28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

B lood. There was blood.

Jackson froze, unable to fathom that such a horrible thing was happening.

All the noise around him faded to the background as he tried to concentrate on the little heartbeat. Still there. But was it fainter?

He sucked in a breath and tried to concentrate. Everything in him went numb. What was he supposed to do? He couldn't think.

Someone grabbed Layla's arm from the side. Cain reared forward, his whole body filling with rage as a growl left his lips. The sound was low and guttural, a warning that promised death if anyone defied him. Immediately they all fell back as the tables turned. They hadn't had any power over him from the beginning.

"Stop! For fuck's sake, stop! Have you lost your damn minds?"

Dylan's voice pulled him from the horror going through his mind as he focused on the little heartbeat hiding behind Layla's.

His Beta appeared beside his mate and then Micah on her other side. The scent of their blood mixed with his and Layla's. Both men were bloody, and their clothes were torn. They were also covered in welts, likely from being chained in silver.

But even that failed to get a reaction from him as he looked back at Layla. The moment felt surreal—as if he was watching the horror out of someone else's eyes.

And then the howling. Cain's howls grew louder the longer they listened to that heartbeat. His beast's pain mixed with his, crippling him, almost bringing him to his knees.

He'd never felt so useless in his life.

"Do you seriously think Zach has your best interests at heart?" Dylan hissed at the pack.

He had never felt that much anger from his friend before. It was so fiery it momentarily pulled his focus. Though Dylan was calm, he could sense his wolf ready to take control.

"We have already decided—" Zach started.

"You don't become Alpha by a fucking public vote," Dylan growled. "Say—by some dumb luck—you succeed in killing Jax, and then what? You think you can stand up to any other Alpha or the Circle? I could snap your neck right now without even trying. You can't be the Alpha of anybody."

He didn't have to turn around to know Zach's confidence had tanked. Fear was swirling all around him, and he sensed the pack outside starting to retreat.

"It doesn't matter who becomes Alpha. We don't want Jackson anymore."

The group started to murmur, but he still couldn't react. His gaze was still on the patch of blood growing bigger by the second.

"Jax?"

He realised Dylan was still speaking when he felt his Beta's hand on his shoulder.

"Head back inside. I'll try to calm things..."

Dylan followed his gaze and his voice trailed off. The murmuring didn't stop. The fear and anger whirling in the air around him didn't stop. His pack still wanted to hurt him even though his whole world had tipped on its axis.

His whole fucking world.

They needed to shut up so he could think.

"Stop," he snarled.

Even though he hadn't shouted, the command rolled through everyone in the garage. The room quietened, but he still couldn't... What the hell was he supposed to do?

And then Layla finally looked down and saw what he was looking at. Her breath hitched, her emotions pummelling him at once. Fear. Anger. Guilt. Pain. He had never felt so much from her before.

"Look at what you've done," Dylan hissed as he and Micah started to push them all back. "You heard the Circle say she's pregnant, but you're still acting like assholes. Get the doctor."

No one moved.

"Get the fucking doctor!" Micah ordered.

The murmuring and movement started behind him again, but he tuned it out.

"Jax?"

Bleeding. Something was wrong with the baby. And Layla. They had both fallen into these overwhelming emotions he couldn't pull out of.

"Jax."

He turned to Dylan when he felt his hand on his shoulder again.

"Carry Layla to bed. The doctor is on his way," Dylan said softly. "I'll come up with him."

Yes. The doctor was trained for this. He would know what to do.

He picked Layla up and tried to focus on her face instead of what he suspected was happening to the baby. She hadn't stopped trembling since she had come out of the car, and now her face was pale. Her heartbeat drowned out the little one that he was desperately clinging to. And it wasn't just her heart; he heard his own beating just as loud.

He started to walk slowly so he wouldn't jolt her, just in case. The people set on killing them parted to give him way.

"Everyone get out. The packhouse is off-limits unless we have an emergency," Dylan said. "Zach, if you so desperately want to be an Alpha, you're more than welcome to leave the pack right now and start your own. Otherwise, shut the fuck up, stop stirring shit and wait for me at your house."

