Page 52 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part Two

“Get the fucking doctor!” Micah ordered.

The murmuring and movement started behind him again, but he tuned it out.

“Jax?”

Bleeding. Something was wrong with the baby. And Layla. They had both fallen into these overwhelming emotions he couldn’t pull out of.

“Jax.”

He turned to Dylan when he felt his hand on his shoulder again.

“Carry Layla to bed. The doctor is on his way,” Dylan said softly. “I’ll come up with him.”

Yes. The doctor was trained for this. He would know what to do.

He picked Layla up and tried to focus on her face instead of what he suspected was happening to the baby. She hadn’t stopped trembling since she had come out of the car, and now her face was pale. Her heartbeat drowned out the little one that he was desperately clinging to. And it wasn’t just her heart; he heard his own beating just as loud.

He started to walk slowly so he wouldn’t jolt her, just in case. The people set on killing them parted to give him way.

“Everyone get out. The packhouse is off-limits unless we have an emergency,” Dylan said. “Zach, if you so desperately want to be an Alpha, you’re more than welcome to leave the pack right now and start your own. Otherwise, shut the fuck up, stop stirring shit and wait for me at your house.”

There was a pause, and he sensed them all watching him. There was a hint of pity in the air that he shut out when he felt it. He didn’t need anyone’s pity. The baby was fine.

“I understand how you feel, and I know you’re all upset about what happened with the Circle, but everything will be as it should be once the baby is born. Layla hasn’t done anything wrong here.”

The words brought him comfort at first. Dylan sounded so sure that the baby would be okay. But what if it wasn’t? What if he had fucked up too much in his life that he wouldn’t even be allowed to hold his flesh and blood before he died?

The pain lanced through him and his steps faltered.

“Will the human leave?” someone asked.

“Yes.”

The pain cut him in half. For Dylan to give that answer so easily...

But the tension in the room started decreasing. Maybe it was for the best. Revealing Layla was carrying the future heir would put her in more danger from outside packs and Zach and his followers, but he wanted to believe the rest of the pack were decent enough not to hurt her.

If they didn’t lose the baby.

His heart squeezed in his chest, and his step faltered again as he approached the door to the basement.

“I will handle any fallout from what happened with the Circle,” Dylan continued.

“And I’m imposing a curfew...”

He tuned Micah out when the Head Warrior started barking orders. He concentrated on his steps and Layla’s face. And that faint heartbeat.

The house was still empty when he walked through it and started to go up the stairs.

“Am I still... Can you hear the baby?” Layla whispered.

He met her gaze. Her eyes had lost that spark that always drew him to her. This was his fault. Again. He’d put too much stress on her. He’d kept her in a fucking cell just because she’d broken his heart. He was a bastard and didn’t deserve her.

“I can. It’s strong,” he lied.

Could she not hear it? Or, like him, all she could hear now was her heartbeat eclipsing anything else?

By the time he lay her down on his bed, he sensed the doctor and Dylan rushing up the stairs. He took Layla’s hand and waited. It was only for seconds but that was the longest wait of his life. The doctor rushed in, placing his medical bag and equipment down before examining Layla. And then waiting for the verdict became the longest wait in his life. Doctor Richards used human methods as well as wolf methods, all the while speaking calmly to Layla.

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