37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37

S he would have thought Jackson was dead if it weren't for the fact that she could still hear his heart beating.

Layla was shaking like a leaf as she got out of the car at the packhouse gates and watched the men who were carefully lifting Jackson out. Since the people who were not fit to fight had filled the packhouse grounds, they couldn't drive up to the house.

She felt like they were wasting time but knew there was nothing they would do for him anyway. The bite on his thigh looked worse than the last one and already looked infected. And after Jackson's revelation that it was because of dark magic, she knew this could go bad very quickly.

"Layla, stay back a little," Dylan whispered. "We'll drive through when they make way."

"No."

She knew why he was saying that. While only the guards had seen her at the gates, the whole town would know she had been involved in the fighting by just one look at her. But she couldn't bear to be separated from Jackson again.

She took his hand as the crowds parted and allowed them through. Dylan walked beside her as if he was ensuring they didn't do anything to her.

"At least give me the knives," Dylan muttered.

She looked down at her free hand and realised she was still tightly gripping the hilt of one while the other was back in the waistband of her ruined clothes. She handed both over to Dylan and then returned her focus to Jackson.

One breath.

Two.

One heartbeat.

Another.

He was still there even though he wasn't waking up. And he was still in pain.

"You can let go now, Layla. Just for a second."

She looked up at Dylan and realised they were already in the bedroom. She reluctantly released Jackson's hand, and the men put him down gently on their bed. The doctor appeared immediately and gave him a shot of something before he started to examine Jackson's broken leg.

"We need to set it so it heals properly," he said. "Miss Layla, please leave the room. I'll—"

Her heart hammered at the thought. The last time they forced her to leave him, she walked back into a scene from a horror movie.

"No."

She crawled up on the other side of Jackson as she had done the last time and held on to his arm.

"Miss Layla—"

"It's okay, doc," Dylan said.

Some equipment was pulled into the room, but she closed her eyes so she wouldn't see what they were doing. She didn't want to see anything that would cause Jackson pain. She focused on his breathing and his heartbeat. She imagined the life they could have had if it wasn't for the fact that he didn't want her. She imagined the two of them with their child.

Anything to stop herself from thinking about how close she had come to losing him.

When she finally opened her eyes again, the doctor had packed up his stuff and was leaving. Dylan whispered to him at the door before he shut it and turned back to her.

"You know you're going to get me killed one of these days, don't you?" he asked.

"I couldn't let him fight alone," she whispered.

"But now we can't argue that you don't know about us," Dylan said, shaking his head. "We would have got to him. You didn't need to run into danger like that, not in your condition. What am I supposed to tell Jackson when he wakes up?"

Had she exposed herself for nothing? She still couldn't understand how they had won this fight.

"What happened to them? Why did they all just change like that?"

Dylan sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

"Jackson told them to," he answered. "Now, you tell me one thing. How did you fight like that?"

She clamped her lips and snuggled closer to Jackson.

Dylan shook his head.

"You keep dodging my questions, but I'm on your side, Layla. I need to know these things, just in case anything happens."

In case something happened to Jackson? She didn't even want to think about that.

"Fine," Dylan said as he walked to the door. "The doctor said he should heal like last time. I have to go check on the other injured people."

She propped herself up onto her elbow at that news.

"They got in? Is anyone dead?"

"They got in at the back. We have several injured, but no casualties have been reported yet. I'll check on you later."

Several injured? She was still carrying the guilt from the last time; she couldn't handle any more. She put her head down on Jackson's chest and listened to his soothing heartbeat while her mind raced.

Despite Jackson's injury looking worse than last time, his heartbeat was stronger. Last time his blood healed him, but what would happen to the rest of the pack? Maybe she could take five minutes to put a face to all those who were injured and find out how hurt they were.

She reluctantly peeled herself away from Jackson and took a shower to wash the blood off. She brushed her teeth to get rid of the taste of blood and then dressed in jeans and a t-shirt before leaving the room.

Just five minutes. She could be away from Jackson that long.

Like before, she watched the injured being carried into the bedrooms in the packhouse and people tending to them. She saw their faces. Even though they looked like they were just sleeping, she caught the scent of death on all of them. There would be more mourning in the pack before the day was over.

Her heart ached as she walked into their rooms when they had been assessed and made comfortable. Like what he had done for Jackson, the doctor gave them a shot of something and said they could only wait.

This was her fault again. Someone didn't want her there and kept attacking the pack. Maybe it was time to leave, as Jackson had suggested. Not because it wasn't safe for her, but it wasn't safe for everyone else.

In the first room, she walked into, a man had been clawed across his face and had a bite on his arm. It was the bite that was killing him. She took his hand and silently apologised for being the cause of his pain. She hoped with everything in her that he would survive whatever was happening to him so they would lose anyone else.

She did the same in the next room and the next. Dylan had said there were no casualties, but she found it hard to believe those beasts had come just to infect and not kill them. Unless they just hadn't had enough time.

Was Jackson really that strong that he could command hundreds of beasts?

What would this do to Jackson when he woke up? He already carried guilt that wasn't his to bear.

When she left the last room, her eyes were red from crying. If she went away, these people could return to their peaceful lives. That was the only option now.

"Layla?"

She wiped her face before she turned at the sound of Diedre's voice.

"What happened? Is it Jackson?" she asked urgently.

"No, he's fine," she assured her quickly. "I just came to see if everyone was okay."

She smiled at Diedre before she headed back towards the stairs. She hadn't meant to be away from Jackson for that long, but it hadn't hurt to be away from him like last time.

‘Because his wolf is resting,' the voice in her head said. ‘He's okay.'

How did she even know that? How could she tell what was wrong with someone else?

But the voice didn't answer. Maybe that was for the best. There was too much to think of now without worrying about whether she could trust the voice in her head.

Once she reached the bedroom, she locked the door behind her, just in case. She hadn't been focusing on the pack, so she didn't know how they would react to the attack this time. She slipped back onto the bed beside Jackson and settled on his chest.

She listened to his heart beating. She listened to her own, beating in sync with his.

How the hell was she going to let go of this man? And would this be her child's life? Would her baby have to put their life at risk for everyone else?