Page 159 of The Alpha King's Fate

He sensed the pain in her words but didn’t turn around to offer any comfort. If he’d needed proof that her wolf was well and truly gone, he had it now. Even before she had shifted, Layla could sense the danger in the air. She’d been able to feel when he was losing control.

‘She can’t sense me at all.’

Cain’s words caused an avalanche of pain that shoved him further into despair and buried him deep within it. He tried to focus so he could pull himself out, but it was pointless. He felt the same way his beast did. Cain couldn’t live without his mate, either.

And if he tried to deny his mate, he would end up like his father, the Mad King. Forever longing for his mate but unable to have her.

“I don’t feel right being here,” Layla whispered when she finally stood in front of their rock and looked over their forest's darkest, most dangerous side. “It’s not just the pack; it’s everything else. I loved sitting here to watch and listen to everything, but now there’s just silence. It’s all gone.”

The sadness in her tone pulled him out of his feelings. Cain looked over and felt her pain. The last thing he or Cain wanted was to hurt her. On that, they agreed.

“How can I even live like this?” she whispered again.

And that broke him. How could she live...? With him! She could live with him! Why did she keep acting as if she would be okay without him? How was she able to so easily cast him aside? To act as if only the bond had kept her with him?

Cain loosened his hold as he rushed around the rock and turned Layla to face him. She couldn’t meet his eyes.

“Don’t say things like that. Please,” he whispered.

How the hell was he supposed to fix this? Chase had looked through all the paperwork but hadn’t seen anything related to whatever the Hunters had done to Layla; there could still behope. But she had already given up. He could feel it in his bones. She wasn’t going to try, and she wasn’t going to give him another chance.

“How can you think that we will work together? You’re not thinking logically. I’m a liability now, and everyone will still be after me. Staying away from each other is the only thing we can do right now.”

There was something else. He sensed it behind the words and in the set of her shoulders. He felt it in the waves of guilt that came from her. Why did she feel guilty? Nothing that had happened had been her fault.

“It wouldn’t be the first time a human mated with a wolf. It can work,” he urged.

He took her hands and noticed they felt cooler than usual, almost like a human’s.

“But I’m not human anymore, Jax. We should end things here before we get hurt. You should...”

He dropped her hands and stepped back. Her unspoken words hit him like a swing from a sledgehammer. He should what? Reject her?

“What did you pack?” Layla asked, turning away from him to look at the picnic basket. “I’m suddenly starving.”

A blatant change of subject. Jax bit his tongue and pulled the basket closer. He wasn’t ready for where the conversation was heading. Layla wanted him to reject her; he was sure of that. Was it still a rejection if there was no bond between them? The heaviness of those words sat on his shoulders, draining him of the will to try anything else. And judging by the way Cain had let him go, the beast knew what was coming, too.

Fate broke their bond, but he and Cain were still drawn to her. Rejecting her would do nothing because nothing would ever change how he felt. He already knew that.

But she still didn’t believe him.

It was his fault. He should have paid more attention to her needs. He’d failed his duty as a mate. It was why her wolf had been aggressive with him in the end. Nia never entirely accepted him as part of her little pack that included Hope and Britney.

He looked out at the darkening sky and fought the pain that realisation caused. But he wasn’t going to give up.

He had promised her that he would prove his love. It was time he did.

Cain’s tension eased when they came to the same conclusion, in sync with each other again.

“Have a seat,” he said as he laid out their food.

Gerald’s steaks were still hot when he opened up the containers. He fixed their plates and poured their wine before sitting next to her.

“I say we just forget everything else and just enjoy the company tonight,” he suggested.

He lifted his glass and met her uncertain gaze.

“I thought we came here to talk?” Layla asked.

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