Page 130 of The Alpha King's Fate

For every drop of blood she lost, every bruise and blow she suffered, they would endure a million times worse.

It felt like forever when the air shifted, and he finally forced himself to slow down. When he turned into another hallway, it was full of Hunters. They were waiting for him. They stood in formation, three Hunters in a row, hands behind their backs and looking straight ahead. And they were the only thing between him and his mate.

‘Jax? Is that you? Have they captured you, too?’

He almost fell to his knees. Layla... Hearing her voice again was a balm on his soul.

‘I’m coming. Wait for me, baby.’

Even in the mindlink, he couldn’t stop his voice from trembling.

‘No! Stay where you are. If you move, they’re going to kill everyone!’

Chapter 58

They were going to kill everyone?

Like fuck, they would.

Layla was within his reach, and they thought they could keep him from her?

There were no windows, so it was pitch black in the building. It may have made no difference to the Hunters blocking his path because of their superior vision but for Layla...

‘Layla, where are you?’

‘Outside the warehouse. They’ve locked everyone up in cages but can gas us all in seconds. I won’t be able to save them all.’

Cages? He’d been furious before, but the thought of his mate in a cage brought a surge of violent emotions that made him shift instantly. His mate in a cage? Like an animal? They tortured her and treated her so inhumanely.

Cain lowered his head, ready to plough through all of them.

‘Are you hurt?’ he growled. ‘I smell blood.’

A lot of it. He already knew none of that blood was Layla’s, but he had no idea what the hell was happening. If she was caged, where had the blood come from?

‘No.’

‘Can you break out of your cage?’

Just saying it made him want to rush forward and chew his way through the Hunters to get to her.

‘I’m not in a cage. I’m outside the warehouse, in the hallway. They’re blocking the door.’

His limbs weakened. Everything he imagined washed away as he latched on to Layla’s voice and her emotions. The pain he felt outside wasn’t because she was injured.

His relief was palpable. Had she escaped? Did the Hunters let her out to set a trap for him? It didn’t matter whether it was a trap or not; there was nothing on earth that would stop him. Not even the threat of the whole pack being decimated.

‘Remember that time at the Circle’s trial when the assassin came into our room?’

There was a pause and then a burst of relief.

‘Yes.’

‘Do that, Layla. Come to me.’

‘Okay,’ Layla whispered.

He stood still and waited. Layla hid him at the hotel, but she became an expert at hiding in the shadows long before that. The darkness was her domain, just as it was his. But still, there was dread in the pit of his stomach as he tried to sense hermovements. One wrong move and the wall of Hunters would turn on her.

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