Page 137 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part Two

She wiped her eyes and stood before she turned.

And then she heard Jackson’s heart racing as he met her gaze. His body tensed, and his eyes flashed briefly.

“What happened?” she asked.

Jackson didn’t respond. He marched into the room and grabbed her hand before pulling her behind him.

Chase and Braxton stood near the doorway, their emotions all over the place as they looked at her.

It was only when she walked past a mirror in the hallway that she saw her eyes.

Chapter 67

Layla watched the pack gates get smaller in the mirror before disappearing completely. She sighed and looked at Jackson as he drove the car down the dirt road.

“If you are positive they won’t do anything, why are you taking me away?”

“They’re our allies, and they owe you their lives,” Jackson said. “Of course, they won’t do anything.”

“You said the lunch was important.”

“Not that important; I’ve discussed everything with them on the phone before, so I don’t need to be there. They’re worried about the Circle and the witch. Dylan can handle it.”

And yet his grip was tight on the steering wheel. What she had done had wound Jax up tighter than a spring.

“Why are you lying to me, Jackson?” she asked. “If you’re going to keep me at some other hideout like last time—”

“I’ll never do that to you again,” Jackson sighed. “And I’m not lying. Chase and Brax are your biggest fans; they wouldn’t hurt you.”

She looked back at the month-old baby sleeping in her car seat. Hope still had a month until what was supposed to be her due date, but no one would know it just by looking at her. She’d grown a lot, but she was still a helpless baby. This couldn’t be a life for her.

“I trust them,” Jackson continued, “but I don’t want to take any chances. Not when we’ve made it this far.”

“You can’t tell me I’m safe, and then the next minute drag me off as if I have to run for my life.”

“We’re not running for our lives.”

They were running. She could tell that Jackson was scanning the area around them for threats.

“Is this the life you want for our child?” she asked.

Jackson briefly met her gaze.

“No, it’s not,” he said after a while. “But she will be Queen one day, whether she likes it or not.”

She felt the raw emotions in his words. Was he regretting his decision to have a child? She had no idea what to think of that. Though she hadn’t thought of having children before Jackson approached her with his deal, she couldn’t imagine her life without Hope, sleepless nights and all.

She sighed and looked out the window as they drove out of the forest that had become her home. She had been terrified of being in it only nine months before, but now it was the most beautiful place in the world. She would miss it.

She must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew, they were driving through some high gates, and a familiar man was waving them through. The car went down a winding driveway towards a rambling modern farmhouse. It was as grand as the manicured ground it stood on. Like the other houses Jackson had taken her to, it was surrounded by woods, but she could hear the city sounds beyond it.

“Where are we?” she asked as she sat straight in her seat.

It was still afternoon so she knew she hadn’t slept that long. They had to be on the other side of the tracks in Wolfsdale, the side she never went to.

“My house,” Jackson answered as he stopped the car in front of the house next to two others.

“Just how many do you have?”

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