Page 144 of The Alpha King's Fate

She walked into the room and saw that he even changed their beds and bedding. She dropped the bag and sat on her bed before pulling her phone out. No messages. No missed calls. It had been hours since she’d left the packhouse.

But Jax was a busy man, and the survivors had probably arrived already. Who was she to demand any of his time? Jax wouldn’t feel compelled to seek her out without the bond, and the distance between them wouldn’t affect him.

Not like it affected her. Her chest caved in, and it felt like she was missing a limb. It was not the same emptiness she felt after losing Nia; it cut her differently. She couldn’t think past that pain to figure out what to do.

She dropped back on the bed and covered her head with a pillow. And then she allowed the tears she had held back to finally fall. Thunder and the sound of rain kept the sounds of her sobs from her father.

As the trailer started to shake with the force of the wind and rain smashing against it, only one thought played through her head.

What was she going to do without Jax?

Chapter 64

“Keep all the children who were not reunited with their pack or families in my room. Give them everything they need and keep people away from them. They’re still terrified.”

Some children hadn’t stopped shaking since they arrived, but others were subdued. He could see the trauma in their eyes, and it made him wonder if they could see his.

“Your room? What about you and Layla?”

Jax didn’t react when Dylan said her name. He already numbed himself to the pain before the first truck with therescued wolves drove through the gates, and he kept busy until every person they saved was settled and comfortable. For the first time in a long time, he wished all the packs didn’t rely on him. All he wanted was to hide away.

The sound of thunder forced him to look up at the sky. Would Layla even be safe in her dingy trailer in the storm?

He forced himself to look back at Dylan. Layla chose this. She left him because the bond wasn’t forcing her to stay with him anymore.

So much for her words of undying love.

“Don’t worry about us,” he said.

“I haven’t seen her around. Is she resting? The others told us what she went through and what she did for them. That was some heavy shit,” Dylan said with a whistle.

That was a lot more than he knew. Layla didn’t say shit, and after the blow she’d dealt him, he didn’t even think about asking what happened at the base.

“Make sure Rebecca is comfortable,” he said without answering. "Take care of the other Alphas. Find guest houses for all of them."

The sky started spitting. If Dylan had any more questions, he didn’t voice them as he rushed back inside. While everyone was still recovering, they opened up the packhouse and the hospital for them. The rest of the pack members returned to their houses even though the situation was still dangerous. Once the other bases realised what had happened, they would come down in droves.

He figured they had a few days, at least. The wolves wouldn’t need that long to recover with Diedre’s potions in their system. And his territory was the safest for everyone because of Diedre’s reinforced wards.

Thinking of Diedre turned his thoughts back to Layla. How could a wolf that could heal people and bring them from thebrink of death just... disappear? Diedre was stronger than she had ever been because of Layla, and it was the same for him. Nothing changed. His senses were still sharper despite the giant hole in his chest.

He hadn’t even felt Nia go. She’d just... fizzled out.

Looking back now, that had to be when Cain retreated and shut himself off. It was too much to handle his pain, never mind sharing it.

The shield he forced himself to wear started to slip.

He lifted his hand to his chest, but that didn’t ease it. He wasn’t as numb as he’d thought.

“Why are you standing out in the rain?”

He swallowed and looked away from the Alpha who came to stand beside him at the back door entrance. The rain had already soaked him, pelting his face, which he was grateful for. There were tears mixed with it. His heart was starting to split in two, and that hurt like fuck. He was no longer numb.

“Did you get everything on their research?”

He felt Chase’s scrutiny before he answered, “It’s all loaded in the conference room and some of it in the basement. Not just research—we even got their communications and some more locations. We’ll have to find a safer location. We can strike first for a change and end this stupid war for good.”

He nodded and looked up at the sky.

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