9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

I t felt like weeks when Layla was finally allowed outside, although it was only a day.

She had never felt claustrophobic before, but being stuck in her tiny cell with nothing but her thoughts and guilt was torture.

When Faith led her out to the front of the house, she took a huge breath of the fresh air and felt her body relax.

"There she is."

"I can't believe she would show her face."

"They should have just killed her."

The whispers reached her ears without her even trying. She had spent all her time in her new room huddled on the cot, trying to block everything out, but she seemed to have made it worse. Her head was pounding because she could pick up even the rustling of the leaves beyond the gates. Everything was so loud in her head. She didn't know how to stop it.

"You can't seriously blame her for what happened. She's human; she can't fight Alpha Jackson. You shit your pants whenever you see him, so you can't say anything about that."

"Shut up. That's not the point."

"She doesn't belong here, no matter what the Circle says. It's distracting, and it's tiring hiding our true selves all the time."

Layla lifted the hoodie of the top Faith had brought to her as she started to walk down the steps. If this was what it felt like to be a werewolf, she didn't want any part of it. Or maybe real werewolves had a way of filtering out all this mess. There had to be a way; otherwise, they would all have lost their minds already.

"Miss Layla."

It sounded like someone had shouted directly in her ears with a megaphone. She winced and covered her ears.

"Are you alright?"

When she lifted her head, she saw the young girl she had saved in the woods approaching her. She looked tired, as if the shock of that night had finally caught up with her. She could relate. It had taken her a long time to stop feeling violated after those three men had pinned her down.

When she saw the concern on the girl's face, she put a smile on her face and tried not to show her pain.

"I'm alright. And you? Are you okay?" she asked gently.

The girl smiled sadly and nodded.

"I will be," she answered.

"Miss Layla, we have to get going. We only have an hour outside," Faith said beside her.

She had a feeling Faith was just trying to get the young girl away from her. With all the whispered talk she could still hear, she knew this conversation was upsetting many people.

"Alright. It's good to see you," she said to the girl and smiled briefly again before she started following Faith.

Something made her look up. Not something—she already knew what was pulling her gaze in that direction. Jackson stood with a few other men, including Dylan, and his head was cocked to the side as if he had been watching and listening, too. There was a frown on his face. He hadn't told her she couldn't speak to anyone, but she must have upset him again.

She looked away from him quickly and hurried her step, hoping Faith would take her to walk in the woods so she could get away from the noise for a little while.

Since her head was lowered, she didn't see anyone's faces as they walked past the tents. She almost tripped over herself when someone appeared at her feet and wrapped their little arms around her waist. The boy. Max. She had stopped trying to listen if his mother had made it when the noise had become too much. All she could see of him was the top of his head, so she couldn't tell if he was still sad. Was he an orphan now?

She gently brushed his thick hair back, and when the boy finally lifted his face, he smiled. No one could smile like that after just losing someone they loved. Relief flooded her body, though she couldn't understand how that was possible.

"Thank you, Miss Layla," the boy whispered, and then he let go and ran off towards one of the tents.

Sitting outside was the young woman nursing her baby. She looked as if she hadn't been at death's door. Was that natural for wolves? Was that why she had told her that she would see her children in the morning? Because they healed so quickly?

The woman smiled and nodded at her.

"Miss Layla," Faith called again.

Again, she winced in pain and lowered her head to follow the young girl. She assumed they would go up one of the trails into the woods, but Faith walked past it and continued around the house. Her steps faltered when she noticed they were going down the same path where she had been ambushed before.

"Um... Can we walk somewhere else?"

"We're still on high alert. We can't walk in the woods without escorts, and there are tents all over the place. There aren't many places left to walk," Faith said curtly without stopping.

Layla looked at the place where the men had come from their hiding spots and stopped. She'd had so much going on that she had pushed that incident to the back of her mind.

"I can't walk down here, Faith. I'm going back."

At least some of the noise was muted in her prison cell.

"Suit yourself," Faith said as she walked back towards her.

"Why are you being like this? Out of everyone here, I thought you..."

Faith had an aura around her that made her approachable and safe. But now she was so closed off and icy that she wondered if there was more to it.

"When Alp... When Mr King was sick, and I took you back to his room, I didn't expect you to do this to him. To us," Faith said. "I'd rather you stop acting as if we were friends."

When the girl walked past her, she stopped in her tracks suddenly and lowered her head. When Layla turned around, she saw Jackson standing behind them.

"It's okay, Faith. I'll take her from here."

"Yes, sir."

Faith was gone before she could protest. She would have much rather walked down this path a million times than spend more time with Jackson. Especially since his eyes were still so cold and his fists were balled up at his sides. If he was still so angry, why was he volunteering? He was the one who had said he wouldn't see her again.

"Are you just going to stand there and look at me all day?" Jackson growled. "Come."

Her mind was split about whether to follow him or head back inside, but the decision was made for her when she saw him going up one of the paths into the woods. Any respite from the noise causing her head to ache would be welcome.

Jackson walked ahead of her the whole time and she struggled to keep up, but the further they went from the house, the less the noise became. Jackson didn't stop until he reached the place he had said was his favourite. The smooth rock on which he had made her lose her mind several times.

He didn't sit but stood next to the rock, watching the view with his arms crossed. She sat and took a deep breath again. It was still noisy there, but they were the soothing sounds of the forest rather than the noise surrounding the house. The birds... animals foraging under the canopy of the trees... The careful footsteps of an animal that was likely hunting... Her mind eased, and she almost cried that she could finally hear herself think again.

"What's wrong with you?"

She looked up to see Jackson had been looking at her.

"You don't really care, Jackson, so don't even ask."

"Don't flatter yourself," Jackson said. "You're carrying my child. That's the only reason your health is important to me."

She tried not to let his words hurt her. She was already feeling too raw, and trying to stop that noise had been exhausting. Jackson was entitled to his feelings. It didn't matter anyway. At the end of it all, she would leave him.

With her baby. Fuck.

‘What have you done, child?'

The sound of that voice in her head made her turn around quickly. And right behind her was the familiar big red wolf that had been the first sign of the instability in her head.

‘You're supposed to stay with him,' the wolf continued.

She wasn't going to bother to respond to a figment of her imagination. She slowly lifted her gaze to Jackson because he must have noticed how quickly she had turned back.

And then her breath hitched.

Jackson wasn't looking at her. He was looking at the wolf. The hallucination. The product of her twisted mind.

He could see it!