65. Chapter 65

Chapter 65

J ackson lathered Layla's hair for what felt like the millionth time.

Layla said she could still smell blood in it but he knew that was psychological. All the blood and filth had run down the drain a long time ago. The whole room had steamed up, he could hardly see her, but he didn't need to. Layla was full of guilt and a lot of pain. Everything he was feeling.

"I know I was very angry with you for going off by yourself, but that was because I was terrified," he admitted. "I'm sorry. I've calmed down now; I know no one else could have done what we did. It worked out."

Layla's fears were valid. Hunters enjoyed the chase almost as much as killing their prey. He and Cain were still alert, tracking movements in and around the hotel because he didn't trust those fuckers. It wasn't over; he could feel it. But Hunters were patient. If what Layla said was true, they could strike that night, or it could take them months.

"But for how long?" Layla sighed. "He's coming back. He might even figure it out while he's still here and kick the door down."

And yet that fact didn't make her try to escape from the hotel. She seemed resigned to it as if she was prepared for the Hunters to take her if it came to that. She knew they couldn't leave the hotel until the Hunters were gone without him telling her. If they were in any way suspicious of them, they would be watching them. And if they tried to leave, those hounds would follow their scents back to the others.

If the Hunters left in the morning like they'd said they would, they still needed to be careful. He'd fired many people but didn't know if they had found new sources in the hotel. He'd only kept the young lady who'd snitched about Costas, but she had so far proved useless. She hadn't once mentioned Miss Roberts and Amber's meetings.

"They went all over the woods and didn't find our territories. I think Amber did that intentionally so she could still try to find a pack afterwards. They didn't find your mother, and you know she's in there," he pointed out. "We'll go home in the morning and figure things out."

"I can't do that. They already think I led the Hunters here in the first place. Everyone was terrified; I can't do that to them again."

"Well, if he figures it out, he'll be back in Wolfsdale anyway. He'll come hunting again. Wouldn't it be better if you were more prepared?"

Layla turned around to face him.

"How does anyone prepare for that?" she asked.

"If you come home with me, you can start training with the others."

Home. He liked that. Even if it was only going to be for a few months. He'd been so sure they would die several times in the past few days that he didn't want to waste time on bullshit anymore. Layla was right to be worried. The threat of the Hunters would hang over her head for the rest of her life, but there were other threats to her life now. He'd claimed her as his Luna. As their Queen. Even without his mark, all of his enemies had become hers.

But he didn't want to think of that when he'd just looked death in the eye and was still breathing.

He gently massaged her scalp and tried not to let his gaze go lower. Layla was in the middle of an emotional crisis; it was his job to soothe her.

"I can teach you the things I couldn't show you before because you don't have to hide anymore. They know you're their Luna. No matter what happens now, they have to respect that."

"I don't see how accepting me as your girlfriend changes anything," Layla said.

His hand stilled in her hair, and he met her gaze. She didn't know.

He hadn't thought of that. He'd told her she was his mate before, and that had flown over her head. A part of him was relieved because he didn't want to put that pressure on her when she would be left alone in the end. But another part, a considerable part, wanted her to know who she belonged to. Who he belonged to. Completely, with no reservation.

"It changes everything, Layla," he said gruffly as he closed the space between them.

He tipped her head back under the shower spray and started to rinse the shampoo out, hopefully for the last time.

"Well, you're their king, and people don't seem to give a shit about that. They still attack you."

He chuckled at her accurate assessment.

"Well, that's true. But trust me on this one. I think they like you more than they like me, anyway," he said with a smile.

It felt odd to smile, especially in a building swarming with Hunters. The Circle was going to lose their shit over this and probably make their decision about his punishment for killing one of them. They were probably considering wiping all the packs out to protect all their kind.

But that, again, was a problem for another day. They had to get out of the hotel alive first.

He looked down at Layla, and the smile slowly left his lips. Their bodies were touching. It had been months since he'd been with her, but now her naked body pressed against his.

Her emerald eyes flashed as if she had just realised that, too.

"How long does it take wolves to heal after childbirth?" she whispered. "You know what, it doesn't matter. This could be our last night together. Make love to me, Jackson."

