56. Chapter 56

Chapter 56

L ayla had just managed to get off the bed when the bedroom door was shoved open.

She felt the hatred first before Zach walked into the room with a smile on his face. It was the same intense hatred she'd felt the day she'd spent with the pick outside. It had been this group of people all along.

"Congratulations, human. I hope you've said your goodbyes," the older man sneered.

She backed away from the bed as people started piling into the room. The man who'd attacked Jackson with a chain was among them, and he smiled as if they were there for a friendly visit.

These were the people Jackson had left her for. His pack. He'd been right that they wouldn't accept her, but couldn't they have waited until their Alpha was at least cold in the ground?

The reminder that Jackson was dead cleaved in half again. But the sounds of the fretting baby in the next room kept her from crumbling to the floor. Who would protect that helpless girl if both of them were dead? She wouldn't survive in the pack alone.

"What do you want?" she asked.

Her voice was shaky because she knew this was ‘do or die', but she didn't know if she could fight her way out of this like she had fought when they had been attacked. She'd felt dead inside from the moment she'd stopped sensing Jackson, and even her wolf side had been in bits.

Never mind that she'd just had a baby and didn't feel strong enough.

"What do you think we want?"

The sound of that voice had her turning to the open door with wide eyes. Amber strolled in as if she owned the place, and the group parted for her like she was a part of them.

She sucked in a breath when she looked at the smile on the brunette's face. Her sickly scent filled the room, unlike the day before. She was real this time.

So what the hell had happened before? What kind of magic was that? Jackson had been right; she knew nothing about their world. How had she had a conversation with someone who hadn't even been there?

"I did warn you," Amber laughed when she stopped next to Zach, and then she put her arm around the older man and kissed his cheek. "I told you I would be the Luna."

It all made sense after that.

The social climber had latched on to the man she thought would be the Alpha. They were already replacing Jackson before they knew if he was gone.

"Was this your plan all along?" she whispered. "Get rid of Jackson so you can what? Share this old man's bed?"

Amber laughed again and released Zach to take a few steps closer to her.

"Your little human mind will never understand our world," she said. "Only the strongest survive."

The strongest?

She looked at Zach and remembered how he had hidden behind other people in the pack when they had attacked them in the garage. He was doing the same now. Jackson never hid behind anyone. He ran head-first into danger just to protect them. How could these people prefer the older man over Jackson?

"No, I will never understand," she agreed. "How do you intend to keep your power?"

There were hundreds of strong warriors in Jackson's pack. They could probably rip both Amber and Zach apart without trying. No one would agree to this other than the few they had come with. What made these two so sure that they would survive?

Were they going to use magic again? Amber had made everyone run around in circles; who knew what else she could do. That had to be what they were relying on because they were not the strongest of the pack.

"Being a leader isn't about brute strength. Jackson was just a mere boy who still had so much to learn. But that doesn't concern you. I'm fixing everything wrong in my pack, and you're first," Zach growled, gesturing to the men behind him.

The one who had attacked Jackson with a chain came forward with another man and grabbed her arms. Their fingers bit into her and made her wince as they shoved her down and made her land hard on her knees.

"Everyone was choosing to look the other way," Zach continued as he walked across the room with his arms behind his back.

He looked at a painting on the wall and then moved on to the next one, and it was clear he was relishing the fact that he had everyone's attention.

"You're not an idiot; I'm sure you knew about us from the beginning. You didn't bat an eyelid when you joined the fights. Did you think you could walk away after that?" Zach said, turning to face her again. "The knowledge you have is dangerous to all of us. You've thought yourself equal to us when you're nothing but an inferior human. You've made fools out of our leaders and created chaos. Who are you to think you can escape the rules that bind everyone else?"

Zach walked towards her until he stopped a foot away.

"You're nothing, and the stupid man who fought for you is dead. Who will save you now, human?"

Zach lifted his arm and struck her across the face with enough force to send her across the room. She saw stars, and her eyes stung with unshed tears. The pain was excruciating. When she put her palm to her cheek, she felt the wetness and smelt the metallic scent of her blood. Zach wasn't as weak as he looked. Perhaps as an older wolf, he was stronger.

