Page 50 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part Two

The other wolves came closer while the others tried to open the car doors.

“She hasn’t done anything wrong. Take it out on me,” he urged them.

“Oh, they will,” Zach laughed as another punch caught him on the other side of his face.

“We trusted you!”

“They will never come back to us!”

“Our children were never meant to go through the same things your father put us through!”

All true. He took every hit in silence and hoped their anger would pass before they got to Layla. Neither he nor Cain would let that happen. He didn’t want to hurt his pack anymore, but there would be no other option if they put a hand on Layla.

And through all the punches and kicks, he heard Layla’s sniffles in the car. He heard her call for them to stop hurting him. He heard her pound on the windows, screaming.

“Stay in the car, Layla. I’m okay,” he grunted as he spat some blood out of his mouth.

“No, you’re not okay,” Zach laughed.

His right-hand man dragged over a heavy barrel from the driveway and tipped it at his feet. Large silver chains spilt out and landed on his bare feet. He pulled away out of habit and looked up at Zach.

So this was how they meant to contain him? Had they not figured it out yet? When he’d had to defend himself against his father the day he’d ended Richard’s life, had they not realised that silver hadn’t worked then either?

The pack members continued to assault him while others tried to break the car's windows. It was a bulletproof, armoured truck he'd commissioned to withstand most attacks because of the constant threat of Hunters. It would hold long enough for the pack’s anger to fizzle out. Despite all their anger and frustrations, they were still wolves. Their wolves still recognised him as their Alpha even if they didn’t want him.

Maybe it was a good thing this was happening. It was like a cleansing of sorts. Perhaps they could then grieve together and learn to move on.

He was lost in this thought when he felt a blow sharper than any other at the side of his head. Blood started to drip into his eyes as he staggered back into the car. Zach’s right-hand man wore rubber gloves and wrapped the silver chains around his huge fist.

It was apparent the man wanted him dead as much as Zach did. He must have realised that their failure would mean death.

He was about to push himself off the car to defend himself when the door opened, and Layla got out.

“Stop!” she screamed as she rushed over to stand in front of him.

No!

He’d told her to stay in the car!

For the first time since he’d told her they had to leave, he felt fear stab through him.

The pack members, hungry for revenge, grabbed Layla and tried to pull her away from him. He pulled her to his body and flipped them around against the car so he could use his body as a shield.

“What have you done?” he hissed.

Everything had changed now. He was going to have to defend his mate against the rest of the people he had sworn to protect.

His mate trembled, and her fear coloured the air, but as she touched the blood on his face, he realised that she wasn’t thinking of herself. He would have been fucking murderous if the tables were turned and he’d had to watch her getting beaten up. She couldn’t help their bond any more than he could. It had forced her to come out to protect him.

He should have told her to close her eyes. Fuck.

Her hand shook as she looked at the blood on her fingers. The metallic scent of his blood filled his nose.

Not just his blood. He sniffed the air, and his brows furrowed as he looked at the woman in front of him. And then he took a step back and lowered his gaze, hoping against hope that he was wrong.

But he wasn’t.

There was a red stain between her legs.

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