Page 129 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part One

“Goddess...” he whispered. “Have mercy on me, Layla.”

But she didn’t. She took her time thoroughly cleaning and rinsing him before she finally looked him in the eyes and lowered her mouth.

She hadn’t even done anything before he exploded down her throat. His mate spluttered and choked, but she still swallowed everything. She sucked the little strength he had from his body.

His eyes were closing against his will when Layla sat up with a proud smile.

Only as he gave in to the darkness did her emotions become more precise, like an open book. Layla's fear and anxiety were more than usual. She was confused and unhappy.

The same things he had sensed from her both times she had tried to run away from him.

"Layla..."

Chapter 68

Layla washed quickly and let the water out of the tub. How the hell had she got herself into this mess? There was no trust involved in this place. She wasn't safe.

And she was a crazy fool to feel even the slightest bit safe with Jackson.

Something had changed. She could feel it even though she couldn’t understand it. Her head was a lot clearer, yet she still wasn’t herself. She couldn’t be, not when she felt like this for Jackson. How could she feel so... attached to him? Her feelings had been wild before she had passed out on top of him, and those feelings seemed to have settled even though she was very well-rested. Madness.

She looked back at the man who’d fallen asleep when he had found his release. The image tugged at her heartstrings, something it shouldn’t have done. But he still looked so... defenceless. If he couldn’t trust the people around him, then that meant he expected her to look out for him again. And she felt compelled to because of whatever twisted thing was happening in her head.

Was it because of the stupid ring that was still on her finger?

She lifted her hand to inspect the small, classy diamond on her finger. It had to be a real diamond. If Jackson was as loaded as he said he was, she didn’t think he would give her fake stones. Maybe her subconscious had already put too much weight on the meaning behind this gift. Jackson probably had many of these lying around. It was just a ring and didn’t put her under any obligation.

But she was still being stupid.

She sighed as she grabbed many towels from the cabinet and started to dry Jackson before he caught a chill. She paused over the bite mark on his side. It still looked terrible, but it was nowhere near as horrible as it had looked when she had run to get Diedre. It was indeed healing, and the middle looked like a discoloured bruise rather than an infection. She had been sure they had cut into him when they’d made her stay downstairs. Had Diedre done something to help him after all?

Once she’d covered Jackson with dry towels, she rushed out of the bathroom to pick out some clothes, only to stop immediately when she saw Faith and another girl changing the bedding.

Faith offered her a big smile before turning to hide it from the other girl. When had they come into the bedroom? Had they heard...?

Her cheeks coloured. She’d heard the man who’d helped Jackson leave the bedroom as clearly as she’d heard Jackson and Dylan discussing when to kill her. How could she have missed these two walking in? And Jackson thought she could take care of him when she had missed this?

“Someone is on his way to help the Alp... To help Jackson, Miss Layla,” Faith said.

All she could do was nod before entering the closet and shut the door behind her. Was she supposed to ignore their slip-ups? Almost all of them had called him Alpha to her face. If she didn’t question them, wouldn’t that look suspicious?

When she was dressed, she waited and listened. She heard the rustling of sheets and the girls muttering a greeting when someone walked into the room. Warrior Micah? They had warriors here? She heard his footsteps as he went to the bathroom and then came back out. And then she heard them all leave.

All without having to put her ear against the door.

Which was ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. Someone must have done something while she’d been asleep.

There was just no way she should have been able to hear all that.

And yet when she opened the closet door, Jackson was tucked into bed, and the room was empty. They had gone, just as she’d heard.

That heaviness settled on her mind again as it started to spiral. She wouldn’t let all those things pull her under again; she had already wasted enough time feeling sorry for herself. It was a matter of life or death; to survive, she needed to get smarter. She had lived among wolves her whole life as she’d fought for her and Brit to survive. She would treat living among actual wolves the same.

She checked on Jackson and made sure he was completely dry and warm before walking over to the door. They hadn’t locked her in when Jackson had passed out. Had that changed now that their Alpha was on the mend?

She slowly turned the handle and let out a breath when it opened. Step one was done. If no one stopped her and brought her back, she would walk among them as if she belonged and learn everything she needed to learn. An escape plan wasn’t worth shit if she didn’t know what her enemy was capable of.

When she made it down the last flight of stairs, the two guards standing at the entrance had already turned to look at her even though she had stepped lightly and hadn’t dared to breathe too hard. She could tell they had heard her long before they had seen her.

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