Amber laughed and came forward.

"Honey, please let me have my fun, too. You promised."

Zach smiled at her as if he was indulging a child.

"Of course, darling."

When she'd fought Amber, her wolf side had taken over. She remembered nothing but the blood she'd had on her hands. As the brunette approached, she saw the twinkle in her eyes that told her Amber was determined to get her revenge.

"I don't know what's so special about you anyway," Amber said as she grabbed a handful of her hair and pulled her to her knees. "You're weak. You reek of human. You're shameless."

Amber punctuated her sentences with slaps that felt stronger than before. The magic could have somehow enhanced Amber, but Layla knew her inability to fight back was more than that. She was broken. A large part of her was missing, and it had somehow weakened her. Her wolf wasn't going to come to her aid.

She looked at the people who had walked in with Zach and Amber. Unlike the beefy guys who'd pushed her down, she sensed their hesitation and felt a little hope. They didn't seem as enthusiastic. As she wiped the blood off her face and spat it out of her mouth, she sensed their unease. Maybe they would step in to help her.

The baby started to whimper again, and something shifted inside her as she pushed to her knees again. She knew it was the wolf. Hope had been the only thing the wolf had responded to since Jackson had gone.

‘Do something,' she begged as she looked up at the woman who had started to advance on her again. ‘Hope needs us.'

In any other situation, she would have started fighting back already, even before knowing anything about werewolves. She would never have taken this shit lying down. What was wrong with her? She had a baby to protect, and she was failing even at that.

Amber stopped and gave her a cruel smile.

"Maybe we should meet the future Queen," she told Zach. "Why keep someone you know you won't be able to control?"

Cold seeped through her body at those words.

"I have plans for her. Don't touch her," Zach answered.

And then white-hot fury replaced it. She turned to look at the man, and her fists clenched. A slight haze formed over her vision before it became crystal clear. So clear she could see the way Zach's Adam's apple bobbed when he met her gaze. She could hear the skipped heartbeats as he took a step back. Smell the fear. So much fear.

She knew her eyes were glowing without having to look in a mirror. Every part of her came to life as she rose and faced the man ‘who had plans' for her daughter.

"What are you waiting for? Get her!"

Amber swung at her, but some sixth sense saw it coming. She grabbed the fist aimed at her head and turned to look at the brunette. And the fear in the room multiplied.

She was ready to end all the threats to Hope's life when she felt it.

The anxiety. The rage.

And she heard the huge paws thundering on the ground as he got closer, moving faster than anything she had ever known. It felt like magic, and yet she knew it wasn't. It was Jackson, proving he was the menace he'd said he was, the one they were all supposed to fear and not fuck with.

Relief flooded her body, and she loosened her hold on Amber.

He was alive. The man she loved had not been taken from her.

The mood in the room shifted when they finally sensed the danger approaching. Zach tensed and then moved behind his beefy men.

"Impossible," he whispered.

Jackson was at the front door before any of them could run.

Except for Amber. The brunette gasped and then rushed to the window. She jumped the exact moment Jackson appeared in the doorway—red-eyed, naked, filthy, and larger than life.

He appeared to move faster than lightning and grabbed Zach by the throat. The older man didn't have a chance to say anything before his throat was ripped out, and he was flung to the floor. The two beefy guys joined him seconds later, their blood gushing freely from their throats as it mixed with Zach's.

And then Jackson turned to the onlookers at the door.

She had sensed their unease and regret even before Jackson had turned up, but those filled the room now, along with their terror.

"No!" she said, stepping into Jackson's way before he reached them.

Jackson looked down at her and then at the people behind her.

"They are not part of this. You've done enough," she whispered.

His eyes flashed and then returned to their usual ice blue. His hand shook as he lifted it to her face and gently palmed her bruised face.

Her tears started to fall freely. Jackson. Her prayers had been answered. She couldn't live without this man. She wouldn't. She would not let him cast her aside when he had just proved he was the air she breathed. Somehow, she would make him love her, too.