Page 159 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part Two

“Why did you do that to me, Layla?” he whispered. “How am I supposed to live with myself now?”

She lifted her gaze to him, and all the remorse was gone. Her eyes glowed brighter than before.

“Because I would rather die with you than live without you. It was my decision to make.”

And she dropped her mask and allowed him to feel all those things. Her truth.

He had his lips back on her seconds later, unable to resist. They would have to discuss it when she had better control of her emotions. When she was less impulsive.

But until then...

He only made it to the first tree trunk in the woods beside the gates. Their looming death was forgotten the second he ripped her panties off and proceeded to fuck her for the first time as mates, enhanced senses and all. He hadn’t thought sex could get any better than what it already was, but as he lost himself in Layla, as he saw the stars and all the rainbows, he had to wonder again if there was any truth in Diedre’s words. Was Layla his saviour after all?

Chapter 77

Jackson watched the sleeping baby in his arms and blinked back his tears. He was leaving his precious little girl in chaos. All his efforts to find the witch had failed. She’d disappeared after Amber and Miss Roberts had failed. He assumed the witch knew there was no point now. She’d already achieved her goal of making the rest of his life miserable.

“I’m sorry, Hope,” he whispered. “I know you’ll become a better person than I was, even in any adversity. Do you know why? Because you also have your mother in you. You are going to be magnificent.”

The more he said it, the more he would believe it. But it was hard to see any such future in a helpless three-month-old.

“What the fuck was I thinking?”

His chest squeezed as it had done all day.

“It’s not your fault.”

He looked up to see his mate in the bathroom doorway, a vision in a green, body-hugging dress. It had thin straps, so his mark was on show. For a second, he felt pride in it. But he remembered it was nothing but a death sentence for the love of his life. She smiled at him, but even with her mask on, she couldn’t hide her emotions from him anymore. She was as cut up as he was.

He put Hope down in her car seat and stood.

“You look stunning,” he said as he walked over to her and took her hands.

He had been with Layla for so long, but this was only the second time he’d asked her to dress up. If they hadn’t been dying...

He pushed that thought aside and leaned over to kiss her. Tonight was not about that. Not yet, anyway.

“So do you,” she smiled shyly.

Since the day she’d revealed herself to the Circle, Layla had been struggling with the thought that the pack would reject Hope simply because of what her mother was. She’d gone back to the days she’d pretended to be submissive, lowering her gaze and being respectful to everyone.

“Let's get going. The sooner we get that out of the way, the sooner we can get back here.”

He led Layla back to the bed, and like the first time she had dressed up, he went down on his knees and helped her put her shoes on. And, like the first time, his mate’s breath caught, and her body heated up. Marking her was supposed to have dampened some of their reactions to each other, and in a way, it had. But cementing their bond had brought all their emotions alive.

Ironic, really.

When he stood, he picked up the car seat before taking Layla’s hand.

“Are you ready?”

Layla nodded. He took a deep breath to steel himself and then led his girls out of the house. The car was already waiting for them outside the packhouse. They stopped at the top step and looked up at the rising moon. The sun was still out, but he could already see the pinkish tinge forming on the moon as everything aligned for the lunar eclipse. The blood moon that had doomed him.

The drive out of the packhouse and into town was quicker than he wanted. The car stopped at the entrance to the town hall, and he had to take another breath. Everyone was already there. He’d put this off long enough; he had to do it. And he owed it to Layla.

Micah pulled the door open for him and bowed respectfully.

“Everything is ready for you, Alpha,” Micah said.

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