45. Chapter 45

Chapter 45

He couldn't mean it.

Not after the time they had spent together.

It had been different. Jackson had been different. She had been so sure he reciprocated her feelings, so she'd been on cloud nine for two days. In her mind, she'd already seen herself making a life in the packhouse with him. Filling the house with his children and happy memories.

But those few words had brought her crashing down to earth quickly. She'd done her job? He no longer needed her?

She hadn't thought anything could ever hurt that much after all the shit she had gone through. But Jackson had shattered her heart, and she felt the pain through every part of her body.

How could words bring physical pain?

And then there was the added pain of being separated from Jackson. It was too much.

Only a few people were out of their tents when she walked out of the packhouse, so she walked past them quickly. She was in no state to talk to anyone. There was a lump stuck in her throat, and everything she was holding inside was about to burst out.

The sun hadn't yet risen and she was barefoot, but she didn't stop walking once she entered the woods. She was in too much pain to focus her senses so she could hear every sound, smell every scent, and see the tiniest detail. Feel every emotion.

It was crippling. She just needed to be away from it all.

The sounds of the camp finally died down and were replaced by the more peaceful sounds of the forest. But she still kept walking.

How could her heart still beat when she had been ripped apart inside? She could barely breathe.

She came across Jackson's favourite place, the smooth rock on which he had made love to her for hours before everything had gone wrong. Her heart tore up again. This was going to be her life after she left. She would remember every detail, and it would torment her for the rest of her life. She was sure it would. It was too strong to ever die down.

She walked past the rock and went deeper into the forest. It seemed darker the further she walked down the uneven trail, but her eyes adjusted to the darkness quickly as she walked.

And she carried on walking.

Jackson was taking her away. Jackson had had enough of her.

Her feet stopped moving. The tears she had been holding back started to pour down her cheeks. She fell to her knees and let out a loud sob and then another. And when she started wailing, she lay on the forest floor and let it soak up her tears of blood.

She didn't know how long she'd cried when her pain turned to anger.

Jackson had used her. He'd used her shamelessly, but she had let him. It was true that Jackson hadn't promised her forever; he'd always said he would let her go once the baby was born. If that was the case, why had he made love to her that way? Why had he made her feel she would always be safe in his arms? In the beginning, the sex had been great, but they had never crossed that boundary.

Did he still think she wasn't good enough?

Was she not enough for the high and mighty King of the werewolves?

Was he waiting for a more suitable woman to raise the baby with?

She sucked in a breath and sat up with a jolt. Why hadn't she thought of that before? Was there already someone lined up to take her place?

"You will take my baby over my dead body, Jackson King," she growled.

She placed her hand protectively over her stomach. What had she been thinking all this time? She could never abandon her child, no matter what hardships she would encounter along the way. If Jackson wanted an heir that bad, he could make another one.

"A king who can't even protect his pack," she muttered. "Why should I trust you with my flesh and blood? I'll leave, Jackson, and you'll never see me again."

"You can't."

She almost jumped out of her skin at the sound of that familiar voice. She rose to her feet and looked in the direction it had come from. And there stood Rebecca, naked as the day she had been born, actually speaking to her as if she had the right.

Her anger transferred from Jackson to Rebecca with ease, maybe because it was easier to fight with someone she was not attached to.

"Did you follow me?" she growled.

How long had that woman stood there and watched her fall apart?

"It's dangerous out here. You should go back," Rebecca said.

Standing face to face with her mother like that, she could see why her father had preferred Britney. It was like looking in the mirror. Did Wolves stop ageing after a while? Because Rebecca didn't look a day over thirty.

"I'll go back when I'm ready," she growled again.

"Why does Jackson want to take your baby?"

Her anger turned to rage. Just hearing her mother's voice brought up all the emotions she'd had to deal with when her mother had disappeared. It didn't matter to her that Hunters had come so she'd had to leave them out of necessity. What mattered was that in all those years when she had come to her as a wolf and spoken to her, she hadn't once come out and explained herself. She'd let her go through life feeling lonely and like a freak when just a few words would have saved her a lot of heartbreak.

"I don't know what you and Jackson have been discussing but I don't want anything from you," she growled. "You were dead to me the moment you left us."

Rebecca looked away and blinked away some tears.

"I know. And I understand. I just wanted to make sure you settled into your new life and you are safe before—"

"I don't care what you want, Rebecca. I'll figure things out on my own, just as I always have."

"Okay, fair enough," Rebecca said with a nod. "But there are people out there who want you dead, and I'd rather you stay close to the packhouse until Jackson returns."

"It doesn't matter. Once I leave, I'll be of no use to them."

Rebecca stilled, and then her eyes glowed. They looked identical to hers when she'd seen them in the hotel elevator.

"I said you can't leave. You're safest here."

"And I said you can't tell me what to do."

She turned away from Rebecca and started walking back the way she had come. She would leave. It was what Jackson wanted, and now she would make sure it happened so she never saw that man again. Being with him but not with him hurt too much.

"I never meant to leave for good," Rebecca said behind her. "I thought I would come back in a few days and lie that I'd had a family emergency. But the Hunters will always be after me, and I didn't want this life for you. I live in the shadows. I move with the wind. I can't put my roots down anywhere because the Hunters will cut them off."

She felt a pang at those words. That was the life she was destined for because she would have to make sure Jackson never found her.

"You and Brit are still the greatest accomplishments of my life, and I will protect you while I still can," Rebeccah added. "Even if you leave him."

"Gee. Thanks," she said sarcastically.

"I know that won't make up for what I did. But it's all I have to offer, Layla. And I'll offer the same to Britney when she starts to go through it."

She froze. ‘When' Brit went through it? Jackson said there was no way to tell, that she would have to watch Brit and see what happened.

She turned back around to the woman who had given birth to them.

"What do you mean? Brit has been okay. She doesn't see or hear things. She's a normal girl."

"She's my child. She'll be a wolf even though your father is human. Red wolves can never be half-bloods, just as Jackson's child would never have been half-human."

"She's almost eighteen. I've been speaking to her; she's fine."

"And I've been watching her," Rebecca said. "She's not fine. You need Jackson. But if you are set on leaving, I'll be with you. Just call my name."

‘Or mind link me.'

That last part was said in her head, the way she used to do it as a wolf. Layla stepped back and shook her head. This was too much for one day.

‘You'll be a good mum,' Rebecca said again in her head. ‘You won't make the same mistakes that I did.'

She turned and started to walk back to the packhouse. Somehow her senses had focused despite the shock of seeing her mother. And the pain had become a dull ache. But the closer she got to the house, the louder everything became again. And the more her heart hurt.

Sunlight started to break through the canopy of the trees, and the smell of breakfast wafted to her nose. She kept her head down as she came out of the woods.

"There she is. She's safe," someone called out.

"Miss Layla! Are you okay?"

She ignored all of them. Maybe they could see the tracks of her tears or feel her pain because they didn't call out to her again. It was probably for the best, anyway. They had made her feel welcome the other day, making her feel like she belonged.

But it was time to pack so she could leave them all. They would never see her again. And they would never see the baby.