Page 81 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part Two

“I heard you fighting, and I knew there were too many of them—”

“You’re carrying my child,” he growled.

Layla looked at her feet. Her silky red curls fell to cover her face.

“I’m sorry.”

“You could have died,” he growled again.

And that, more than anything else, made him angrier. He had given her life for hers out in the forest. Brax could have finished him off when he passed out had he wanted to. But it would all have been for nothing if Layla had also been taken.

He had been out there fighting for Layla more than anyone else.

Would severing the bond stop all of that nonsense? Would it stop him from putting Layla first all the time?

“I was protected,” Layla said.

“Do you know the things I’ve heard this morning? You fought beasts with nothing but two knives. You were covered in blood and right in the middle of all of it, ahead of all the men who have trained all their lives to fight in such situations.”

“I couldn’t stop it, Jackson. Especially when you got hurt,” Layla whispered. “You can punish me however you want, but I don’t regret what I did.”

For the millionth time that day, he cursed his leg and Cain, who was taking his sweet time to wake up and heal him quicker. He wanted to cross the room and shake her. Did she not realise that the enemy had not been outside those walls but fighting alongside her?

“Or you can do whatever else you want to me.”

Layla said those words softly, but they hit him with enough force to knock the anger out of him. Was she offering herself? Using herself as a bargaining chip?

“Don’t do that. I’m furious right now—”

“I know that, and I’m not trying to disregard or downplay your emotions,” Layla said quickly, lifting her face and finally meeting his gaze. “But what’s done is done. You can sulk about it and get angry, but it won’t change anything. I apologise for trying to help you, but I’d still do it again tomorrow.”

Her eyes flashed, and she lifted her chin. Her stubbornness and defiance would have had Cain howling to pin her down and make her submit to him. Did she even know what she was doing to him? She spoke like a wolf who’d defend her mate to the death in any situation. Her wolf had already claimed him, but it wasn’t her wolf blood saying those words.

“I think you should just let me take care of you, and then you can shout at me when you’re back on your feet,” she continued.

The Layla he had brought to his packhouse the first night would never have been so bold. It made him wonder what she would be like if they had all the time in the world. If he didn’t have to break her by rejecting her.

That reminder pushed the rest of his anger away and left a gaping hole in its place.

He had no time left for games. He didn't want to spend the little time they had fighting when he could create memories to keep him warm on the lonely nights he'd have to face.

“You’re right.”

Layla’s eyes widened.

“I’m sure I’ll find a suitable way to punish you when I’m better,” he continued, sitting back against the headboard. "If that offer still stands, I'm ready for you to do something else to make it up to me."

"Everyone's outside," she said, but her eyes flashed again.

"I'll be quiet. I promise."

And then her eyes glowed completely.

He grinned as he watched her take several steps towards him.

"Your leg is broken," she said.

"So be gentle with me."

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