Page 74 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part One

He ignored the voice and continued walking to the elevators. What the hell was that woman doing here so early, anyway?

“I heard you were coming, but I wasn’t sure if you planned on staying for a while. We cleaned your suite again despite that very young girl you have staying as your guest.”

He sensed the judgement in her tone. He had no time for this shit. Layla had still been asleep when he had gone in to see her before he’d left, but he had sensed something wrong with her all night. Cain wanted to go back and make sure she was alright, but she wouldn’t be alright if they didn’t get rid of the Circle. They had to be here.

Besides, he was sure he already knew what was wrong with her. Her emotions were strong and had unsettled him and Cain. He’d scared her. She must have spent all that time wondering what was going on. For her safety, he had to make sure she didn’t come to the correct conclusions.

“Will you be keeping her in your suite much longer?”

“Why does that matter to you, Miss Roberts?” he asked as he waited for the doors to open.

“It doesn’t, sir. But I didn’t want people to assume the owner of the Royal Hotel is keeping an underage mistress—”

“They can assume whatever the fuck they want. It’s not your job to worry about the things I do, Miss Roberts,” he growled before he walked into the elevator and turned around to face her.

The supervisor’s face reddened. He sensed her disappointment and something else he couldn’t quite place. He had no idea why the woman insisted on hounding him every time he visited, but maybe this would be the last time.

“Of course, Mr King. I apologise for overstepping,” she said, stepping back and allowing his men to follow him. “Will Miss Carlisle be returning to work, or shall I consider this her resignation?”

“Layla can work here forever if she wants to,” he answered before the doors closed.

He could sense that Dylan’s gaze had been on him throughout the exchange.

“What?” he growled.

“Nothing.”

Nothing. Dylan had been unnaturally quiet the whole ride into town, which hadn’t helped with the tension he was feeling. His entire body was vibrating with the need to return to Layla; he felt like any little thing could set Cain off. It was a good thing that Dylan kept his mouth shut.

It wasn’t just that he’d somehow gotten so attached to Layla that leaving her for a few hours felt like a death sentence. It was also because he had no idea who had gone above his head to alert the Circle. Someone had deliberately ignored the warning he’d given them all to leave Layla alone.

It was a challenge. Another one. He had no idea how much more of that crap he could take.

“Why are we going up to your suite first? They are already waiting for you because I told them you wanted them here this early,” Dylan stated.

He kept quiet. What was he supposed to say? He was keeping the Alphas waiting because he wanted to check on the human’s sister? That would be a dead giveaway.

When the door opened, he saw one of his warriors standing outside the room, guarding it as he had instructed. The warrior nodded and stepped aside after opening the door for him.

“Stay here,” he told Dylan and the warriors behind him.

It only occurred to him after he had walked in that, once again, he was putting a human first just because he didn’t want to scare Britney. He knew how intimidating he looked, even to those who knew nothing about his world, and Britney was just a child.

It was too early for a visit so he expected the human to be asleep. He was surprised to find her sitting on the sofa, hugging her knees.

She looked like she hadn’t slept in days. Layla would lose her shit if she saw her like that.

When Britney noticed him, she jumped to her feet and backed away from him.

“Why are you awake already? You have school later. You can’t go looking like that.”

“Where’s my sister?” Britney asked instead.

She was even more scared than Layla had been of him. Humans were always like that. So weak and useless, unable to really stand up for themselves. Their subconscious always recognised a predator.

“At my house,” he said as he strolled to the drinks cabinet.

He poured two shots of whiskey and then offered Britney one. The girl looked at the drink and then frowned up at him.

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