Page 143 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part Two

“I’m not so sure. You have red hair and green eyes, and so does Hope. Your sister looks like your father, and I don’t sense anything different in her,” Jackson said. “It’s a full moon tonight, so if it was going to happen, Britney would have started feeling it by now. I think you have to prepare yourself.”

“Mum said she will be like me.”

“I guess we’ll just have to wait. Stop worrying, Layla. She’ll be okay either way,” Jackson said as he pulled her into his arms. “We haven’t had a chance to enjoy anything normal since we got together. Why don’t we just enjoy that and deal with whatever comes after?”

The guys came around the house after making sure everything was still secure. She turned to watch Britney and saw her eyes light up briefly when she saw Josh. But the young warrior looked at Jackson and whispered something to the rest of the guys before he walked back the way he had come. Brit’s sadness hit her hard. She looked up at Jackson, hoping he would make the situation better.

“It’s for her own good,” Jackson said. “I won’t be able to protect her from the Circle if she finds out about us.”

She sighed and pushed out of his arms so she could go and sit with her girls. Jackson was right, and whatever crush Brit had would probably fizzle out the way all the others had, but she still didn’t want to see Brit hurting.

It was probably the most miserable party she’d ever been to. The guys manned the barbeque and drank beers while she attended to the baby and tried to cheer Brit up. She even allowed her to have a beer to mark her eighteenth. But as the night grew closer, she got sucked deeper into her depression. Her wolf side was taking it as hard as she was. Though she was still unsure what the best option for Brit would be, her wolf side was certain Brit was meant to be with her.

“Come dance with me.”

She looked up to see Jackson had come to stand next to her chair. He looked carefree for the first time since she had met him. There was a smile on his face, a beer in his hand, and he was wearing casual shorts and a t-shirt as if he wasn’t a King or the owner of a five-star hotel. And he looked nothing like the man she had seen kill Zach and his friends right in front of her.

She wanted that. She wanted to forget her worries for a moment and create memories that would last a lifetime.

With a smile, she handed the baby to Brit and took Jackson’s hand. He helped her up and then led her closer to the speakers before he turned around and pulled her into his arms.

“Relax,” Jackson whispered.

She met his gaze and got lost in his eyes. It wasn’t that Jackson was free from all the worries; she could see all of them in the depths of his icy blue eyes. But he had put them in this bubble away from all the shit so they could do this.

Get lost in each other’s eyes. Spend hours in the pool or lounging in the sun. Read. Hours lost in each other’s bodies.

He had done all that for her, but she still couldn’t shake off the feeling that the worst was still to come.

Jax put her hands on his shoulder and started to move. And she became lost in the moment. Maybe it was a good thing that Brit didn’t have a wolf because she wouldn’t have to feel so strongly. She loved Jax with an intensity that took her breath away, and she knew when she had to leave him, she wouldn’t survive. It wasn’t normal.

She plastered her body against his and tightened her hold on him. The ever-present tingles licked her whole body as they swayed to the soft music. She lost track of time as she allowed herself to dream that this was what her life would be like forever.

Only when she felt the tingles at the back of her neck did she stop moving and look back at the woods.

Her mother was there.

“Invite her over,” Jackson said.

Was he crazy? Her eyes widened as she turned back to face him. They were not at that stage yet. She couldn’t sit down with Rebecca and pretend everything was okay.

“You might need her,” Jackson said.

“Not today!” she hissed.

Jackson sighed and put his hands on her shoulders.

“Maybe not today. It could be tomorrow; it could be next month. If anything happens to me, I want you to have someone to turn to who knows what's going on,” he said quietly.

And that serious look was back on his face. She wanted to believe it was because he’d just been reminded of the trials ahead of them, but her instincts told her otherwise. That wasn’t the first time Jackson had spoken like he expected them to separate.

Her chest tightened as she turned back to look at the woods.

“Sure. Why not? Let’s invite Mother dearest to this wonderful party,” she said tightly before walking towards the trees.

Rebecca came out from behind a tree trunk wearing a different dress, one that looked expensive, but still barefoot.

“I don’t want to intrude,” Rebecca said.

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