Page 19 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part Two

And just like that, he knew Dylan wasn’t ready to deal with the truth. If he knew what Layla was going through...

“I don’t know if I will ever forget what you did, Dylan,” he told him honestly. “I can’t sit here and drink with you as if everything is okay.”

Dylan nodded and put his glass down on the table.

“I understand,” he said. “Everything that happened is my fault, so I know I can never make up for that. I’ll do my best as your Beta. That’s all I can offer anyone right now. I’ll go and find out if there were any survivors in the Silver Oak Pack.”

The Silver Oak Pack. If he never set foot on that land again, it would be too soon. How could they continue to plague him from their graves?

“Keep it to yourself. I’ve caused enough problems for the pack. I’ll fix this myself before we get attacked again.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

When Dylan left, he picked up the bottle and poured another shot. He would have to find out about red wolves himself. Had Layla healed his wolves or not? And if she had, what did it mean for her?

Chapter 11

Jackson stood on his balcony with his hands in his pocket and his senses reaching out as far as possible. It had been three weeks since the attack, and he hadn’t slept much.

“We have to do it,” someone whispered.

“He just ripped apart a whole pack less than a month ago. You’re all crazy right now. Keep me out of it.”

“Didn’t you hear what that woman said? We’re putting our lives on the line for a fucking rogue.”

“If that were true, the Circle would have come back by now. That woman was full of shit.”

The whispers were coming from deep in the woods, far enough away that other people couldn’t hear them. It had been like this since the shock of the attack had worn off. They were unhappy and planning something.

Most of the conversations were had silently between two individuals because none of this treasonous shit could be discussed in the packlink where he could hear them. But lately, the group had become big enough to sneak off in the middle of the night to make their plans.

The old him would have already killed them.

“I vote we wait for the Circle to come back. We don’t stand a chance on our own.”

“He killed an Alpha and then a whole pack, but the Circle hasn’t stepped foot back here even once. Fuck the Circle. We can poison his food to weaken him and do the job ourselves.”

“I heard he can withstand silver.”

“That’s fucking impossible.”

He sighed and looked up at the sky as it started to lighten and the stars started to disappear. The nights felt too long lately. Way too long. And the days were spent figuring out how many people wanted to kill him.

“We can kill him the same way he killed his father. Break his neck and then do it. But we would have to kill his Beta and Head Warrior, too. They are too loyal to him.”

That voice he recognised. Zach was becoming a pain with his constant power grabs.

He waited until the meeting finished just to make sure that day wasn’t the day he died, and then when they had snuck back to their homes, he walked back into his room and looked at his still tidy bed. Layla hadn’t shared the bed with him that long, but he still couldn’t bring himself to sleep in it.

Damn woman. Why did she have to ruin everything?

He sat on one of the sofas and waited patiently until the sun came up and there was activity in the house. And when the smell of breakfast drifted to his room, he stood and walked out of the room. It was his routine now.

Curse Layla. Worry. Eavesdrop. Curse Layla again. Make his own cup of coffee and then head out into the forest to look for the red wolf.

He should have swallowed his pride and asked more questions that day because the red wolf had kept herself hidden the whole time. But she was still there. Even if she remained in the shadows, he could still feel her anger towards him.

Why wasn’t she coming out? He had so many questions and couldn’t find the answers. The people who had woken up mysteriously healed were living their lives as usual. It hadn’t been a fluke, and there was still no trace of magic on them.

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