Page 107 of The Alpha King's Fate

The red haze covered his vision as his claws extended. They’d fucked with the wrong wolf.

Chapter 48

Layla groaned and tried to move but the pain took her breath away. It radiated all over her body, inside and out. What the hell did they do to her? Was she still strapped to the table? She didn’t have the strength left to try to move anymore.

‘Miss Layla?’

Faith’s voice was too loud in her head. She kept her eyes closed and tried to push Faith out of her head, but everything seemed out of focus. It was as if she was still learning to control her heightened senses all over again. The hundreds of heartbeats,the scents, the emotions—everything mixed and hammered her from the inside.

‘Miss Layla, what did they do to you?’

The noise was like a knife through her skull. It was too much. Everything needed to stop, just for a moment, until she caught her breath.

‘You missed dinner again, so I saved my bread for you.’

Too much.

Her head felt like it exploded, and then the welcome oblivion returned.

When her eyes opened, she couldn’t tell how much more time passed but the splitting headache persisted. The mat in the empty cage above her shielded her from the blinding lights, but it was still too bright for her sensitive eyes.

She moved her head as slowly as possible until she could see Faith in the next cage. The young girl was paler than before, and the trembling was worse. Her arms were no longer around her knees but had fallen to the side, barely on the mat underneath her. She was running on a bit of sleep and hardly any food; it would only be a matter of time until she collapsed onto the silver like the others.

And she couldn’t do anything to help.

She groaned as she moved, trying to find a comfortable position on the silver bars biting into her back. But she knew that was impossible. She didn’t dare to look down at her body to see what they did to her, but the pain was enough to tell her it was worse than the first time.

All because her wolf chose that moment to show up. Chose to growl and challenge Hunters while locked in a cage in an unknown location.

And this was the beast that Diedre said she had to trust.

‘Are you awake?’

Her gaze returned to Faith’s face and saw the empty eyes that looked back at her. She was so sure that Jax would find them that she probably wasn’t resting when she could.

‘I okay,’ she lied. ‘Get some rest.’

‘How did you growl at them like that? I haven’t felt my wolf since I got here.’

She pushed herself upright and tried not to wince. She was in her underwear. The white gown they gave her had been lost after the first time they took her, but now she felt self-conscious of her naked body when Faith looked at her. The young girl gasped and lifted her head.

‘Don’t look. I’m fine; I’m already healing,’ she lied again. She wouldn’t heal quickly as long as she was stuck in the cage. ‘Please get some rest, Faith. I don’t want you to pass out.’

‘But, Miss Layla—’

‘Rest, Faith. We’ll worry about everything else later.’

The sound of the door echoed through the warehouse, and something dropped in her stomach like lead. What now? Were they going to take her again? Or were they going to try to take the little girl? Had she only delayed the inevitable by trying to stop them?

‘Don’t get taken again,’ Faith said urgently. ‘Please, I don’t think you’ll come back.’

Heavy boots. The sound of dragging feet. The stench of Hunters and blood combined.

Would she be able to sit back if they took someone else? Like before, there was no sign of the wolf inside her— the wolf liked to appear when least expected. But Faith was right. She had to keep her head down and think of Jax. Their lives were linked; he would pay the price for any foolish thing she did if it resulted in her death.

Her whole body burned as if she was just a giant open wound. She wouldn’t survive another round with those doctors.

The Hunters appeared at the top of her aisle again, and she sucked in a breath. Had a day passed already? The Commander told them they needed to keep her alive for tomorrow when he would reveal whatever he planned to do with her.

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