71. Chapter 71

Chapter 71

L ayla rolled her neck and shoulders to ease some of the stiffness but knew it wouldn't do her any good. She couldn't remember a time when she'd felt that tired. She spent money that she didn't have to buy some energy drinks to keep her awake for the drive home. It was almost two in the morning, and working two jobs was sucking the life out of her.

At one point in her life, she'd even had three jobs and still had the energy to run around after Brit and take care of their trailer.

With a sigh, she grabbed her bag from the passenger seat and shoved her door open. The car had been a piece of crap when she'd bought it, but it was worse after being off the road for so long. She'd worked at least a month to afford the extra money to pay someone to get it roadworthy again. It was hectic catching buses or getting a taxi to take her close enough to her neighbourhood, especially this late at night.

She hadn't seen Jax since the picnic, but some warriors hung around the neighbourhood for weeks afterwards. She knew Jax ordered them to protect her. After a few more weeks, there were fewer of them, and now none at all.

It had been two months since she saw Jax.

Two months of feeling like she'd made the biggest mistake of her life.

Even with the poison in her blood, could she have tried to stay with him as he asked? Or had she convinced him that she was right?

Their last night was still clear in her head—she could see it all as if it just happened. Jax pushed her away. He said he made a mistake. And then he disappeared.

It was what she asked for, but she hadn't expected it to still hurt after so long.

She stopped at the trailer door and looked around. But, of course, she could see anything beyond the porch light. She couldn't smell anything.

It was hard to get used to that, too, but she accepted it. Besides, she didn't want to forget how it felt to have Nia. It would be like forgetting Nia ever existed.

She sighed and walked into the trailer. Her gaze immediately went to the kitchen counter. Before meeting Jax, there were always piles of bills waiting for her. But since she moved back to the trailer, nothing was overdue. She only saw notes telling her what was for dinner and bidding her a good night.

Gerald surpassed her expectations of him. Two months sober and gainfully employed for the first time in years.

Of course, with his reputation, he'd only been able to find part-time work as a janitor in some motel, so she was still the primary breadwinner. She'd told him to hang on to whatever money was left after he'd done the renovations. It was a good idea to have something aside in case they needed to disappear quickly.

Because she was still looking over her shoulder, waiting for the Hunters to find her.

She picked the note up and padded to her bedroom. She was too tired to eat, as always. But she wasn't too tired to shower. Working in the kitchen at a small diner in town meant she always smelled of grease. She didn't need werewolf senses to know how strong that smell was.

It took her half an hour to shower and wash her hair while fighting sleep, and then all the hassle of blow drying so it wouldn't be frizzy in the morning. Her hair wasn't the same as it used to be. It lost some of its shine.

Finally, she put her head down.

As always, it was Jax she thought of first. Was he okay? Did he take her words to heart? Did he find someone else?

And then she thought of her daughter—two months without her little bundle of sunshine. The few updates from the warriors who guarded her weren't enough to ease the pain in her heart. Were they back at the Packhouse now? Was it safe for them? If so, why hadn't anyone come for her yet?

Something knocked against her window and caused her heart to slam against her chest. She reached for the gun on her little side table and aimed it.

A little scream left her lips when she saw the shadowy figure at her window, and she cocked her weapon. And then the figure's eyes flashed red.

Her hands were shaking when she lowered the gun. Another second, and she would have pulled the trigger.

Jax.

She hadn't realised just how much being apart from him hurt her until the weight lifted off her shoulders, and something inside her settled. The fatigue left her body as she rushed out of her room. Jax was waiting in front of the steps when she opened the door seconds later.

Her breath hitched.

In the dim lighting outside the trailer, the man she would always love stood in a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. He looked bigger somehow. Harder. There was a hint of something in his glowing eyes that she'd never seen before. And he'd shaved his hair to a buzz cut.

Jax had always been devastatingly handsome, but there was something extra now, almost like he had gone and upgraded something.

"Jax," she whispered.

"Hello, Layla."

His voice was husky, a sure sign that he was as affected as she was. Had she worried for nothing? Could she still make things right?

