Page 70 of The Alpha King's Fate

He arrived at the plane just as the last of them got on. He shifted and nodded at Chase and the other Alphas in greeting before he got on the plane, too. When everyone was seated and comfortable, he walked to the middle and looked around atthem. It was the first time all the packs had mixed like this, and the tension among the older members was more palpable.

“I’m counting on all of you to guide the young ones should anything happen to us,” he said. “We kept it light for the children, but you all know what we’re up against. I pray to the Goddess that we will meet again, but if we don’t, our kids will depend on you. Whether we’re with Alpha Chase, Alpha Braxton, or anyone else, we’re one pack right now. We’re all family. So I trust you will teach the children the same.”

“Yes, Alpha,” they said.

He looked around again and felt that heaviness Layla had only briefly dispelled. Would it be the last time he would see these faces?

Although he was the King and their Alpha, he lowered his head as a sign of his respect for them. And then he walked out of the plane.

Their family members were outside and would have heard his speech to them. There were already sniffles as the plane door closed and the lights came on along the runway.

The engines roared to life and the jet started to move forward. And when it was nothing but a dot in the sky and the noise was too far for his ears to pick up, he started the walk home.

The next group would be the hardest for him. He was going to send Layla with them.

“Shall we come for a meeting once everyone is gone?”

He looked up to see Chase and Brax had waited for him.

“Yes. We’ll need to be on the same page and bring our wolves home,” he answered.

“And if we can’t?” Brax asked.

It had been drilled into all of them that they couldn’t fight the Hunters or the Circle. They were too powerful, and any gains they made would be nothing but a ripple in the grand scheme of things.

If they couldn’t bring anyone home, then it was likely none of them would be going home at all.

“If we can’t, then at least we tried.”

He parted from the Alphas and headed towards his territory. His head was already back with Layla. He knew he would put her life in danger if he went out and fought, but at least he would be less distracted if she was safe with Hope and Britney. It was for the best. He only had one more night left with his mate.

He hadn’t even reached the territory when Dylan’s wolf bound up the path to the main gates. His Beta shifted when he was close enough.

“We have to go to the city. The scouts didn’t check in,” Dylan said.

His heart grew cold. That would mean...

“How long since they missed the check-in call?”

“Half an hour. But I don’t feel good about this. We have to—”

He pulled Dylan’s arm to stop his friend from walking away.

“Go home and tell everyone that we’re stopping the evacuations. You have to go back to the pack.”

“Jax—”

“I’m not sending anyone else into the Hunters’ hands,” he growled. “I have to do this. Go home and take care of my mate.”

He turned and started to jog in the direction of the city.

“Jax! You can’t go out alone!”

“Go home, Dylan. That’s an order.”

As the order rippled through the air, he let Cain take control as he shifted.

It was time he found out exactly what they were dealing with.

---