Page 36 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part One

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the pocket knife Jackson had used to free her from the truck. Instead of showing any fear that she had evened the playing field, the girls laughed and advanced on her at the same time.

She’d had a lesson like this in her self-defence class about what to do when a group ganged up on her. She punched at one, elbowed another and then kicked the third, but the girls barely staggered back. She swung again, making sure to hit the solar plexus and then a swift punch in the throat of the girl who had dragged her there. The girl doubled over, but it didn’t give her much of an opening before her friend wrapped her arm around her neck. Her powerful arm.

Panic set in when she realised they could easily put her to sleep and get rid of her while she was defenceless. She gripped the knife and stabbed it downwards as hard as possible. Warm blood seeped between her fingers as she twisted the knife. She didn’t know if she hit the girl’s thigh or groin, but the girl screamed and let her go, giving her an opening to run to the door again.

“You’re dead!” the girl screamed.

She recovered quicker than expected. Only seconds, and all three of them were already on her tail. The door was just within her grip when they reached her again, and this time, when she went down, she banged her head on the concrete floor. Her vision swam before she saw two of each girl.

“You’re weak and pathetic. You’re not worthy of being here or sharing Jackson’s bed,” the more vicious girl hissed as she pulled her up by her hair.

Something odd started happening to the girl’s face. Her eyes... They looked like they were glowing, but it may have been the millions of stars she saw in her vision as the pain in her skull increased.

One day. She had lasted just a day and was about to die in this cult.

She closed her eyes and waited for the final blow, but the door slammed open a second later. She opened her eyes just as the girl dropped her to the ground and hurried away.

Dylan stood in the doorway. Jackson’s boyfriend, or whatever the hell he was. The person who had bruised her and threatened her that morning.

She hadn’t been saved; she’d been condemned to a worse fate.

Chapter 20

Jackson looked up at the broken security camera perched high over his wall and the footprints leading from the wall and back over.

Whoever it was hadn’t gone far. His defences were better than a wall and flimsy camera, and the suicidal wolf must have realised that and turned back. But the fact that he had even dared to try had Cain ready to rampage. Again.

Rogues always tried to breach their boundaries, but Cain, as territorial as he was, always got excited because it meant he could go hunting. But now he was in a rage, just because his mate was within these walls and his over-protectiveness had gone into overdrive.

And because he had refused to leave his mark on her.

Pulling himself away from Layla before he’d bitten her had nearly killed him. He'd lost his head when he’d fucked her. He’d gone all-in, and she had taken all of it without inhibitions. Human or not, she had handled Cain better than anyone he had ever been with.

And she’d loved it.

She’d loved every second of it.

He’d been thinking of when he would get to do it again, even as he had found his release inside her. But that moment when Cain had taken over and almost bit her had reminded him of his dire situation. No attachments. No marking.

And now, he’d probably only sleep with her when necessary. He couldn’t return to her bed until she was ripe for his seed.

“We tracked him to the river and then lost his trail,” Dylan said. “I don’t know if he had anything to do with the scouts attacked this morning; he might have followed them back.”

If Cain had been there, he wouldn’t have gotten away. Dylan didn’t say it out loud, but he could hear the accusation in his tone.

“I’ve told you that you need to fix these situations without me, Dylan. What would happen if I wasn’t here?” he said as he turned away from the fence. “Everyone will look to you to keep them safe.”

“His trail vanished when he got out of the river. I couldn’t catch his scent. I’ve got warriors going up and down the bank on the other side to try and pick it up again, but Jax... You know no one can track as well as you do.”

They would have to know how to protect the pack without him by the end of the year, especially since they would then have his heir to care for. Dylan had to do better; there was no choice. That was why he’d already started delegating more tasks to him so he would be prepared.

“Make sure you find the trail, Dylan. Then find the bastard who dared to enter my domain and deal with him.”

He whipped his t-shirt off and shucked his sweats.

“Are you going hunting?” Dylan asked.

“No. Just for a run. It’s a beautiful day.”

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