Her breath hitched, and she stepped back. What was it with these people and killing?
The door swung open before she could move further, and Dylan stepped out. There was a snarl on his face, and the hatred had returned in his eyes. He looked like he was ready to carry out his threats.
Chapter 69
Layla swallowed a lump in her throat and took another step back.
She’d been told not to trust anyone, but she knew Jackson meant this man in particular.
Dylan folded his arms across his expansive chest, and the snarl turned into a sneer. Whatever truce he had called while Jackson had been unconscious was well and truly over.
“Well, look who’s walking around the place as if she owns it,” Dylan said. “Did you sleep well, princess? Was it too much for you to give your boyfriend a sponge bath?”
Taking care of Jackson required much more than that, and he knew it. His anger wasn’t about that.
“I would have thought Jackson wouldn’t have let you out alone. Or has Micah already failed at his babysitting duties?”
She recognised that tone. Dylan’s ego had been wounded when Jackson had chosen someone else over him. There was nothing more dangerous than a bully walking around like that—they tended to take their frustrations out on other people.
“I only came downstairs to eat. I’ll go back now,” she said.
She’d only half turned when Dylan gripped her arm as painfully as he had the first time.
“Aw, don’t be like that,” he chuckled. “You’ll be here for months. I think we should get to know each other a little better, don’t you?”
She’d lived in fear since her arrival, so her pounding heart didn’t surprise her. What did surprise her was the fact that Dylan’s was the same. She could hear it faintly beating alongside hers as he invaded her personal space from behind.
“Jackson said I was free to—”
“While Jackson is incapacitated, I’m the boss around here,” he said against her eyes.
His warm breath made her shiver, and the sound of her heart eclipsed Dylan’s. Jackson told her he could feel it when she was afraid, but he was fast asleep. Even if he wasn’t, he’d needed help to get to the bathroom, so there was no way he would be able to walk down the stairs to help her.
A door opened across the hall, and Dylan tensed. His fingers tightened around her arm and made her wince.
“Amber,” Dylan said gruffly. “Why are you in the house?”
Layla looked up and saw the brunette who’d threatened to take Jackson from her, strolling into the hallway. And instantly, her fear of Dylan was replaced by her dislike of this woman. Amber, was it? The woman was sexy, and she knew it. If she wanted to seduce Jackson, she would probably succeed.
But it would be over her dead body.
The violent thoughts took over her mind. She knew she was being irrational, but she couldn’t stop herself. Her fists clenched as the woman got closer.
“I got bored and decided to hang out,” Amber said with a smile at Dylan.
The brunette didn’t even look at or taunt her as she had the first time they met. And she was looking at Dylan as if he was her next snack. Was it Dylan she wanted or Jackson? Or both? Maybe werewolves didn’t care about how many beds they slept in.
The confusion cooled her thoughts for a moment.
“I told you to stay outside,” Dylan said. “Go and find something else to do. I’m very busy.”
And that was when Amber looked at her and gave her a small, catty smile.
“I think I’ll do that,” Amber said before she turned to walk down the hallway.
She knew what the woman meant by that. She was going to try something with Jackson!
Layla went to follow her, but Dylan pulled her back. He dragged her further down the hall to the conference room and shoved her in before she could react. She stumbled and then righted herself as she rubbed her arm. That was going to bruise. Did werewolves seriously not know their own strength?