The words broke down the walls holding back everything he had been trying to spare her from. Sex and war came hand in hand for wolves, especially for Cain. They hadn't killed any Hunters, but surviving them was close enough.

His eyes hooded over as he became drunk on the lust that flooded his body. He stiffened, his erection pushing against Layla's stomach in seconds.

"You've already healed," he whispered as his gaze landed on her lips.

Her wolf was phenomenal, and once he started openly training her, his pack would know it, too. Diedre would start begging him to mark her again. But coming out was for the best. Layla would have to rely on her wolf's strength to survive being hunted, and if he exiled all the traitors, maybe the remaining pack members would accept her.

A big maybe.

Layla put her arms around him and went on her toes to bring her lips just a breath away from his.

"I won't be gentle, Layla."

Layla's eyes started to glow at his warning, and her body trembled in reaction. And then she was the one who closed the small distance between their lips. She was the one who demanded entry with her tongue and then started to take what she wanted.

There were no masks anymore. Nothing was hidden. Her love, his love. Her wolf, his wolf. The lust. The bond pulled tighter and tighter now that he had fully accepted it. He knew she could feel it all, even the dark parts of him that he kept hidden.

In seconds he slammed her hard against the shower wall and hooked her legs around his waist. Another second, and he was deep into her heat, ramming hard into her as his teeth scraped her neck.

Minutes later, her muscles were squeezing him, milking him, as he roared out her name.

He didn't pull out as he carried her out of the shower but didn't make it to the bed. His head was swimming as he lay her on the carpet and thrust deep into her again.

"Yes," Layla moaned.

Her nails dug into his back. No, not nails. Claws. He had been clawed enough times in his life to know the difference. He hooked her leg over his shoulder and didn't hold anything back. It was different again. Every time he got close to the point of no return, something changed. And yet he continued to drill into her as if his life depended on it, giving Layla everything she begged for.

"Mine," he growled as his balls tightened, and he started to spill his seed again.

And still, he didn't pull out. He crashed his mouth against hers as Layla rode out the wave, swallowing her cries as he moved them again. They made it to the floor next to the bed before the need overwhelmed him again. And again. And again.

By the time he called out her name when they were on the bed, he had fucked her on every inch of the room.

But he knew that would never be enough. Not until he marked her. Not until he sunk his teeth in her neck and completed the bond.

Layla grabbed his hair and pushed his mouth back against her neck as the tremors rocked her body.

"Bite me. Please bite me."

But for the millionth time, Cain didn't rise to the bait because they could still sense the Hunters around them. And because he could feel that she was theirs even without the mark.

He sucked on the spot, setting Layla off again. When she threw her head back and arched her back, her eyes were still glowing. And her claws were still out. It was only when she passed out from exhaustion that they retracted. He didn't think she'd even noticed that she had partially shifted.

He didn't mean to close his eyes, but as all the worry for his mate swam around his head, he drifted off to sleep with her in his arms.

The sun was shining into the bedroom when he opened his eyes.

And the Hunters were gone.

He left Layla to sleep so he could double-check it. The security cameras showed them piling into their vehicles before dawn and driving off. He sensed only humans in the hotel. But every employee he walked past became a suspect. Which one of them had been lured by the promise of money? Which one of them would be the one to feed them the information that would bring them right back?

Another culling was in order.

When he returned to the room, Layla was already showered and dressed, and she was peeking out of the window. Her anxiety was back with a vengeance.

"They're gone," she said.

But for how long? He didn't bring it up again. All he could do now was train Layla hard so she could defend herself when they came back.

"Let's go and get our little girl."

They changed cars several times, and he stayed alert as they drove out of the city. Miss Roberts had somehow tracked him to his hideout, so he wasn't taking any chances again. They ditched the car in a busy parking lot and then started the hike into the woods only when he was satisfied the Hunters had not followed.

It took them hours to get close enough to the pack to mindlink Dylan.

When they finally met them where they had set up camp, all the packs rose to their feet. And they bowed. They bowed to the Queen who had led the Hunters away without thinking about her own life.

He just hoped they would be just as accepting when they realised she was a red wolf.