7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

L ayla felt Jackson coming before she heard the first metal door opening. Her heart started to pound. The voice in her head that had kept her up all night grew louder.

‘Kiss him!'

‘Beg!'

‘You need him—''

"Enough," she hissed.

It had never been this bad before. Why would this happen now when she needed to think clearly around Jackson? She'd assumed he would let her stew in her uncertainty a little longer before he spoke to her again.

She got off the uncomfortable cot when his footsteps drew nearer. She took a deep breath and the scent of the forest filled her lungs. She had always assumed it was his cologne, but now that she knew being around wolves was changing her, she knew it was his natural scent. They all smelled differently, so it was easy for her to believe that Jackson would have found her easily if she had escaped.

The light came on and blinded her briefly. Anticipation filled her body at the thought of seeing Jackson again, and that was still a ridiculous thing to want. She should have been scared because Jackson wasn't a man to be messed with. He'd told her she would be fine as long as she stuck to their deal, so she knew he wasn't there for a friendly visit.

But her heart and her body didn't listen to her when the door opened and Jackson stepped in.

The small room felt even smaller with his huge frame filling it up, but his size didn't intimidate her. It was the confusing feelings she felt when she saw his tired face and messy hair, and his icy-blue eyes that flickered red with his rage. The anger made her want to run away from him, but something else pulled her towards him. Something that made her want to hold him and tell him everything would be okay.

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

His voice squeezed her heart. He looked completely vulnerable at that moment, as if her trying to leave was the gravest sin she could commit. She stepped forward but stopped herself when the ice returned in his eyes, and he stepped back.

How was she supposed to even answer that? He was a confident, strong man, a werewolf that everyone else feared. Why would he know about fear? About feeling himself spin out of control and lose his mind? She hadn't been in control when she'd attacked Amber until her knuckles bled, and then watching her skin knit up and heal as if it hadn't happened... She'd been terrified.

But she had gone and done something much worse when they had been attacked, so horrible that her mind had finally snapped. There was no coming back from that now, just as there was no escaping the truth. People were dead because she had driven Jackson away. She would pay whatever penance she needed to pay for that.

"I told you not to run from me," Jackson continued. "This is the second time you've gone against my orders, so I won't let this go."

"I wasn't trying to hurt you, Jackson," she whispered. "I just wanted—"

"I'm not hurt. I'm angry," Jackson snarled as he spoke over her. "You made a fool out of me. You made me put you above everyone else and now I have to live with what happened here."

Had they not been attacked, she knew they would have had a completely different conversation. She would have argued that she was not responsible for his feelings or actions because he was a grown man who should have learned how to handle his emotions by now. But she lowered her gaze to look at her bare feet as guilt returned, pushing everything else away. How many of the injured people that she had visited had passed away in the night? The young mother? Her injuries had looked more critical than the other men and women she had seen.

She shoved her issues and all the unspoken words to the back of her mind because Jackson's people were the most important thing.

"What can I do?" she asked softly.

"Nothing. You've done enough. Stay away from me, Layla, and I'll stay away from you," Jackson growled. "You've done your part of our deal. I don't have to see you again until the baby is born."

She sucked in a breath and lifted her gaze to meet his cold one. Did he mean...?

Her heart pounded again. Jackson had said he'd be able to tell, and she hadn't really believed him, but could he be right? Her hands shook as she put them against her flat stomach. Had she really made a baby with this man? This werewolf? Had she already set a course for her future that she couldn't turn back from?

"Don't look too excited," Jackson said sarcastically.

He walked further into the room and looked around. She had done a decent job cleaning it from top to bottom when Dylan had returned with fresh bedding and cleaning products, but it was still a prison cell. Was he going to leave her to rot in this room for nine months?

"Someone will take you out for some fresh air once a day and bring your meals. Don't try anything foolish again."

Jackson turned as if he was about to leave. She grabbed his arm without thinking and the little shocks went off in her body as usual.

"Take your hand off me," Jackson growled.

She quickly removed her hand from his arm but stood in front of him to block his way.

"Am I going to stay here the whole time?" she asked shakily.

"You brought this on yourself. You went off with someone I told you not to trust who would have killed you and my baby," Jackson hissed.

His baby. Those words were like a slap in the face as she remembered what she would have to do when the baby was born.

"I can't stay here, Jackson. And I don't mean in this room; I mean in this place with you. Before, it was because of all this crazy stuff happening to me, but after what happened... No one wants me here. Take me somewhere else, and I won't bother anyone."

"So you can run away again? Or you can try and brush what happened here under the rug?" Jackson chuckled. "You're not going anywhere, Layla."

Jackson walked around her to the door.

"I'll never forget," she whispered.

Her hands were still shaky when she looked down at them. She could still see the blood dripping from them and the knife she had wielded like a maniac. She knew what she said was the truth. The things she had done would stay with her until her dying breath.

"That makes two of us," Jackson said as he wrenched the door open. "I won't see you again. The doctor will take over from here, and they'll hand the baby to me when you deliver."

Another blow to her heart.

"I'm a man of my word, so I will compensate you as promised despite you trying to break your word. Goodbye, Layla."

The door slammed shut, and the lock slid into place.