Page 58 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part Two

Chase stopped playing with the grass and looked up at him. That was the first time he had ever managed to shock the Alpha speechless.

Chapter 31

Jackson took another moment to regain his strength before he started walking home. Blood oaths required powerful magic; they tended to take a lot out of the people who did them.

It had taken too long to convince Chase that it was the right thing to do, and in doing so, he may have said too much. Chase probably thought he’d gone mad, but there had also been a small amount of pity in the air. At least it was done now. Layla and his child would have someone else protecting them besides Dylan, Diedre and Micah.

But he’d been out too long. His anxiety had been a bitch lately, especially with him waiting for the doom he was sure was coming. He didn’t like being away from Layla.

It took him longer than he wanted to walk back to his territory. He’d never done a blood oath with anyone before, so he hadn’t expected it to knock Cain off his feet and make him feel weak. He was about to walk out of the forest when he caught a weak scent in the breeze.

He tensed and sniffed the air. With Cain out of commission, his senses weren’t as strong as they were supposed to be.

Nothing. There was nothing in the breeze, but he’d been sure... Had Amber tried to enter his territory again? He’d slaughtered most of her old pack, so had she come to look for revenge?

More strength drained from him, reminding him he was still out of his territory and open game to anyone who decided to challenge or attack him. He needed to get back to Layla and rest until he recovered. If Amber was the one sniffing around, she wouldn’t make it past his gates.

The guard opened the gate for him without a word again, and he started the long trek back to the packhouse. He forced himself to stay upright because he was still in enemy territory. Even Zach could sneak up on him and hurt him if he sensed any weakness. Because until he fixed this mess, they were all still his enemy. By now, the whole pack had to realise they had done and said some messed-up shit in front of Layla. If he didn’t fix things, his pack would be the first to rip her apart so she wouldn’t take their secrets back to her world.

It was only when he closed the packhouse gates that he allowed himself to lean on them for a moment and catch his breath.

Had he done the right thing? Chase wasn’t an enemy, but if he decided to take over the pack when he died, there would be nothing he could do about it from his grave. That Alpha was just as capable of fucking up his pack as his enemies were. All he had to do was make sure the people he had named were safe so he wouldn’t break his blood oath.

Still, that was only the first step. He had more than enough money to hide Layla and Britney away anywhere in the world. It was time he started preparing for that, even if the thought brought him pain.

By the time he opened the door to his bedroom, he was ready to drop. He vaguely sensed some uneasiness in the air. Layla had a book on her lap, but she was tense and didn’t look like she was actually reading it. Dylan sat beside the bed, arms crossed, his gaze on Layla.

“What’s going on?”

Layla looked up at him with a tight smile.

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing, as always,” she answered.

Dylan sighed and stood.

“I’ll be back tomorrow, Layla. And the day after and the one after that,” Dylan said.

It sounded like a warning.

He watched his Beta walk towards him and cursed that he couldn’t pick up anything besides the basic emotions. What the hell had happened while he was gone?

“Can we talk later, Alpha?”

They needed to, especially after what he had just done. He’d told someone else something he should have confided to Dylan first.

But Chase wasn’t going to run himself ragged trying to find a way to break the curse. Chase wouldn’t break down just because he knew his King was dying. Despite the wall between them, Dylan would still give his life for him. He didn’t want to watch that for the next few months. It was bad enough watching Diedre.

“Maybe later. I need to rest.”

Dylan sniffed the air and frowned. He knew he had Chase’s scent all over him. The Alpha had gone down like a sack of beans when their blood had bound, and he’d had to use his limited energy to carry him back to his gates first.

“What did you do?” Dylan asked.

“He’s fine,” he answered.

Did Dylan still think he was killing people for no reason? Even if he was going a little bit mad like his father, there was a method to his madness. Finn wasn’t the last person who would meet his end at his hands.

Dylan’s head cocked to the side as if he was trying to read him.

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