Page 36 of The Alpha King's Fate

She didn’t want him to bend over for her; she just wanted him to include her in his life. If he was open to finally talking, maybe things would be okay.

“I don’t want to fight, either. I hate feeling like this,” she whispered.

Jackson closed the gap between them and crashed his lips against hers a second later. She would never get used to the heat that rose within her so quickly and burned everything else in its wake. Jackson tightened his arms around her and deepened the kiss, drowning her in a sea of emotions. The taste of him. The smell of him. All of it mixed and made her head spin.

Jackson picked her up and hooked her legs on his waist before he started to move. She didn’t stop kissing him. Feeling like she would lose him messed her up, but being in his arms again settled her heart.

When she came up for air, her back was against a tree trunk, and it was dark around them. She felt Jackson’s hard length between her legs as he ground against her and trailed kissesalong her neck. She shivered when he stopped at his mark, and her body tightened.

Jackson lifted his head, and his blood-red gaze pinned her down.

“You’re mine, Layla,” he growled. “And I am yours. Every part of me, good and bad. I know I’m not easy to love, but I’m working on it.”

She touched his cheek and brushed her thumb against his swollen lips.

“You don’t have to be anything other than yourself. I already know who you are, and I love you anyway. Just let me in,” she whispered.

Jackson’s shoulders relaxed as if he had been unsure of that fact. And all the emotions he’d tried to hold back flooded her through their bond. He put his forehead against hers and released a breath as the contact soothed both of them.

“Let me go and make... Let us go and make sure our guests settle in,” Jackson said as he lowered her reluctantly to her feet.

Her body was still wired, still ready for Jackson, but the mention of the people who’d come in doused some of the flames.

“You and I will talk after that. No more secrets.”

A little anxiety shot through her but she pushed it away. Jackson was the only person she could tell about what Britney did who would protect her with his life. She should never have worried about that.

“They seem scared. Where did you find them?”

Jackson took her hand and entwined their fingers before leading them to the packhouse.

“They are from the Crimson River pack, a few hours from here. They had trouble in their pack, and their parents abandoned them to live as wolves in the forest.”

Her steps faltered.

“They’re kids?!”

“Yes.”

Though he answered easily, she felt his anger rise in him. Her anger rose to match. Who would abandon their kids like that?

“What sort of trouble?”

“Some wolves have gone missing. The adults think they’ll be safer deeper in the forest,” Jackson answered.

So they weren’t even in any mortal danger? How did they expect kids who couldn’t shift yet to defend themselves?

“Can’t packs track each other?”

Surely the wolves could find and track individual pack members, too?

“Other wolves aren’t like us. If there’s no trail or scent to follow, it takes some time to find them.”

When they came out of the forest, she saw the children gathered in front of the packhouse. They held hands as they looked around, and their fear seemed to have increased. Most of them weren’t much older than Hope.

She stopped, and her fists clenched involuntarily.

‘Are they really in danger?’ she asked in his head.

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