7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

J ax drove in the opposite direction to the packhouse, fighting the urge to put his foot down on the gas.

How had he not sensed them approaching the hotel? Or had they been there all along, but he was distracted by his worry about Layla and her dad?

Since Layla went out first, he couldn't be sure if they saw her face or if her eyes were still glowing. Would the Hunters have sensed them? Masking himself became second nature to him, but Layla had been on the verge of losing control.

"What are we going to do?" Layla whispered.

"Nothing. We'll go and lay low for a few days until they go. I sensed only a few of them; they might be passing through."

Those words did nothing to ease his mate, and they didn't ease his mind. Had he missed something? He'd been carefully watching the new employees at his hotel, but most of the ones he'd gotten rid of were still in town. He was still watching them, too. Still monitoring their calls and emails. But he was aware he couldn't watch the whole city.

"The last time we thought they were just passing through, they brought a hunting party back."

The fear he could feel in her coloured her voice.

"Everyone's been laying low since they were last here; we don't even come into town anymore. We've done nothing that could have brought them into town."

"Or they figured out who I am because my mother's picture is all over their bases."

He couldn't lie to her that it wasn't a possibility. Hunters were the most tenacious bastards he knew. They would hunt their targets until they got them; Rebecca was a perfect example. She'd lived on the run, abandoning her husband and two little girls for their safety.

Would Layla do that to him?

He looked at his mate and saw all the colour drained from her face. She gnawed on her bottom lip, and her eyes flashed again.

"We'll figure it out. We can lead them away again if it comes to it. We can hide anywhere in the world."

Layla didn't say anything back but took a deep breath and slowly started to mask herself. To hide the fears mirrored inside him.

Before marking her, he would have looked at her face and assumed she felt nothing. But now that he was a part of her, he could still sense those emotions she was trying to protect him from, the same way she felt his.

The last time the Hunters were in town, Layla thought of running away. If she thought for a second that leaving him was an option, she had to think again. He would always know where to find her.

Another thought occurred to him. The Hunters were so advanced in technology that they would also know how to find them. Why hadn't he thought of that first? They already said too much out loud in the car.

‘Don't say anything else. We might be bugged,' he warned Layla.

Layla sucked in a breath and whipped her head around to look at him. The hammering in her chest started again.

‘There's a burner phone in the glove compartment,' he said in their mindlink as he put his eyes back on the road. ‘There's only one number on it; call it, please. Dylan will know what to do until I call him again.'

Layla did as he asked and put the phone on before she dialled the number. His Beta answered in the first few rings.

"Take precautions."

There was silence on the other side before Dylan said, "Yes, sir," and hung up.

His Beta knew his job. There was only one reason he'd call him using a private number on a burner phone. Dylan would be in charge, and Diedre would strengthen their protection wards. His witches' strength grew in bounds since Layla healed her; she would help the other packs, too. This time, they had a better chance because of Diedre and all the extra security measures they put in place. He had to remember that.

Until then, he and his mate were laying low.

He drove silently and took a long way around to park in a public car park. Once the engine stopped running, he called on his beast to sense any threats in the area. He also kept his ears open for anything in or on the car. Bugs constantly emitted waves as they sent a signal to the owner.

When he sensed nothing in the car, he breathed and sat back.

Maybe he was being too cautious. He hadn't even looked around the lobby because he would have given himself away if they were watching him.

"Let's go for a walk," he said, taking the phone from her hand.

‘Switch your phone off and leave it in the glove compartment.'

They might have already been tracking their phones if they had been looking into them since their run-in in the forest. Maybe it was too late, and they'd figured things out already.

He needed to move quickly to find out what the hell was happening.

He put the hotel's number as the second number on the burner phone and then pulled his main phone from his pocket to switch it off.

‘There's another car in a parking lot a block over.'

He didn't waste any more time as he took Layla's hand and joined the early afternoon shoppers walking through the mall. By the time they got to the other car, Layla was stiff with the tension in her body.

‘You didn't teach me how to fight them,' she said in his head.

He stopped in the middle of putting his seatbelt on to look at her.

‘You've been training every day,' he pointed out. ‘And your fighting has improved—'

‘It's not enough, you know that,' Layla interjected.

And a flash of anger accompanied her words. He got that she was anxious, but it sounded like she was blaming him for their predicament.

‘We'll talk about this when we get to a safe place,' he said as he pulled out his phone.

‘Yes, of course. Whatever you decide to do is what we'll do.'

"Seriously?" he asked out loud, noting her rising anger.

‘Our daughter is back there. My sister is there. If I'd left the first time, the Hunters wouldn't have returned.'

‘They wouldn't have returned to where they saw you? Come on, Layla, use your head.'

Layla sighed and folded her arms across her chest.

‘Let's just go. I need to think.'

He didn't like where the conversation was heading, but they didn't have time to argue. He dialled the hotel number while starting the car. He was put through to Mr Ambrose when he stated who he was.

"Send me the security footage of the lobby from when Mr Carlisle came in, to about half an hour after we left."

If he could put a face to the Hunters, he could figure things out quickly. And his security team wouldn't think anything about his asking for the footage after Gerald's incident. If there were still Hunter spies in his hotel, then that wouldn't look too suspicious.

"Get Mr Carlisle cleaned up and give him a room and supplies. He's not allowed out of it until I say so."

Layla whipped her head around to face him again.

"Yes, sir," Mr Ambrose said before he hung up.

"Why are you giving him a room?" she asked.

‘Do you want him to make another scene right now? Do you want him to tell everyone what he saw?'

Layla looked away from him again without answering. He let out a breath to relieve some of his tension before he drove the car to the highway that would take them out of the city. The further they went without a tail, the more his anxiety subsided.

But Layla's tension remained. Her thoughts remained in turmoil, but he could do nothing for her until there was more information. No assurances he could give beyond what he already said.

Why was she worrying about fighting the Hunters when there was a deadly wolf inside her that would fight for their survival? Everything she knew how to do, she learned by herself. He'd never met another wolf like her, so he couldn't train her beyond developing the skills she already manifested.

A few hours later, he drove down the driveway to the safehouse where Hope was born. No one was around them for miles; Ryker's pack was the closest. He believed Amber hadn't disclosed the location of this hideout because she had hoped to somehow return to the packs after he and Layla were dead. If she told them, they would have already swarmed the place.

Layla got out of the car, her shoulders still showing how tense she was, and waited for him to unlock the door.

"Why are you angry with me?" he asked when she walked into the house ahead of him.

"I'm not angry. I'm just frustrated," Layla sighed. "I knew they would come for me; I shouldn't have relaxed. I shouldn't have even shown my face in town."

He locked the door behind him and walked over to his mate.

"Let's not worry just yet," he said, rubbing her arms. "We'll check the footage and see who they are. Dylan would already have sent a small team to watch them; they know what to do if it looks like they are making a move."

"They almost caught us last time. That forest is huge, but it's not infinite. They'll—"

"Every pack has a backup plan after last time. When there's any movement, all the children and elderly will be moved to safety. No one will run around in circles this time; you know that."

Past the meeting point, deep in the woods, all the witches came together to hide the cargo planes he stored there for emergencies. What good was all his money if he couldn't get the vulnerable people to safety? It wasn't something he thought of before the Hunters got past the first wards with Hailey's and Amber's help.

Layla sighed and then leaned into him. When he put his arms around her, he felt some of her tension leave her body.

"We'll be okay, Layla. We just have to stick together," he said as he took in her sweet scent.

He allowed it to soothe him only for a moment before releasing her.

"I have a laptop here. Let's check the security footage."

And then afterwards, he would decide if they were going home or going to war.