6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

D awn was breaking when the soft cry of a baby drifted to the balcony, thankfully taking Jackson's attention away from everything in his head.

But the reality wasn't much better. Every time that the baby cried reminded him of what he had lost, what he wouldn't get to enjoy because he'd fucked up and Fate was punishing him.

He looked over at the tents on the ground below him and felt the guilt again. Though the number of those they had lost was less than he had first imagined, it was still one too many. He didn't want them to return to their homes because they would be unprotected, so he had to deal with the witch first. And the Circle.

The Circle had a lot to answer for. He shouldn't have trusted them. Their wards had been breached initially, but they had still been somewhat intact. They shouldn't have fallen entirely the way they had done. Having them had made his pack more relaxed after their troubles and had made them vulnerable. After he found the witch, he would find those three Circle members and deal with them, too.

The soft wail increased in volume as the little girl demanded attention. There didn't seem to be anyone waking up to deal with her. With a tired sigh, he stood from the chair he had sat in all night and stretched his stiff muscles before he walked into his bedroom.

Two children had become ten by the time Dylan and Micah had gone around the grounds looking for unsupervised pups. Six of them were sprawled on his bed, and the rest on his sofas. Another group had been placed in Layla's old room. Some children were waiting for their parents or guardians to recover, but a couple had become orphans.

His heart hurt when he looked at his bed and saw the two little boys huddled together for comfort. Cain howled in his head for them. The beast had been doing nothing but crying for weeks, and now they were both raw.

He walked over to the small cot that had been placed next to the bed because the little boy, Max, was too anxious to be separated from his sister. An Omega was fast asleep on a recliner next to it, assigned to watch over the children. But they had all been rushed off their feet, looking after everyone after the attack. He couldn't fault her for not waking up for the baby.

"Shh," he whispered as he picked the little girl up. "I've got you. I'm here."

The baby was only three months old. She stopped crying instantly and looked up at his face. Her cheeks were rosy and chubby, and her big blue eyes looked at him hopefully as if he was supposed to know what to do.

He remembered the day he had news of the new addition to his pack, and he'd felt jealous that it seemed so easy for everyone else. It had taken him months of trying before he realised his only hope would be to find his mate. Everyone else could father children with whoever they wanted, but he'd been stuck with the most unsuitable woman. If not for the damned curse, he would have had several heirs running around his territory by now. He would never have had to look for the woman who'd ended up destroying him.

"Are you hungry?" he whispered. "Do you need to change?"

His nose had already picked up that she did. That was not a job he wanted to do.

The baby's face changed as if she now understood that her rescuer was probably the most useless wolf in the pack when it came to such delicate tasks. He was an only child, and from the moment he could walk, his father had started training him for his role. He had only seen babies from a distance.

The baby opened her mouth and started crying again. He put her against his shoulder and started rubbing her back the way he had seen some mothers do. It calmed her a little, but he knew it would be temporary until he did what the baby wanted.

A trolley had been set up along one wall with baby accessories, so he walked over to it and laid the baby on the changing mat. He knew absolutely nothing but he had to at least try. It was his fault that such a young pup didn't have her mother to comfort her.

By the time he had found out how to get her clothes off and undone her nappy, the girl was screaming and kicking her legs. The smell made his eyes water. Goddess! What the fuck did babies eat? A look back at the Omega showed she was still passed out, so no help was coming. It took too long to get her cleaned up and just as long to figure out how to put the nappy back on her.

When he picked her back up and took her with him to the bathroom to wash his hands, her little face was redder, and her lungs were working harder. How was anyone else not waking up for this?

When he left the bathroom, he found Max sitting in bed and looking at them. There was more sadness hanging over him than when he had found him.

"She's hungry," Max stated.

A quick look at the table next to the Omega showed a couple of bottles already made in the warmer. He reached for one quickly and then sat down next to Max.

"Do I just give it to her?"

Max looked at him with a frown as if he also expected the grown-up to know what to do. Max reached over and picked up a cloth from the nightstand, which he put under the baby's chin.

"If you don't use this, you'll have to change her clothes. She's been spitting it out because she prefers mummy's milk," Max said before he took the bottle from him and opened it.

And then, instead of taking the baby, he handed the bottle back. Right. He was the grown-up. It was his job to take care of them. When he finally put the teat into the baby's mouth, she quietened down and started sucking, but Max was right. Though she was hungry, she seemed frustrated because she wasn't used to the bottle. It took her a while until she eventually calmed and started swallowing more than she was spitting.

"You said her name is Jade?" he whispered.

Max nodded. He didn't look like he'd slept more than a few minutes.

"I'm sorry about what happened, Max," he whispered. "I know this is hard on you, but we must believe we're over the worst. Get some sleep so you don't worry your mother when you see her."

The boy didn't respond for a while, and then he nodded and lay down. Jade's eyes were also drooping as she drank her milk. She was so small in his arms, so delicate, that he was struck with fear for a moment. He was alone with her now; what if he accidentally hurt her? But the longer he stared at her little face, the more his heart ached for what could have been.

Was he going to have a girl, too? Would she be this small? Would they look after her the way they were supposed to?

Why did he have to die when his desires were within his reach?

Why did Layla betray him and ruin what could have been a good last few months of his life? He knew it was unfair to blame her for not feeling how he felt, but he couldn't help himself. Her wolf had claimed him—she shouldn't have tried to leave.

With that thought, he set the sleeping baby back in her cot and quietly made his way out of the room. The house was still quiet, a contrast to how it had been in the aftermath of the attack. He didn't stop to check on anyone as he made his way down the stairs and then towards the basement. He hadn't had any rest from Layla's scent as he had hoped, even though he'd spent the night on the balcony. But it was stronger downstairs, and it fueled his anger.

He never made decisions based on his emotions. He was always the level-headed one, while Cain was the emotional one. But waves of agony hit him as he walked down the stairs, and all he wanted to do was make Layla feel it too. It was immature but he didn't give a shit.

When he finally opened her door, Layla stood in the middle of the room, waiting for him. She was breathing hard, and her eyes were full of pain and regret. Regret that he had caught her, probably. Regret that now she had no chance of escaping.

The bond flared between them, and all her emotions hit him, mixing with his own. It pissed him off. Why would he still feel everything so deeply when he didn't want anything to do with her? When he hated her for making him so weak?

When she had taken all the dreams he had started to have and shoved them all down his throat?

He meant to tell her exactly what he thought of her, but that wasn't what came out of his mouth.

"Why did you do this to me, Layla?"

His voice was broken and sounded pitiful even to his ears. He couldn't hide his pain even though he was desperate not to show it.

Layla took a step forward but he quickly stepped back. Her pity was unwelcome. When she had been in his bed and taken care of him, he assumed they were over the worst. He'd thought they were at least friends.

But Layla Carlisle was untrustworthy. He would never make the mistake of getting too close to her again.