Page 144 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part Two

“I find that hard to believe,” she said. “Where did you get the dress?”

Rebecca smoothed down the silk of the silky green summer dress that brought out her eyes even in the dying light. Her mother looked like some sort of ethereal beauty. If those were the changes Brit had seen in her, then no wonder she suspected something had happened.

“Someone left their dry-cleaning in their car while they were carrying groceries in,” Rebecca smiled. “I haven’t worn anything pretty in...”

She didn’t want to hear the sob stories. She turned to walk back to the party and saw the guards had abandoned their drinks and were alert. Their confusion was understandable; she couldn’t sense anything from Rebecca, so she must have masked herself.

“Mum!”

Brit stood and set Hope down in the bassinet they had brought out before she rushed to meet them. It was the first genuine smile she had seen on her sister’s face in days, and that broke her heart.

Standing with Brit and Rebecca, she could see why Jackson believed Brit wouldn’t turn. She and her mother dwarfed the delicate-looking girl.

“I didn’t know you were coming,” Brit said.

“I didn’t want to miss any more birthdays,” Rebecca said with a smile.

“Do you want a beer? Or something else?” Brit asked.

“A beer sounds good.”

Brit smiled back and rushed to the coolers. Despite her sister insisting she didn’t want anything for her birthday, she had gone crazy shopping online to try to find the perfect present. But it seemed her mother was still the best present.

She could understand why Brit would accept her back so quickly. She hadn’t been the one who’d had to drop out of school. She hadn’t been the one who’d gone hungry so her sister could eat. She hadn’t been the one to work herself to the bone in dead-end jobs. But it still hurt to see Brit brush all of that aside.

Half an hour later, Rebecca seemed to have settled in as if she had always been part of the group. Layla’s mood sank even lower.

She looked up at the full moon in the sky and then at Brit, who was busy telling her mother about some of her friends at school, clearly unaffected by its pull. The four warriors had already succumbed; she could sense them running in the woods. But Jackson didn’t seem affected. And to think about it, neither did she. The moon had never been anything other than the moon, even when all the weird things had started happening to her.

“Shall we head to bed?” Jackson asked.

She was snuggled next to him, sitting far from Brit and Rebecca. She hadn’t joined the conversation but wasn’t ready to leave Brit alone. What if she somehow convinced Rebecca to take her along?

“I’m not yet tired,” she answered.

“I think Hope is ready for her bed,” Jackson said.

“Can I hold her before you take her in?” Rebecca asked.

Her eyes were so hopeful. She shook her head but could sense Jackson’s emotions, so she knew that Jackson wouldn’t have a problem with that. She stood quickly before he made a decision that would piss her off further and picked Hope out of her bassinet.

“No, sorry. It’s way past her bedtime,” she told Rebecca. “Goodnight, Brit.”

Jax sighed as if he had expected a different answer but stood and followed behind her after bidding them a good night.

She had just started going up the stairs when his phone rang. She turned back, worry replacing her confusing feelings about Rebecca. It was the middle of the night on a full moon. The pack was supposed to be out running, so that meant something had happened.

Jax was tense when he put the phone to his ear. She opened up her senses so she could eavesdrop on the conversation.

“Yes?” he answered.

“It’s Diedre,” Dylan said on the other end. “You should come home.”

Chapter 70

It was still dark when he stopped the car outside the packhouse and mindlinked Dylan to help Layla with Hope and their bags.

Guilt was eating him up. His heart raced, and Cain howled loudly in his head. Diedre was the closest thing to a mother that they had. He’d seen how bad she had been; he shouldn’t have left her. She should have been surrounded by the people she loved the most.

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