4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

J ackson realised his mistake the moment he reconnected with his pack after letting Cain roam and lick his wounds. So many bonds had been severed as his pack was slaughtered, and he'd felt them all at once. The pain had been crippling.

All of that had happened because he had allowed the bond with Layla to get the better of him. He'd let her break him. He'd allowed her to trample on his heart and play him for a fool, and his pack had paid the price.

He would never trust the half-blood again.

How could she stand there looking as if nothing had happened? How could she still have that look in her eyes as if she was happy to see him? How could she still... feel all of that? She'd tried to leave! The bond obviously didn't affect them the same way.

He looked over her head to meet Dylan's gaze. His former friend lowered his eyes.

"Lock her up in the basement," he said.

The cells in the basement were nothing like the dungeon in the woods. They had the basics and that was it. Nothing luxurious about them. She wouldn't live like a queen and take him for a fool under his roof again.

"Jax?" Dylan questioned.

His confusion coloured the air while Zach smiled gleefully. Maybe the old advisor assumed he was finally listening to the shit he had to say. This had nothing to do with them, but he was taking responsibility for his actions.

"Three meals a day and some water. No visitors."

He turned away after that instruction without looking at Layla again. His pack had to come first, as it should have before. If he had done that instead of giving in, Cain wouldn't have been such an emotional wreck in his head, howling in pain because their world had caved in.

"We haven't used those rooms in years. I don't know if they're clean—"

"I'm sure Layla will do well in all the filth," he growled as he walked away from them.

Guilt started trickling into his head before he walked out of the door but he shoved it away. Layla had brought this on herself. She would be his prisoner until the time came for her to leave. Until the baby in her stomach was placed in his arms.

The guilt trickled through again. She was carrying his child. The basement was no place for a pregnant woman. But he didn't want her too close to him when he was still feeling vulnerable. The bond was still as strong as ever despite what she had done to him, and if he heard her cry or beg... If he spent too long with her scent wrapped around him, he would give in.

Or he would be the one to go crawling back to her because Layla seemed to have taken his pride along with his heart.

He stopped at the top step and looked around at his people. The grounds had enough space to hold everyone in emergencies, but he could see how many were missing. He could feel it.

"Alpha."

He looked at Micah as he approached. His Head Warrior had his arm and shoulder strapped and had some bruises on his tired face. Micah was one of the strongest in the pack. No one from the Red Moon Pack should have been able to even touch him.

"Is your wife alright?" he asked.

"She had been visiting Cassie when the attack happened," Micah nodded. "She's safe."

Micah winced as he started to come up the stairs.

"Don't strain yourself," he said as he walked down to meet him instead. "You should be resting and healing."

"There will be enough time for that when things are settled. The Red Moon pack is still in the forest," Micah said. "We lost many of our men. I have to stay alert. Gamma Jon didn't make it, despite Diedre's best efforts."

He hadn't liked the guy but he'd never wished him dead. Everything was his fault. He'd known something wasn't right when the Red Moon pack numbers kept increasing, and instead of meeting with Chase to find out what the issue with his wards was, he had run after Layla.

"The Circle's wards failed completely. I have no idea why. We were attacked from all directions, and most residents were not ready. Their guards were down as they prepared for the run."

The first day of the full moon was always set aside for the pack runs. The call of the moon was always stronger, and it helped them bond as a pack. Diedre had once told him that spells cast on the first moon were always more potent, too. Maybe the attack hadn't been a coincidence.

"I'm going to fix it," he stated. "Go and rest, Micah."

"There are too many of them to fight, Alpha. Let me—"

"I can sense all the pain you're trying to hide. Go and heal, Micah. I can't lose you, too."

He walked down the driveway and tried to ignore the pain and despair around him. He tried to ignore the blame they threw at him even though they had every right to feel that way. He couldn't even look at them. Even if he had two lifetimes, he would never be able to make up for letting them down.

