Page 94 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part One

Jackson’s voice brought her back to reality. She gave him a small smile before she increased her speed.

“Of course. Just hungry.”

It took less time to get back. There had been no people when she and Jackson had started jogging, but when she stepped out of the woods, she saw a line of huge men waiting. She ground to a halt and tensed. These men looked fierce and life-hardened, and all of them had scars of some sort on their bodies or faces. They stood in an orderly formation as if they were doing military drills. Were these the security guards she always saw doing patrols around the grounds? She’d never seen them this close. They were only wearing cotton shorts, which was very odd.

She recognised that her mind was still on that fluffy little cloud because the men didn’t scare her as much as before, even though they had surrounded her and Jackson.

Jackson merely nodded at them before he jogged past them.

“Come, Layla.”

She didn’t wait to be told twice. She followed him towards the house but couldn’t help looking back. The men were all rushing into the woods on the trail they had just left.

“What’s going on?” she asked Jackson.

“Training,” Jackson grunted.

Training? Was that why they were all muscular and intimidating like Jackson? Maybe she did need to get in on that before she left. That incident had shaken her, and working on her self-defence again would rebuild her confidence. She didn’t want to freeze if she was ever attacked again.

Her subconscious told her that freezing like that had nothing to do with her ability to defend herself. She wanted to believe it, but she wasn’t there yet.

“When can I start working out?” she asked as they approached the front doors. “I need to work on my defence skills.”

Jackson studied her face as he held the door open for her. He still had a look on his face as if he was still trying to figure her out. Well, he would be trying forever. Even she wasn’t any closer to finding out how her mind worked sometimes.

“We can start tomorrow if you like,” Jackson said.

“Thank you.”

“Um... Let's get you a drink and see what’s for lunch.”

Jackson led her down a different hallway than usual, the same one Monica had dragged her down. She was surprised she didn’t even react to that, either. Not an ounce of fear, even when the images of Monica punching the side of her head filled her mind.

Maybe this was the next stage of her trying to process what she had gone through. Perhaps she was still numb, and it would hit her all at once when she wasn’t expecting it.

A mouth-watering smell came from a room at the end, pushing those thoughts aside. Her stomach growled as if she hadn’t eaten a good breakfast. She had told Jackson she was hungry just to hurry him out of the forest, but now the hunger came out of nowhere.

When Jackson pushed the door and walked in, she realised it was the kitchen. It was huge, almost as big as the hotel kitchen, and several men and women were running around cooking.

They all stopped and lowered their heads when they saw Jackson, reminding her that she had said she would act the same so she wouldn’t draw attention to herself. But these men and women were terrified. She could see it on their faces and in how they held themselves. One young girl dropped a plate, startling everyone, and a few of the cooks flinched at the loud noise.

The signs of abuse were everywhere. Maybe these people were prisoners like she was.

“Layla is hungry and thirsty,” Jackson said gruffly.

She could tell he was pissed off with them. He’d been so gentle with her since they had woken up that she had forgotten what he was like.

A tray full of food and a bottle of water was placed on the counter in front of them in record time, and Jackson picked it up and walked out of the room without looking back.

“Thank you,” she said, smiling at the young woman who’d given her the food.

Instead of smiling back, the woman ignored her and walked away. Rude. She shook her head and followed Jackson out. She was walking behind him and going up the stairs when she noticed how tense he was. His shoulders were set, and he was vibrating with something she couldn’t put her finger on.

It wasn’t anger but...

She cocked her head as she studied him. When Jackson reached the landing on their floor, he turned back, and something flashed in his eyes. Something red.

Her steps faltered. This wasn’t the first time she’d imagined seeing something in his eyes. She’d also seen it in the mean girls and put it down to drugs.

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