Page 118 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part Two

Dylan stopped at the foot of the bed and looked at the baby nursing in her arms. His emotions became mixed. She sensed a little happiness, but Dylan was also in a lot of pain.

“Her name is Hope,” Jackson said softly. “Do you want to hold her?”

Dylan shook his head and looked away from the baby.

“I have work to do. Maybe another time,” Dylan answered with a slight frown. “But congratulations to you both.”

Maybe something had happened between the two of them while she had been away. Jackson seemed disappointed with that response.

"You shouldn’t have told us not to go after Zach’s people; they could have led us to the witch,” Dylan continued. "They knocked Gavin out so he couldn't warn us and tied him up in silver. Those fuckers should be strung up."

"Is Gavin okay?" she asked.

She'd resented his role as her guard, but he was a good guy, and they'd lived together for months. One of Jackson’s lessons had been about silver poisoning, but she had no idea how much it damaged them.

“He’ll be fine. Don’t worry, Layla. I’ll take care of you and the little princess,” Dylan said gruffly.

What had happened to the man who used to sneak her out of her basement prison cell or visit her late at night to keep her company?

“I don’t understand how they knew the baby had been born. Micah handpicked the warriors himself; they’re not traitors,” Dylan continued.

“It was Amber.”

Both men turned to look at her. She knew no one else had seen her the first time because Faith hadn’t even heard them talking when she had walked in and found her in labour on the floor. But surely they’d smelled her the second time?

“She was here?” Jackson growled.

“It was very strange. The first time she walked into the bedroom when you were all looking for her, but she didn’t have a scent. She knew what was about to happen to you. She waited until it started, and that’s when my waters broke. She just disappeared like a ghost and went to tell them.”

“Did she hurt you?” Jackson growled again, his whole body tensing as his anger returned.

That was what worried him? What about the part where she’d disappeared like a ghost?

“Not the first time. She came back with Zack, and they were quite friendly with each other. She claimed she would be Luna when Zach became Alpha.”

“And then she hurt you?”

That was the only part Jackson fixated on.

“It didn’t hurt,” she lied. “But I couldn’t fight back. Then she threatened Hope, and I was about to fight her when you showed up. She jumped out of the window.”

The muscle in Jackson’s jaw ticked as he gently released her. He met Dylan’s gaze before he got off the bed.

“I’ll go. I’ll track her,” Dylan said. “You need to keep your family safe and recover. This shit isn’t going to stop.”

His family.

A warm glow filled her with those words. Jackson turned back to her as if he could sense it, and some of his anger melted away.

“Let me do this for you, Jax. Let me try to fix this.”

Dylan’s voice was raw, and the emotion that accompanied it brought her attention back to him. Why was her friend so sad?

“Okay,” Jackson said after a pause. “I trust you. Find that bitch, and I’ll stay with my girls.”

His girls.

The glow returned.

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