40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40

J ax barely cleaned the blood off before rushing to the empty lobby with Dylan and Gavin on his heels. Dylan gave him the fresh clothes, but that was pointless as far as he was concerned. He didn't need them for long.

"Alpha Chase is coming over to help," Dylan said. "This needs all of us, Jax. You can't find her by yourself."

Chase was bound to Layla through the blood oath he'd made to protect her, so he wasn't surprised by that news. But all the other Alphas knew to stay away. They'd never fucked with the Hunters, and now wasn't the time to start. Something had changed.

"He can help you with the pack while I'm gone. You'd stand a better chance if he brought the rest of his pack to our territory," he growled as he switched on the computer at the front desk.

Outside, red and blue lights were flashing. The human emergency services responded to the fake call and secured the area, but it would take time until someone gave the hotel the all-clear. Even then, his doors would remain shut. He didn't know what arrangements Dylan made for the guests, but they were much safer away from him. Cain was too unstable. He was too unstable. He couldn't calm down enough to shift back to his completely human form.

"I'll go with you, then," Gavin offered.

"They're stronger than they should be. It's too dangerous for you."

Besides, he couldn't promise to watch anyone else's back. His sole focus was Layla.

The screen lit up, allowing him to quickly log into the system. Ambrose had been useless, but there was somewhere else he could look for answers. Someone who knew exactly what the Hunters were doing and where they were heading. He should have thought of that when they took Faith, and maybe Layla would have been safe at home.

"We'll be able to track all the trucks that left earlier. We just need more time—"

"More time for what? For the Hunters to torture her? To kill her?" he growled as he slammed his fist hard on the desk. A crack appeared on the polished surface. "Do you have any fucking idea what this is doing to me? She's my life, Dylan!"

"I know she is," Dylan said gently.

And then that air of resignation filled the room again—that sense of loss.

He growled as the unwanted emotions wrecked him, and looked over at Gavin, the source of all of it.

"I don't even know why you're here. You can't help me. Go back to the pack, and maybe no one else will get taken on your watch."

Gavin lowered his head immediately.

"That's not fair, Jax. Your mate can command the Circle; Gavin didn't stand a chance. I would have let her go, too, if I'd been at the gate."

All true. But he wasn't in the mood to be sensible or to spare anyone's feelings.

"Just tell me what you remember about the Hunters that checked in for a date in the restaurant. When was it?" he snapped.

Dylan pulled his phone out without saying anything else, and after a few moments, he leaned over his shoulder to search through the files on the screen.

"They booked one room for the weekend. Paid in cash," Dylan said when the information came up.

He pushed Dylan aside and looked through by himself. Anyone who stayed at his hotel provided an ID, even if they paid in cash. It wasn't a cheap motel where people could hook up with whores or any such fuckery. If his instincts were right, they checked into the hotel secretly. He was positive relationships between Hunters were forbidden unless they were for procreation purposes. That ruled out their relationship immediately, or they wouldn't have to go out to a different city. And they wouldn't have been in civilian clothes.

A name and address came up in the town he'd just sent Layla's father. Irvine Jones. It sounded like a fake name, and he was still a kid. But when he'd been that age, twenty-one, he'd already fought many battles and killed many enemies. Age was nothing when it came to Hunters. Those fuckers were taught to kill when they were still in diapers.

Pretty much what his father made them do when he'd been king.

"Follow the trucks that went north on the traffic cameras. And try to track down this kid, too. I need more information."

Ambrose said to head north, and this Hunter kid lived in that direction. He pushed the chair back and stood, his attention already on the activity outside.

"Are you driving there?" Dylan asked.

"No."

Like he could be patient enough to sit in a car for that long. He would head back through the forest the way he came.

"There are too many eyes on the hotel right now. I'll drive you—"

"I need you to head back home. I need you alive. If anything happens to me... Stay alive for Hope."

Pain lashed his heart at the thought of his beautiful little girl.

"Don't say shit like that," Dylan said. "I'm not saying don't go, but you need me to watch your back. You need me, Jax."

He looked back at his Beta, his only friend. Before Layla, they fought every battle together and trusted each other with their lives.

"I do need you," he said.

Cain pushed himself back without being asked, and his body returned to normal. Sometimes the beast was more perceptive than he gave him credit for.

"I need you to raise my child if Layla and I don't make it. You're the only one I trust to do it, Dylan."

