Page 53 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part Two

The doctor had kept his mouth shut about Layla since he had done the blood test. To be fair to him, since he had started taking care of Layla when she got pregnant, he hadn’t once shown his disgust with dealing with a half-blood.

Jackson didn’t let go of Layla’s hand. It felt like hours when the doctor finally took his gloves off and faced him.

“The baby's heartbeat is strong, and there’s no placental abruption or any other detachment,” the doctor said.

A weight lifted off his shoulders, and he let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding. Cain stopped howling, and the noise around him quietened.

“The bleeding could have been due to changes in the cervix, hormones or even sex,” the doctor continued. “She’ll need to be on bed rest, and it’s important to ensure she avoids stressful situations. I’ll monitor her a few times daily just to confirm, but I don’t think you should worry.”

The baby was fine.

They were all fine.

All the strength left his body as the shock started to wear off. Life was so fragile. He could have lost everything just like that.

"I'll bring one of the bigger ultrasound machines from the hospital in a couple of hours, but for now, she just needs to rest."

He covered Layla and then got onto the bed beside her. Layla wrapped her arms around him straight away, drawing comfort from him as he did from her.

The moment the doctor left, Dylan rushed in. He stopped before he reached the bed and seemed hesitant to get any closer until Layla reached her hand out to him.

Dylan met his gaze as if seeking permission, which he granted. It was only when Dylan knelt beside the bed and took his mate's hand in his that he realised that at some point since Layla had saved his life, the two had become real friends. Dylan hadn’t just been taking care of her out of a sense of duty.

Instead of angering him, his heart settled. Layla would still have someone to watch over her when he died.

"What did they do to you? You need to see the doctor," Layla said. “Both of you do.”

"It's just a flesh wound," Dylan lied.

Silver poisoning hurt like fuck, but Dylan put Layla first. It confirmed that he was making the right choice even though they hadn’t rebuilt their friendship. Now all he had to do was find a way to tell his Beta that his role in Layla’s life would be more permanent.

He had nine months.

Chapter 29

Layla wiped the steam off the mirror to look at her face. It was rounder than usual, but that was expected with pregnancy, she supposed.

It was also to be expected that she wasn’t allowed out of bed.

She rolled her eyes just before the knock came on the bathroom door. Wasn’t she allowed to soak in the tub in peace? She wrapped a towel around her hair and then grabbed another to dry her body. She stopped at her slightly rounded stomach and put her hand over it. As she did every morning, she silently begged for forgiveness from her unborn child.

And like every morning, she wasn’t sure what she was apologising for. From all the whispers she heard around the pack, she knew this child was causing waves. The future king or queen. Jackson’s heir. But she still couldn’t wholly reconcile with the fact that they expected her just to leave her baby.

The knock came again, drawing her out of her thoughts.

“Layla? Are you ready?”

She sighed and wrapped the towel around herself.

“Yes.”

The door opened, and Jackson walked in. He didn’t even look at her as he walked over to pick her up like a bride.

“You know when the doctor said bed rest—”

“I’m not arguing about this again,” Jackson said.

“I’m allowed to walk to the bathroom by myself. He even said I can go for walks now and again—”

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