Page 164 of The Alpha King's Fate

“You don’t know that! You can’t know that!” Layla shouted. “There will always be another Hunter, another witch, another vampire assassin. And the Circle will always lord over all the packs.”

She wiped her cheeks again and ran her fingers through her hair.

“I can’t believe you’d just do that,” she continued. “Do you have any idea how excruciating it would be for you without Cain?”

“Cain has accepted—”

“You should have fucking stopped him!” Layla snapped. “You will never be whole again. Neither wolf nor human! Just a shell of yourself. You will never be happy!”

Her anger was justifiable.

“Do you know what will happen to the packs now? Do you know how many people will come for them just to have the pleasure of destroying your pack?”

She was worried about the same things that he lost sleep over. Even after the curse, he’d worried about his enemies circling his pack. But Layla solved that problem, even if she didn’t believe it. She’d brought all the packs together. She acted like a queen then and was doing the same now. Still thinking of their safety instead of herself.

“I’ve taken care of it,” he said softly. “Besides, we could be okay. Maybe that poison is out of your system, and Cain will be okay. We could wake up tomorrow like we did after I marked you the first time. With our bond firmly in place.”

“This isn’t the same as that curse! This is because mad scientists wanted nothing more than to destroy our kind. They were going to make me their weapon, Jax. So who knows what they put in it.”

“They had magic there, too, Layla. They had magic everywhere. That’s how they messed with our bonds and kept their gates secure. Maybe that was just a hexed potion.”

Layla’s shoulders dropped as if the fight was leaving her body.

“I can’t believe you’re trying to justify this—”

“And I can’t believe you’re being such a hypocrite,” he growled.

Layla gasped and took a step back from him. Her guilt resurfaced. He hadn’t wanted to bring that time back up, especially since he knew how long it took for her to let go of that guilt in the first place. She had known it was wrong to force him to bite her, but she’d done it anyway.

And it turned out to be the best decision. Why couldn’t Layla take a chance on him again?

“That was different,” she whispered.

“How?”

“You were going to die.”

“I am dying now, too, Layla,” he snapped. “I’m sorry I did it this way. I know it wasn’t right; I should be strung up by my balls and left to rot. But I don’t regret it, not even a little bit. You didn’t regret it the first time, either.”

Layla didn’t like that. He could tell by how she lifted her chin and met his gaze head-on. The beast in him would have taken that as a challenge before the Hunters messed up their bond, but now Cain sat back and watched.

“Take me home,” she hissed before walking to the passenger side.

He sighed and looked around for his clothes. He’d gambled with his life the way Layla gambled with hers, so he understood her anger. If she was worried about Hope, he’d always had a plan for that, even before she’d been born. And that was before he’d met Rebecca, who was powerful enough to protect Hope on her own. But Rebecca wasn’t alone. Besides Dylan and Diedre, she had Chase, Brax and even Ryker.

When he pulled his t-shirt back on, he looked back at the car and the woman looking out of her window, arms crossed and stewing, ready to explode.

His guilt resurfaced. There was another thing Layla didn’t consider about what he did. It was Nia who had been the healer. There was a chance that Layla was only alive because she was a—had been a red wolf. That sick bastard Commander Walters had been obsessed with Rebecca and Layla’s genetics, and whatever they gave her was likely made specifically for them. It could have a different effect on him. It could kill him.

He got into the passenger side and looked at her. His bite mark peeked through from behind her silky locks, and even with his guilt, he couldn’t stop the deep sense of satisfaction that filled him. She would always bear that mark whether the bond returned between them or not. She would always belong to him, as he belonged to her.

But Layla would resent him for the rest of her life if his gamble didn’t pay off and he ended up six feet under.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I know that’s not enough, but I couldn’t lose you, Layla. You ripped my heart open when you left, and Cain has been slowly losing himself, just like my father’s wolf did. I was dead either way. I will live without Cain as long as I’m next to you.”

Layla shook her head without looking at him.

“Take me back, Jax. I need to think.”

---