Jax's eyes stopped glowing, and they lowered to her outfit. She hadn't stopped to put her slippers or a dressing gown on. In deference to the hot weather, her nightwear of choice was nothing more than a slip that barely covered her ass. It was one of the things from her wardrobe at the packhouse that one of the warriors dropped off.

It had been one of Jax's favourites.

It still was, by the looks of things. Jax's eyes flashed again, and when his gaze came back to meet hers, there was a hunger in them that burnt her. Scorched her from deep within and made her heart race.

"Would you like to go for a drive?" Jax asked.

Everything in her body scrambled, and she lost the ability to speak. She could only nod.

Jax reached out, and she took his hand without hesitation. The sparks were just the same as before. Maybe it was just absence making the heart grow fonder, but the fire coursing through her veins and the trembling that started in her body made it feel as if everything was back to how it was before.

Jax led her to a car he parked behind hers, a twin cab truck well suited for the dirt roads through the forest he had to take to get to her trailer. He opened the passenger side without a word and helped her get in. When he got in and started the car, he met her gaze again.

She was struck again by how different he looked. It seemed like he had gone through a lot without her.

Jax drove in silence out of her neighbourhood and to the main road that led into town. For a moment, she thought he was heading back to the Packhouse. Maybe back to their lookout spot to finish what they started that night. She was already soaking wet from the anticipation and the fact that Jax knew that didn't matter. She wanted him. She needed him.

But instead of going further down the main road, Jax turned off into a different dirt road on a trail she had never used. He drove into the forest and stopped before the trees became too dense.

When the engine died down, there was nothing but silence and darkness all around them. It was like they were the only people in the world.

Jax left the headlights on and got out of the car. What was he doing? Did she get a little ahead of herself? Maybe Jax wasn't there to take her back home or fuck her brains out. She'd probably just embarrassed herself by assuming things.

She almost rolled the window to ask him to take her back when Jax pulled his t-shirt off and threw it aside.

Her breath caught. Was it her imagination, or Jax looked broader? More defined?

He lowered his sweats and kicked them aside.

She forgot to breathe.

Her gaze roamed his beautiful body before meeting his eyes again. She hadn't made a mistake. He still wanted her.

She'd barely put her feet on the ground before Jax walked around and swept her into his arms. His lips crashed into hers, immediately demanding entry as he walked to the front of the car. He had never kissed her like that, not even when he'd first met her. Like she was his air. His life. Her head swum as he took everything he wanted from her. Jax sat her on the hood and braced her feet on the bumper. It took her a moment to realise her bottom was already bare on the warm metal of the truck under her.

When he lifted his head, his eyes were red, but he was in complete control. She could tell by how at ease he was with the beast within him.

Jax eased her slip up without looking away. Her arms went up of their own volition, allowing him to pull it off and throw it aside as he did his clothes. And then his lips were on her breast. She'd thought she was ready, but the jolt that went through her body left her breathless. Jax touched her everywhere, not allowing her a moment to breathe and recover. And when he'd licked and kissed his way down her body and settled between her legs, she couldn't stop the loud moan that echoed through the silence around them.

She'd missed his touch, His tongue. Her body came alive as if she had been dead all along, waiting for him to return and revive her. Her back arched, and her thighs tightened against Jax's head as she called out his name. The end came too quickly for her to prepare.

Wave after wave. Jax didn't stop. He feasted on her and reduced her body to a quivering mess.

And when she was sure she couldn't take anymore, Jax straightened and pulled her to the edge of the hood, straight onto his thick dick. Her mind splintered again. It felt like coming home— like she finally had a piece of herself back. He filled her up and started to move straight away, hitting her spot perfectly as if he never left.

She called his name again just as he roared hers. He was still pulsing inside her when he pulled her up against his chest and pushed her hair aside.

And then he bit her.

The sharp sting was followed by another orgasm that stole every thought as she clung onto him, twitching around him as he came inside her again. Her world spun. Everything inside her lurched as she tightened her arms around him and rode the waves. It felt like how it had been when Nia was alive.

It felt like hours later when Jax released her and slumped over her, but she knew it hadn't been that long. And when her heart started to slow down, she became aware of her surroundings.

She became aware of the man on top of her. Of the pain in her neck, right where her mark used to be.

"What the hell have you done?" she hissed.