"Stop it."

"You know I'm right. I'm heading out there knowing I'm probably not coming out of this alive. Look after my little girl, Dylan."

Dylan blinked and didn't meet his gaze. He walked to stand in front of his friend, his head clear for the first time since the Hunters took Layla. His rage was still simmering inside him, but it felt more controlled. More focussed. He'd fallen so deep into his and his beast's combined darkness that he would probably never be the same man again. It was a strange middle ground, a vortex. The same urge to burn the world to the ground for Layla and yet another part of him recognised the need to look after his other loved ones. That was something he'd never been able to do before.

If this was goodbye, he didn't want Dylan to have any regrets. He didn't want Dylan to think he should have tried harder to stop him or come with him. The outcome would be the same whether Dylan came or not. He was throwing himself into the depths of hell to save his mate; nothing would stop that.

"Don't worry about me. I was always going to die in a blaze of glory," he continued. "And you were always going to be the level-headed one who would pick up the pieces and take care of the pack. Go home, brother. They're freaking out now because we've separated them from their kids and they don't know what's happening. They need you more than I do."

He put an arm around his friend, something he rarely did, and then released him when the emotions became too much. He was unstable enough with his feelings without having to add anyone else's. He headed for the staff hallway without looking back.

"Layla's father will be in touch once he has settled. And I'll call you once I'm in the city."

When he reached the hidden exit, he was still in the middle of the violent emotions whirling around him. Cain used to do that. When his beast felt too much rage, he retreated, and that was when he was the most dangerous. He and Cain were the same now. One in a way they had never been before.

It was pitch black in the middle of the night, so no one saw him when he slipped out of the building. The car park was nearly empty, but men in their uniforms were still set up at a safe distance, waiting to check the gas leak. He slipped back into the shadows as he headed to the back of the hotel.

Bystanders looked at his hotel across the road, curious about what happened, but no one looked in his direction. The moment he reached the forest, he ripped his clothes off, shifting within seconds. And then he took the same path back out of the city. Tree trunks whizzed past, chunks of dirt and debris flying in his wake. The nocturnal animals scurried out of his way, aware of the danger brewing within him. Once again, he was struck by how fast he was. Knowing that his mate was just as fast and maybe as strong gave him a little hope. It gave him hope to believe she could evade the Hunters as she hid from the vampires.

But how did she get caught in the first place?

It took him an hour to reach the outskirts of Beacon Falls. It was the neighbouring city, and not too long ago, he'd stopped there with Layla on their way to meet The Circle. He'd sensed Hunter activity everywhere. It should have been the first place he looked when he confirmed Layla was gone.

At a dingy motel, in the back of the car park again, was another emergency car. Cain relinquished control and shifted, allowing him to find the keys and unlock the old car. The town was even smaller than Wolfdale, so there was hardly any activity. There were just a few open bars and late-night takeaway places—the usual human drunks and party lovers.

No Hunters. He couldn't sense them as he had when they'd been on their way to the trial. There must have been a hunting party in town that day.

He dressed quickly and pulled out the burner phone from the glove compartment. He sent a quick message to Dylan to confirm he had arrived, and the reply was Irvine Jones' details.

Dylan didn't need to worry about him finding Irvine by himself. As a Hunter, the kid would have been trained never to talk. But whether he opened his mouth or not, he would still lead him to Layla.

The car took him to a quiet neighbourhood on the other side of the city and parked away from the address Dylan gave him. Irvine's house was a nondescript bungalow that looked harmless on the outside, but he could smell the wolfsbane a mile away. His eyes quickly picked up the areas where the earth was disturbed. Traps. And a lot of silver. Like any Hunter's house, it was probably deadly to a wolf.

But the kid was there alone. He could smell that scent of death just as much as the wolfsbane.

He walked slowly across the backyard to avoid the obvious traps until he came to the back door. Silver door handle. There were probably millions of traps aimed at the door, too.

He shoved the bolted door in and stood aside. As expected, an arrow whizzed past him and then another. Silver-tipped with a hint of wolfsbane. Something else, too, by the smell of it.

His senses locked on the Hunter, who was now awake somewhere in the back. He heard the shuffling of feet, the cocking of a gun. And he smelt the fear. The terror.

He took it all in as his body started to change and his claws extended.

They wanted the war; they got it. They would all perish by his hand.