Page 96 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part One

But on the other hand, this was for the best. The only reason she wasn’t dead was he’d insisted to the Circle that she hadn’t seen anything. If she started asking people about the big red wolf in the forest, then everyone would know their secret was out. She wouldn’t walk out of the compound alive after she gave birth.

He followed and saw she had already settled herself in front of the television and was flipping through channels.

“I won’t take long,” he said.

When she’d first arrived, he would have just walked out and locked the door without another thought. Now he was acting as if they were in a real relationship.

“Okay.”

And then she smiled that odd, fake smile she’d given him a few times now. Layla was not pleased.

But this had to be done. He couldn’t babysit her all the time when there was so much danger around her.

He walked towards the door without another word. He’d find Dylan first and—

Dylan was leaning against the wall outside his room when he walked out. He’d been too busy worrying about what was happening to sense him. He was off his game.

“What are you doing up here?” he asked as he quickly shut the door and walked towards him. “Did you find it?”

“No. Nothing. There weren’t even any tracks to follow,” Dylan said.

He led his Beta further away from his room in case Layla could hear them.

“Are you sure it was red?” Dylan asked. “That’s more worrying than the rogues breaking in.”

“Definitely red.”

Like Layla’s hair. With Layla’s eyes.

He looked back at the bedroom door and almost kicked himself for not seeing it sooner.

“You should have gone after it, Alpha. That was more important than exposing yourself to a human,” Dylan said.

He could tell how much it took for Dylan to say that to him. His Beta had been more nervous around him lately. They all were. The Omegas in the kitchen had reeked of fear, and that pissed him off more than anything.

‘Kill one pack member, and suddenly you’re the devil,’ Cain muttered in his head.

“I need you to find Layla’s mother.”

That request made his Beta look up at him questioningly, and then his irritation came though glaringly clear.

“There is chaos around you, but you’re locking yourself in your room. You’ve had the Circle instil fear into everyone this morning if they even look at Layla funny,” Dylan hissed. “We need to get rid of her, Jax. You’re not yourself, and it’s fucking everything up.”

He looked away and clenched his fists. Before Layla, he would have been the one saying these things. He would have been the one getting rid of all the threats. He wished he could tell his friend why it wasn’t possible, but it was too soon. There were still eleven months until his birthday. Eleven months of seeing a preview of his funeral every time he looked at his face. Eleven months for the news to slip out and to watch chaos descend on them.

“Not yet,” he growled.

He meant he couldn’t tell him yet, but by the look of relief on Dylan’s face, he knew his Beta took it differently.

“So when? When will I get to kill her? Waiting for her to get pregnant isn’t an option.”

He looked back at his bedroom door before he pulled Dylan towards the stairs.

‘Dylan, I promise I will tell you everything as soon as I can. She’s here for the good of the pack. You just have to trust me,’ he said in the mind link. ‘You have to take care of her. I’m asking as your friend, not your Alpha.’

Were they even still friends at this point? He wasn’t sure anymore. There was no more trust between them, but Dylan was still the only one he could ask to help raise his child with Diedre.

Dylan gave him that look again, the one that said he had lost his mind.

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