Page 93 of The Alpha King's Curse: Part Two

Layla stood and put her hands over her stomach. Her chin jutted out proudly.

“I’m ready to go now,” she said.

There was something else eclipsing the pain he sensed from her, something that broke him even more. Layla was determined. She was indeed ready to leave him.

He didn’t know what he’d expected when he’d walked into the bedroom. To find Layla crippled by her pain, maybe. To find her unable to do anything because the pain of leaving him made her wolf unable to function. He’d even prepared himself to be firm and shut down all his emotions to get her out of the house without breaking.

But he hadn’t expected to see her ready to leave him as if he was nothing to her.

He looked away from her hard gaze and headed for the bathroom.

“Give me a moment,” he said.

He was impressed he managed to speak. Because he was the one who wanted to roll on the floor in agony. He was the one who wanted to tell her he’d made a mistake and beg her to stay.

‘Beg! For fuck’s sake, beg! You can’t do this, you weak, heartless basta—’

He shoved Cain to the back of his mind and maintained his control. This was something he couldn’t allow Cain to fuck up. Their emotions had no place in this.

His shower was longer than necessary, but he knew he couldn’t put off the next move any longer. Layla was still sitting on the edge of the bed when he walked out of the bathroom. She didn’t look at him. She ignored him as if he already didn’t exist.

He had to clench his fists and tense his muscles to stop himself from dropping to his knees in front of her to beg for her love.

Layla didn’t love her. Her wolf did, but Layla had never wanted to be there in the first place.

Six months.

He had six months to live with that agonising thought.

He didn’t look in her direction again. As soon as he dressed, he headed straight towards the door and picked up her rucksack.

“Is this everything you’re taking?”

“It’s everything I need. Plus this month’s bank transfer.”

And at the root of everything was the reason she had agreed to come with him in the first place. Money. He wasn’t surprised, but those words made the last few months seem cheap and worthless. She’d provided a service and he’d paid.

He left the room without another word and headed down the stairs without waiting for her. The warrior guarding the front door stood and lowered his head.

‘Alpha,’ he greeted.

‘Has Beta Dylan returned?’

‘Not yet, Alpha.’

He hoped Dylan wasn’t out doing anything stupid like trying to find a way to break the curse, but by the time he returned, it would be too late anyway. He gave the warrior instructions and sent someone else to tell Brax to go and find shelter somewhere safe by the morning.

Layla came down the stairs and walked past him without a word. He’d sensed her pain before, but now he felt nothing. She was just blank, masking her emotions like her mother did. And her scent, her sweet scent, was gone.

She had already distanced herself from him.

‘Are you going somewhere, Alpha?’

‘Just out for a little while,’ he said vaguely.

He wasn’t going to tell anyone where they were going. There were too many traitors in the pack, and any gossip would end up in the wrong ears.

By the time he walked down the basement stairs, Layla was already waiting at the garage door.

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