Page 139 of The Alpha King's Fate

“None of it was your fault,” she said. “If we had known what the Hunters were doing, everyone would have stayed locked in until the threat passed. I was the stupid one for thinking I could even do anything on my own.”

‘I think you handled things quite well on your own,’ he mind-linked, a small smile on his lips as the image of his red wolf crossed his mind.

It was only his second time seeing his magnificent red wolf, but the reaction was the same. He’d been turned on by the violence, by the unhindered darkness packaged inside his mate.

Layla didn’t respond or smile back. He wiped the smile off his face, but his gaze remained on hers. Her emerald eyes held a sadness that he hadn’t seen since the days he forced her to live with him among the wolves who wanted her dead. They lost their shine in only a few days away from him. His heart broke for his mate.

He pulled her over and crashed his lips into hers without stopping to think it through. He couldn’t contain any of his emotions, not like she was doing. How she even shielded herself with how much he was projecting into their bond was beyond him.

Layla didn’t push him away. Her lips parted without any resistance, allowing him to finally kiss her as he wanted. His tongue duelled hers as he tasted every inch of her mouth. It was a rush that made his head swim a little. It didn’t take long for Layla to start making the little sounds he loved and for the scent of her arousal to fill the room.

He groaned and rolled on top of her without moving his lips from hers. Like a starved man, he took everything she offered him. His fevered body was ready to explode before he even filled her. He couldn’t let that happen.

He forced his lips away from hers and trailed them down her neck to her breasts. Layla arched her back and grabbed his hair with a moan pushing him closer to the edge. He went lower, licking her defined stomach before latching on to what he really wanted.

He didn’t tease her. There was no time for games when the only thing both of them wanted was to be soothed and reassured that none of this was a dream. Like their very first time together, Layla was lost before he had enough. Her thighs pressed on either side of his head as she screamed his name and pulled at his hair. She was still trembling when he lifted himself above her and eased himself into her.

Inch by inch.

Layla began to mutter incoherently as she always did. And her body tightened around him as it always did. Until he was balls deep. Until his eyes rolled back from the overwhelming feelings. Layla’s nails dug into his back when he started to move, uncaring that his movements were frantic. The second her muscles began to tremble and tighten around him, she tumbled.

“Jax! Jax... Fuck, yes!”

He roared and followed. It was too quick, but his mate made him feel like a rockstar. Like he gave her the fucking world.

Only one other thing would make that better.

He pushed her hair to the side to expose her neck and lowered his head.

But he froze with his lips just a breath away from her skin, even though he was still throbbing and spilling his seed inside her.

His mark.

The mark he was proud of—the one everyone saw when they looked at her.

It was gone.

Chapter 62

Layla bit back her tears and tried to numb herself the way she used to when she had Nia. She looked back at Jax and saw the look on his face. The devastation was so apparent. With a little smile at him, she closed the bathroom door and headed straight for the shower.

Only when she was standing under the spray did she let her tears fall and mix with the water.

He knew.

If she could feel the loss of their connection so acutely, Jax would have felt it, too. Their lovemaking was always moreintense because they could share all their emotions through the bond.

But when she came apart in his arms, it had been just her.

Their bond was gone.

The man she loved with every fibre of her being was free to be with someone else.

She slid down to the shower basin and hugged her knees to try to comfort herself, but Jax was the apex predator, the Alpha King. She did not doubt that he would sense everything.

When the water started to cool, she forced herself to her feet and washed. When she stepped out, the tears stopped but her eyes were puffy and red. She wiped the steam off the mirror and took her time drying her hair, just in case Jax was waiting for her. From the moment she’d met Jackson, she’d always been able to sense when he was near, but she couldn’t tell if he was still in the bedroom.

She took a breath to steel herself. What hurt her the most was she was the cause of Nia’s demise. Losing her bond with Jax was her punishment for that grave sin. Even though she hadn’t known she was a half-blood until Jax brought her into his world, she’d never felt so incomplete. Empty. She was only half of herself—neither human nor wolf, as the Commander said.

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