There was a pause, and he sensed them all watching him. There was a hint of pity in the air that he shut out when he felt it. He didn't need anyone's pity. The baby was fine.

"I understand how you feel, and I know you're all upset about what happened with the Circle, but everything will be as it should be once the baby is born. Layla hasn't done anything wrong here."

The words brought him comfort at first. Dylan sounded so sure that the baby would be okay. But what if it wasn't? What if he had fucked up too much in his life that he wouldn't even be allowed to hold his flesh and blood before he died?

The pain lanced through him and his steps faltered.

"Will the human leave?" someone asked.

"Yes."

The pain cut him in half. For Dylan to give that answer so easily...

But the tension in the room started decreasing. Maybe it was for the best. Revealing Layla was carrying the future heir would put her in more danger from outside packs and Zach and his followers, but he wanted to believe the rest of the pack were decent enough not to hurt her.

If they didn't lose the baby.

His heart squeezed in his chest, and his step faltered again as he approached the door to the basement.

"I will handle any fallout from what happened with the Circle," Dylan continued.

"And I'm imposing a curfew..."

He tuned Micah out when the Head Warrior started barking orders. He concentrated on his steps and Layla's face. And that faint heartbeat.

The house was still empty when he walked through it and started to go up the stairs.

"Am I still... Can you hear the baby?" Layla whispered.

He met her gaze. Her eyes had lost that spark that always drew him to her. This was his fault. Again. He'd put too much stress on her. He'd kept her in a fucking cell just because she'd broken his heart. He was a bastard and didn't deserve her.

"I can. It's strong," he lied.

Could she not hear it? Or, like him, all she could hear now was her heartbeat eclipsing anything else?

By the time he lay her down on his bed, he sensed the doctor and Dylan rushing up the stairs. He took Layla's hand and waited. It was only for seconds but that was the longest wait of his life. The doctor rushed in, placing his medical bag and equipment down before examining Layla. And then waiting for the verdict became the longest wait in his life. Doctor Richards used human methods as well as wolf methods, all the while speaking calmly to Layla.

The doctor had kept his mouth shut about Layla since he had done the blood test. To be fair to him, since he had started taking care of Layla when she got pregnant, he hadn't once shown his disgust with dealing with a half-blood.

Jackson didn't let go of Layla's hand. It felt like hours when the doctor finally took his gloves off and faced him.

"The baby's heartbeat is strong, and there's no placental abruption or any other detachment," the doctor said.

A weight lifted off his shoulders, and he let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. Cain stopped howling, and the noise around him quietened.

"The bleeding could have been due to changes in the cervix, hormones or even sex," the doctor continued. "She'll need to be on bed rest, and it's important to ensure she avoids stressful situations. I'll monitor her a few times daily just to confirm, but I don't think you should worry."

The baby was fine.

They were all fine.

All the strength left his body as the shock started to wear off. Life was so fragile. He could have lost everything just like that.

"I'll bring one of the bigger ultrasound machines from the hospital in a couple of hours, but for now, she just needs to rest."

He covered Layla and then got onto the bed beside her. Layla wrapped her arms around him straight away, drawing comfort from him as he did from her.

The moment the doctor left, Dylan rushed in. He stopped before he reached the bed and seemed hesitant to get any closer until Layla reached her hand out to him.

Dylan met his gaze as if seeking permission, which he granted. It was only when Dylan knelt beside the bed and took his mate's hand in his that he realised that at some point since Layla had saved his life, the two had become real friends. Dylan hadn't just been taking care of her out of a sense of duty.

Instead of angering him, his heart settled. Layla would still have someone to watch over her when he died.

"What did they do to you? You need to see the doctor," Layla said. "Both of you do."

"It's just a flesh wound," Dylan lied.

Silver poisoning hurt like fuck, but Dylan put Layla first. It confirmed that he was making the right choice even though they hadn't rebuilt their friendship. Now all he had to do was find a way to tell his Beta that his role in Layla's life would be more permanent.

He had nine months.