Page 62 of The Alpha King's Fate

He’d taken the seat across from her and looked right at her as he spoke instead of Jax. She felt a ripple of Jax’s irritation but ignored it as she had done the entire trip back home. If the Hunters were taking solitary wolves, she had more reason to suspect Rebecca was among them.

“I think that’s a great idea.”

“Of course you do,” Jax said.

She frowned and looked back at her mate.

“What?”

“What do you want to do? Abandon the scouts to that fate just because it’s their job? I’m not risking any more people. We’ll find another way,” Jax said. “Why don’t you go and check if Hope and Britney are okay.”

Did he...

No, he couldn’t be so blatant with it. He wouldn’t blatantly imply that her only job was to look after their child.

But Jax didn’t look away, and that coldness didn’t dissipate. She’d felt awful about what she had done to him and for getting him dragged to a trial, but her fists balled up again. Her frustration and anger mixed with her remorse and guilt.

She bit her lip to stop herself from saying anything when she wasn’t sure which emotions would win.

In the end, it was the guilt that won.

She ground her teeth and stood without a word. When she closed the door behind her, two young children raced downthe hallway. They skidded to a stop right in front of her, and their laughter stopped. They lowered their heads and started to tremble.

She had no idea what they had heard about her, but the sight of them crushed her. How could they be afraid of someone who was essentially human? Who could do nothing to find their missing parents? She walked past them without reassuring them and headed for the stairs. Hope and Brit could wait a little longer. She needed time to compose herself.

She was halfway up the stairs when she felt her wolf awaken again inside her. Her guilt and remorse disappeared, replaced by the determination she had felt when Dylan had called with the news.

She knew the feeling wouldn’t last, but by the time she’d walked into their bedroom, she knew she would still try to do everything she could to bring Faith and Rebecca home. All she had to do was find a way to do it without putting Jax’s life at risk.

Chapter 28

It was late when Jax walked out of the ensuite naked after a shower. Layla was on the bed, facing the wall, pretending to sleep. He’d never felt more like a dick than he did from the moment they’d got home. His heart was wounded, and he was taking it out on the woman he loved.

Childish. It was so fucking childish, but he hadn’t been able to stop himself.

And those fucking bastards. What gave them the right to touch his mate? What made them think it was okay? He’d had to sit through the rest of the meeting with them even though he’dwanted to rip their limbs off. Gauge their eyes out. Rip those tongues out that dared to speak to Layla like he wasn’t in the room.

They had enough shit to deal with; they didn’t need to antagonise Cain on top of that.

He threw the damp towel he’d been using to dry his hair somewhere across the room and looked at Layla again. How could she think their relationship wasn’t important? It was everything.

His gaze went to the couch and then back to the bed. He could have made life easier by moving to a different room, but even the thought of being too far from Layla was agonisingly painful. He’d felt like Layla had coiled razor-sharp barbed wire around his heart and continuously tightened it.

He was supposed to be thinking of the Hunters and the Circle, not why his mate was acting as if she hated him.

He walked to the couch and looked down at the cold leather. It took him only a second to change his mind about sleeping there. When he walked to the bed and slipped between the sheets on his side, he felt the tension in the air even though Layla didn’t turn around to face him.

‘You’re fucking up,’ Cain growled. ‘You’re making our mate unhappy.’

What about his happiness? Was he not allowed that anymore? How the hell was he expected to stay calm when Layla had put so much distance between them?

He looked over at her again. Two grown wolves could have easily fit in the space between them on the bed. They’d spent months falling asleep in each other’s arms, even the nights when he struggled with losing Micah and the other pack members. What the hell had gone wrong the past few weeks?

Could she really see a future without him?

He shuffled closer to her and noticed the tense set of her shoulder. Her whole body seemed tense under the silk sheet.

And she was also naked.

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