Page 60 of The Alpha King's Fate

“I didn’t mean—”

He cut her off before she finished speaking. That was a conversation he was unwilling to have. It had shades of ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ all over it.

“Don’t speak, Layla,” he growled as he put his foot on the gas. “You’re right. It’s not important.”

Chapter 27

Layla was a bag of nerves when Jax stopped the car in front of the packhouse. It had been so easy for the Circle to separate them, and it would have been just as easy for them to kill her. She would never have been able to defend herself the way Jax had done.

She would have been the cause of Jackson's death.

She was his weakness.

Useless.

Even the wolf that had come to her aid and given her confidence that they could rescue Faith had abandoned her without telling her what the hell she was supposed to do.

She got out of the car without a word to him and rushed up the front steps. Dylan was already waiting there with Gavin, and they didn't look like they'd slept since she'd last seen them. She could cut through their anxiety with a knife.

"Have you learned anything else?" she asked them.

Both men didn't answer her directly. Instead, they looked behind her at the man coming up the steps. Jax was an emotional void, but she could never completely escape knowing how he felt. His anger and pain were muted, but they were still there.

She deserved that. First, she’d hit him and then she’d almost got him killed.

“Alpha Chase, Alpha Braxton and Alpha Ryker are waiting in the conference room,” Dylan said to Jax.

Before being briefly looked up by the Circle, that would have pissed her right off. Everyone respected her, but they completely overlooked her when it came to pack issues.

She lowered her head and walked into the packhouse. The sound of children playing reminded her of their guests. They had been scared when she left, but it sounded like they were running around all over the packhouse now.

If Faith had been there, she would have been running around with them, helping them to feel more comfortable.

The men walked into the house after her and headed for the conference room. She bit her lip and headed to the stairs. She had only gone up one step when she looked back and watched how the men looked at each other as they mind-linked. They would keep whatever was happening away from her as they always did.

But that would drive her crazy. This wasn’t about a rogue that had come too close to the territory or issues other packs had for their king to deal with.

This was about Faith. The girl who’d been there for her from the beginning, even if they’d had a bumpy start. The girl who’d held her hand when she’d given birth to Hope while grieving for Jackson.

She owed it to her to find out everything, even if she couldn’t do much to help. The least she could do was find out what they were up against.

She turned and followed the men down the hallway. When Gavin started to close the door behind him, his eyes widened when he saw her. She didn’t blame him. She had never once been invited to any of the meetings, so she didn’t know if women were even allowed there. But she walked in anyway and saw the visiting Alphas already on their feet with their heads lowered as they greeted their king.

Chase saw her first. His smile was warm as he lowered his head again, and for the first time in a while, someone was happy to see her.

“My queen,” Chase said.

The other Alphas turned to her and lowered their heads, too, but Jax didn’t look back. He’d probably already known that she’d followed them. He sat at the head of the long table and looked up at Dylan.

“You look tired, Your Majesty,” Ryker said, coming forward and blocking her view of Jax. He took her hand, crossing the boundaries Jax had set for him without a thought. “Did something happen? Did the Circle hurt you?”

She expected Jax to growl at how close Ryker stood to her, but there was nothing. Not a sound.

Ryker loomed over her. She’d gotten used to seeing the scars on his face that he didn’t scare her anymore, but she still didn’tcompletely trust him after what he’d done to Jax. Still, she had to do the mature thing and make sure everyone got along for the sake of all their packs.

“I just heard about the summons when I got here,” Alpha Braxton said, coming to her other side. “Since you’re standing here, I take it, it all went well? I knew they wouldn’t touch you; you’re too valuable.”

And that was what Brax had always believed. He’d taken to visiting more often so that he could catch a glimpse of the red monster that had shocked everyone else with its appearance.

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