13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

J ackson walked ahead of Layla into the lobby of his hotel and headed straight for the elevator.

That had been the longest car ride of his life. He should have thought about what being close to her did to him and gone in a different car. It didn't matter that he loathed her; his body had other ideas.

'Loathe her? Say it louder for those in the back. Maybe they'll believe you.'

And then Cain had decided to speak just because Layla was next to him. He had focused on nothing else except Layla and that title heartbeat.

He punched the button to call the elevator harder than necessary and then looked back at the lobby.

He frowned and sniffed the air. Something felt off, but he couldn't put his finger on it. That feeling that something was going to go wrong intensified even though he was away from his territory and treasonous pack.

It was early afternoon and a weekend, so the lobby was busy. All human, though, and none of them looked out of place. He didn't sense any danger in the air. Every time he left the territory, he had to be on the lookout for Hunters, even if they hadn't been in the city for years. One mistake or oversight could wipe out his whole pack. The hotel was neutral ground for all the packs, but hunters had no such codes of honour.

At the front desk, speaking to another employee, stood Miss Roberts. Had he managed to go past her without her noticing him, for a change?

Spoke too soon. Miss Roberts lifted her gaze, and he expected to be hit by a wave of her lust and her overly bright smile.

Her eyes turned cold, and she looked back at the woman she was speaking to, completely ignoring him. It was what he had requested of her the last time he had spoken to her, but he hadn't expected that she would listen. The woman had spent years dogging his footsteps every time he had visited, and she had been so annoyingly tenacious with it. Could all of that shit be truly over now?

Layla walked in with one of his warriors, Josh, in tow with their bags. The moment they had driven into the city, he noticed her brows furrowed, and she'd rubbed her temples. There was a reason wolves preferred to live far away from humans and all their noise and pollution. Unless she learned to focus her hearing and sense of smell, Layla would never be happy in a city again.

Layla headed straight for the elevators without looking around, and as he had guessed, many of the guests turned to watch her walk past them. And Miss Roberts turned to watch her. A look of disgust crossed her face as she looked at Layla from top to bottom. Layla always picked the most toned-down outfits from the clothes he had filled her wardrobe with, but the quality was still unmistakable. She wore his money well. The pantsuit skimmed her curves perfectly and wearing heels when she was already taller than most humans showed her confidence.

"I don't think I can stay here," Layla whispered as she came to stand beside him just as the doors opened.

He walked in first without responding and waited for Layla and Josh to follow before he pressed the button for his floor. As the doors started to close, he met Miss Roberts' cold glare again just before she leaned over and whispered in the other woman's ear.

"Tell them he's here," she said, and then she gave him a self-satisfied smile just as the doors closed completely.

He'd have to be an idiot not to know he was the ‘he' she had referred to. What the hell was Miss. Roberts up to now? Before that day, he would have assumed he would get showered with gifts and unwanted services.

He mindlinked the warrior who'd stayed behind in the lobby to make sure the hotel was secure.

‘Follow the woman who was just speaking to Miss Roberts. Something's not right.'

"Did you hear me?" Layla asked. "Brit will know straight away that something is wrong. Can we try to find somewhere quieter?"

As she said that, the elevator doors opened on the much quieter penthouse floor. Both suites on the top floor were soundproofed like the conference room where he had met the Circle, so Layla would have felt the difference in the noise levels the moment she stepped out. He didn't bother responding again as he walked ahead to his usual suite. The warrior on guard duty had already risen and lowered his head before he reached the door.

He pulled his security card out and was about to open the door when Layla grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"What are you doing?" she hissed.

Did she even realise what her touch did to him? Had she forgotten how explosive and extreme everything was between them? It had been too long since he'd made love to her that any contact was bound to set things off. She was touching his hand, but she might as well have grabbed his dick.

He shook her hand off before he made a fool of himself.

"What does it look like I'm doing?"

"You have to knock. You don't live here; she could be naked."

He sighed and knocked on the door briefly. Maybe Layla had already called her sister to tell her they were coming because the door opened immediately and the young girl stood on the other side, fully dressed. She looked well-rested and better than the last time he had seen her.

Britney threw herself into her sister's arms, and he couldn't help noticing their differences. They were like night and day. While Layla was the spitting image of her mother, including her height, Britney was short and delicate, with colouring like her father's. Of course, that wasn't enough to rule out if she had wolf blood like her sister, but he had the whole weekend to make sure. It would be better for Layla in the long run if she knew.

And there he went again, thinking about Layla's future.

He sighed and walked in past the sisters to look around the suite. Books, snack wrappers and clothes were everywhere, and the television was on a loud music channel. Typical of a teenager, especially the human ones who took longer to understand the importance of pulling their weight. He lowered the volume so it wouldn't hurt Layla and then looked at the open textbook on the table. It looked like Britney was keeping her end of the deal and concentrating on her schoolwork.

"I missed you," Layla said to her sister as they walked into the room. "I'm sorry I haven't been calling as much as I wanted to."

Layla looked around the room as if she was noting the almost complete silence, and then her shoulders relaxed.

"That's okay. I know you work hard," Britney said. "But we'll be together soon, though, right?"

"She'll visit you more often, but her job isn't done yet," he said as he walked back to the door. "I'll leave you to catch up. Call me if you need anything, and don't go outside for anything."

"Where are you going?" Layla asked.

"I'll spend the weekend in the suite down the hall."

Layla frowned at him as if that didn't suit her.

"Why? Did you want to share your bed with me?" he asked bluntly.

Britney gasped and covered her mouth. If the thought of her sister doing anything like that shocked her, she would be thoroughly scandalised when Layla's bump started showing.

"Don't be so rude, Jackson. You know we have things to talk about."

"I have nothing to say to you, Layla. Spend time with your sister."

He picked his bag up from near the door where Josh had left it and then walked out. He was pretty sure his warriors wouldn't feel comfortable with him in the same suite, but he'd take their discomfort over sleeping so close to Layla any day.

When he knocked on the door, Josh looked surprised to see him. He had already removed his suit jacket and tie, and had probably been already relaxing with the others.

"Is everything okay, Alpha?"

"Yes," he answered as he walked in. Three other warriors were sitting around the dining table further into the room, and from their sombre moods, he knew they had been discussing the recent events in their pack.

They stood when they saw him and bowed to greet him, but they couldn't hide their resentment.

He'd been trying to get Layla away from the people planning to hurt them, but he hadn't even considered how these men would feel about her. They'd had to stay with Britney instead of mourning their lost brothers and sisters. He hadn't thought of them a single time while he'd dealt with the aftermath of the attack.

That was messed up, even for him. Maybe stepping down was the only choice left because he had become a shit Alpha in the span of a few weeks.

"Are you not staying in your room, sir?" Josh asked.

"I am."

What choice did he have now? He had to protect Layla.

"I just came to see how everyone is doing," he lied.

"We've settled into a routine, Alpha. We've had no problems with the humans, but we couldn't track down the loan shark, so we can keep an eye on him," one of the warriors said.

That wasn't the question he had asked, but he nodded and said goodbye before leaving the room again. Once he was back outside Britney's room, he sighed and lifted his hand to knock.

Things had already started going wrong, and the weekend hadn't started yet.