werewolf's, except hers were that unique, startling green colour. She looked like someone out of the world and would turn heads everywhere when she returned to her real life.

Layla looked towards him, as she always did when she came out. She could always tell where he was, the way he could sense where she was.

Every morning this moment was both a pleasure and a pain. His heart settled, and his beast was pacified when the stunning emeralds met his. His mate. The woman who had made his heart beat again. And then the moment passed as he felt the sharp stabbing in his chest when he started to fight the pull towards her. Every morning without fail. The need to be with her had become so unbearable that Cain had become completely silent. Agony. Sheer torture. Even though he was still in the woods, her scent had already wrapped around him, and it wouldn't let him go for the rest of the day.

But there was something different that morning.

He listened closely, and there it was. For the first time, he heard the sound of a little heartbeat beating along with Layla's.

His child.

His eyes lowered to her flat stomach and the situation became real. He'd made a baby. Layla's stomach would swell as his baby grew, and... Holy shit. What the fuck had he been thinking? How could he bring an innocent baby into the shithole that was his life when he wouldn't be there to protect it? He would only hold the baby for a short time before he died. Insane. He was fucking insane.

But the little heart kept beating, and in his mind, he saw himself with his little family. Layla holding their baby and smiling at him. He saw himself happy and content—something he had never imagined.

He took a few steps towards Layla, unable to resist any longer. His heart was full and empty at the same time as he gave in to what he most desired. But the reminder that he wasn't who Layla wanted made him stop in his tracks before he reached her. Layla hadn't taken her gaze off him as if she was waiting for him to make the first move, but he wouldn't do that. He wasn't opening himself up like that again. When she had tried to run away, she had as good as rejected him.

He turned and walked in the opposite direction. The best thing he could do for that baby was to fix everything so everyone would be safe. Find and kill the witch. Find the red wolf. That was it. He couldn't think beyond that.

"Alpha."

He hadn't noticed Micah approaching him. He nodded at his Head Warrior, who would soon become the Gamma and then the Beta after he died.

‘I have some concerns I want to share with you,' Micah started in his head.

‘Zach is trying to incite a coup?' he guessed as he continued walking.

‘I've heard some whispers, Alpha. It seems he's gaining more support because of what happened,' Micah said. ‘You and Miss Layla aren't safe here.'

‘They have every right to be angry, but I don't think they'll go through with anything,' he stated.

‘Are you sure?'

He stopped and studied Micah closely. Maybe there was more to the story than he had heard. Zach may have already convinced several other people and a plan was already in motion. No, he wasn't sure.

The baby's heartbeat sounded in his ears again, followed by the crippling fear that he would lose everything that mattered most to him. He couldn't risk Layla's and his unborn child's lives when all he had were assumptions.

‘I'm taking Layla to the hotel for a few days. Find out what you can.'

‘Yes, Alpha.'

Layla's laughter carried to him from the other side of the house, taking all his attention. He could have shut it out, but she had never laughed like that with him. She had clearly moved on with her life while he was stuck in the miserable, dark hole she had shoved him into.

Her ‘best buddy' Dylan said something which made her giggle, and his fist clenched at his sides. Despite his warning, Dylan seemed to find any excuse to speak to Layla every single fucking day. He'd had enough of the two of them.

"Take Layla back to the house to pack. We leave in half an hour."