Maybe it was a good thing he was dying, after all. He'd fucked up.

There was only one thing he could do now.

He pulled his t-shirt off as he approached the gate. As he was about to push his sweats down, he saw a little boy holding a sleeping baby as he sat with his back against the guardhouse. The boy had dried tear tracks on his face, and so much sadness was coming from him that he had to stop.

When he approached the boy, he tensed and lowered his head. The boy wouldn't have his wolf until he was around eighteen, and he never forced children to submit to him. The boy looked too serious for his age. Was this his fault, too? How many children had to grow up in the blink of an eye because they'd lost their parents last night?

"What's your name?" he asked gently as he lowered to his haunches.

"Max," the boy whispered.

"And who's this little bundle?"

"Jade. My sister," Max whispered again.

Was this all he had left of his family?

"Have you eaten yet?" He didn't want to ask if he'd been left all alone with his sister. His heart was in enough pieces as it was.

"I can't eat yet. I'll eat when mum comes to get us."

He was about to mindlink Micah when he remembered he had told him to rest. With a sigh, he mindlinked Dylan instead. He still didn't know how to deal with Dylan's betrayal but he had to do what was best for his pack.

‘There's a boy by the guardhouse holding a baby. Take them to my room and make sure they are taken care of. They can sleep there tonight. Find out who his mother is.'

He ruffled the boy's hair as he stood up.

"Beta Dylan is coming to take you to the packhouse. You're too close to the gate here," he said.

He walked away before he started thinking too much. Before he started feeling too much. The pain had crippled him long enough.

The gates opened as he shucked his sweats and shifted instantly. Cain's emotions pummelled down on him the second he gave the beast control. It wasn't just the pain; it was the rage. Cain acted like a dick most of the time and liked to rip apart people who pissed him off. Until Layla came along, that had never included his pack. The pack had always been his top priority even if they feared him. And he was a possessive fucker—no one was allowed to mess with what was his.

With Cain's stronger senses, he located where the Red Moon pack was. They had split into groups and were far enough away that his pack wouldn't have sensed their location clearly. But he could.

With the red haze of his fury over his vision, he headed towards the first group. When he was a boy, he realised how terrified people were of him because of the extra abilities he had started manifesting as his beast grew. So he had stopped talking about them so his pack would be more comfortable with him. He had stopped talking about it out of fear that the Circle would devise a way to get rid of him.

But he didn't give a shit about any of that now as he blended into the shadows like a ghost. The forest was his domain, and these fuckers had the nerve to hide in it and assume they were safe. Despite his size, they didn't hear him approach until it was too late. Until he'd already started ripping them apart and crushing them. One group after another.

And when they started to run, the chase made Cain more vicious. Like the night he had been cursed, he didn't give a shit if they begged. He didn't give a shit how old they were. He didn't give a shit if they screamed. He wanted all their blood.

When the last wolf standing realised what had happened, he shifted to his human form.

"Please," he begged.

Kendrick's Beta. The new Alpha who had been there when he had killed Kendrick as a warning to everyone else.

"I was given no choice," the man stammered. "She told me she would help me. She said we have to avenge Alpha Kendrick."

So he'd been right. The witch again. She was still meddling and trying to make his life hell.

He shifted and grabbed the useless Alpha by the throat. He didn't even know his name.

"The witch. She's been giving us charms and increasing our pack numbers with rogues. We were made stronger and were supposed to be invincible. She said if I didn't do it, she would kill me and find someone else who could," the man hissed.

"Where is she?"

"She said you obliterated her pack; she's the only one left. I assumed that's where she still lives. Please, Your Highness. Let me live."

He let the man go and shifted. How could he beg for mercy after what he had done? He let Cain do as he wanted to him, and then when the forest was finally still, he walked back to his gates with the blood of his enemies dripping down his mouth and fur. There was no sense of victory, only guilt.

No one in his pack would have died if he had been home. He'd failed them.