Page 100 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part One

He rubbed his tired face and sat back in his chair.

The most annoying part was that Cain was right. He was the king, but the moment he’d decided to leave his child as a legacy, he’d become too scared to step on anyone’s toes. Was he even doing the right thing? His child would never know him. They would grow up with only stories about him, and those were not the stories he wanted his children to learn.

But Layla... Layla didn’t know any of these stories. Layla wouldn’t tell the child what a monster he’d been. She wouldn’t tell the child how many throats he’d ripped out, how many limbs he’d scattered in all corners of the world.

But Layla would have her own issues to deal with. Maybe she had already started dealing with them.

How the hell did someone ignore a big, bright-as-fuck red wolf standing right in front of them?

A knock on the door distracted him from that unwelcome thought.

“Yes.”

Micah walked in with another warrior, their heads lowered. Not because they respected him but because they were scared. Why did Micah need to see him with someone else at his side? He’d never done that before.

“Sorry to disturb you, Alpha. Beta Dylan has gone to the hospital with those kids.”

If Cain hadn’t retreated, he would have had something to say about his best friend taking care of the traitors.

“I’ve asked the doctor to arrange their transportation as soon as they are stable enough to travel. They’ll go to... to the pack Cassandra now lives with.”

He didn’t miss the hesitation in his head warrior’s tone. He didn’t want the beast to know where his daughter was. But didn’t he already know? Cain had their scent. He could find them anywhere.

“Okay,” he said.

“Alpha Chase is still demanding an audience with you. His scouts returned to the gates as soon as the Circle left,” Micah continued.

“Tell him I’ll meet him tomorrow.”

That arrogant wolf wouldn’t stop until he knew what had happened in the meeting with the Circle and why he had a human on his land. He would have to get Chase on board if he wanted to keep the truce between them. For his child’s sake. For the pack’s sake, when they lost their Alpha.

“Have there been any more sightings of the rogues? I find it odd that they attacked two days in a row and then nothing.”

“I don’t think they will come near us now. I can sense the Circle’s magic all around our land,” Micah said.

Magic that hadn’t worked on the red wolf. He wouldn’t rely on anything that had already failed on the first day.

“Keep the patrols up, just in case. Tell Diedre to come and see—”

What was that? Was Layla in trouble?

He stood and opened up his senses to search for her heartbeat. It was steady, as it had been all day. But she wasn’t where she was supposed to be.

“Alpha?”

He ignored Micah and rushed out of his office. Once he was in the lobby, Layla’s sweet scent hit his nose. She’d come down recently, maybe twenty minutes or so before. How had he been so distracted that he hadn’t noticed? He followed the scent to the door and growled. Perhaps the question should have been how she had gone all the way downstairs without anyone stopping her.

“The human went outside, Alpha. We were told to let her roam freely, though most of the pack is still apprehensive about her connection to the rogues.”

Let his little runner roam freely? Fuck.

He wrenched the door open and ignored the trainees as he followed his nose. She’d gone up the same trail. Was she running away again? After everything he had done to keep her safe? After he’d gone against the Circle? No. He would lock her up forever if he had to. Chain her up to his bed as he had threatened before.

They had been getting on so well. How could she think she could just up and leave?

Before he even reached the woods, he sensed a presence in there that made his blood run cold. He whipped his t-shirt off and shucked his sweatpants as he ran, and shifted the second he reached the trees.

The scent...

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