Page 115 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part Two

“They are not part of this. You’ve done enough,” she whispered.

His eyes flashed and then returned to their usual ice blue. His hand shook as he lifted it to her face and gently palmed her bruised face.

Her tears started to fall freely. Jackson. Her prayers had been answered. She couldn't live without this man. She wouldn’t. She would not let him cast her aside when he had just proved he was the air she breathed. Somehow, she would make him love her, too.

Chapter 57

Jackson gently wiped the tears off Layla’s reddened cheek. The scent of her blood filled the air as it dripped from her nose and mouth. Her eyes were already swelling shut.

But she was alive.

His heart was still in his mouth, drowning out the sound of anything else. He’d thought Ryker had done something to her. He’d thought he wouldn’t make it to her on time. His body was still trembling with the shock of it.

If he’d lost her...

The red haze covered his vision again as he looked at the people behind her. He’d ordered them to stay, and they’d fallen to their knees. They shook visibly, their eyes glued to their fallen comrades. Gina was among them. The woman was still grieving her parents but should not have gotten involved with Zach. The consequences were on her. He would defend what was his until the day he died.

A growl came from deep within him, from the place his vengeance lay, and made the traitors whimper and lower their gazes.

“Shh. I’m okay,” Layla whispered, even as the tears continued to fall down her cheeks. “And you’re okay. I thought you were dead...”

She wasn’t masking herself anymore. He could feel everything, and it floored him. Her emotions, her wolf’s and Cain’s emotions all mixed in with his, and he didn’t have the strength to stop them.

His mate was alive.

He pulled her into his arms and closed his eyes as he buried his nose in her neck. Her scent was back. He inhaled it as if it were his life force, and perhaps it was. He’d lost his battle with Fate long before the day he’d failed to reject her.

“Tell them to go back home,” Layla whispered.

He tightened his hold around her and scraped his teeth against the spot he’d dreamed of marking since the day he’d met her. Layla shivered in his arms and brought her arms around his neck.

“They’re scared,” Layla whispered again.

“They should be,” he growled. “They’ve forgotten who I am. Traitors have no place in my pack.”

More whimpers. More fear in the air, overpowering Layla’s sweet scent and ruining the moment for him. He'd fought a great battle to return to his mate. The dark magic still lingered within him even though Cain was fighting hard to destroy it.

“They were scared even before you came. They didn’t want to be here.”

He opened his eyes and looked at the people behind his mate. She was doing it again. She was saving people who didn’t deserve to be saved, protecting them like she already had a bond with them as their Queen.

“They stood by and let you get hurt, Layla. I can’t let them leave.”

Cain was waiting to avenge his mate, and he wouldn’t stop him. There were already enough people he had let go who would become a problem for Layla when he died.

Layla put her hands on either side of his face and looked him right in the eyes. Looked Cain right in the eyes. The beast took his attention from the traitors and concentrated on the woman they loved.

“You’ve done enough,” she repeated. “Give them a chance to show you they are not traitors. Please. I won’t be able to live with myself if you killed anyone else just because of me.”

Just because of her?

After what he had done to Zack and his men, did she still believe she was insignificant? He would raze the whole world to keep her safe.

But it was a request from his mate, and he was powerless to deny her.

‘Foolish woman,’ Cain grumbled, but even he retreated.

He pulled her back into his arms and looked at the people his mate had spared. There were ten of them there, but he knew the group had grown bigger over the months. He knew them all. Between chasing down the witch and watching Layla, he’d kept an eye on the enemies in his pack. He would still have to punish them for their actions.

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