Page 115 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part One

“You’ll probably still be scared,” she told her. “But you’ll get there; you’ll learn how things work and settle in. Then you’ll get used to it and wonder why you didn’t do it sooner.”

Faith smiled again.

“Thank you. Well, I better get back before Mum comes looking for me. Please eat your food before it gets cold.”

“Can I ask you something?”

The smile lost some of its shine. Maybe they had been warned against talking to her after all.

“Why were you all scared of Jackson yesterday?”

“He’s been furious after what happened to you,” Faith answered quietly. “You’re very lucky, you know. Jackson takes care of us, but I’ve never seen him do that for anyone. Some people think he went too far, but I think Laken deserved it.”

“What do you mean? What did Jackson do?”

“He... um. You’ll never see those people again. I’m sorry you went through that,” Faith said quickly, and then she turned to walk to the door. “I must go. They’re looking for me.”

By the time the door was locked again, Layla had more questions. How had Faith known they were looking for her? Was it the telepathy thing she’d wondered about before?

She went to the coffee table and uncovered her breakfast, another feast that she had never eaten before. There was too much to unpack in that casual conversation. First off, Faith believed Jackson was a good man. He took care of them all, just as he had promised to take care of Britney. And they were scared of him because he had done something to avenge her honour. What though? Were those men dead? What about Monica?

She hadn’t seen the other girls either since the night of the dinner. That girl who claimed she would be Jackson’s girlfriend had vanished into thin air.

And then the fact this was a packhouse. Packhouse! Because wolves lived in packs. And they had an Alpha who took care of them all.

They all turned into the monsters she had seen in the woods, like the ones that had been about to attack her. Was that dead monster part of the pack? That one had seemed different, not just in appearance. It had looked half-dead, and she could still smell it hours later. When it had bitten the other wolf’s side, she had been sure...

Her cutlery dropped to her plate, and her heart beat harder. She put her hand to her chest as if that would stop it from being so erratic. The drugs seemed to have worn off, but if there was ever a time she wanted something that put her on that safe, fluffy cloud, it was right then.

Because she kept seeing the way the smelly monster had bitten the bigger monster on the side. And she kept seeing the bloody dressing on Jackson’s side that morning, the one he had told her was just ‘a little accident’.

The scarier monster... The one with the red eyes... The one so full of darkness that she had felt it so deep within her... The bigger monster that had easily ripped the other one apart... That was Jackson.

Chapter 61

Jax chewed his food slowly. All his senses were alert as he paid attention to every little movement, every breath, the beating of their hearts.

He could smell the deceit in the air even if they hadn’t said or done anything. One wrong move would start a war. So why were they even going to attempt it?

He looked over at Chase as he cut up his breakfast and then shoved it into his mouth as if he didn't have a care in the world. So far, he had yet to say what was so important that he had repeatedly sent his scouts to his gates until he’d secured an invitation. What was his angle? Had he forced this invitation just to get on his property?

And then Kendrick. He sat quietly with Amber on one side and his Beta on the other. So far, his heart had been beating steadily, but Kendrick was the one he had to watch more closely.

Kendrick was vocal about his displeasure that he had the most extensive territory. He was vocal about the fact that he didn’t think they needed a king. The fucker was vocal about a lot of things, but just not to his face.

Chase pushed his plate away when he finished eating and wiped his mouth. He moved his untouched plate away and looked at the Alpha. Maybe they would finally get to the reason they were there, and he could kick them out before anything happened.

“Before the Circle interrupted our meeting, I told you some rogues ran through my land but didn’t attack or raid anything,” Alpha Chase said. “They ran through again that night, and we tried to stop them. There was something strange about them.”

“How so?”

He knew, but he wanted to know what the other Alpha saw.

“They just ran past us as if they couldn’t see us. Their eyes were... dead,” Chase said. “And then when they ran out to the forest, their tracks and scents just disappeared.”

Kendrick put his cutlery down to pay attention to the conversation. It appeared this was news to him, too. Maybe they hadn’t become as close as he’d suspected.

“That’s not possible,” Kendrick said.

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