Page 168 of The Alpha King's Fate

She stopped kissing Britney and held her away to inspect her body. No bruises or scars, no missing fingers. And Brit’s eyes were twinkling. She was happy.

“I’m okay,” Brit said with a smile before she let her go and walked to the group of people waiting near the truck.

Right next to Josh. Josh couldn’t stop the redness that appeared on his cheeks. Well! She saw that one coming.

“I told you he wouldn’t keep it in his pants,” Jax said with a growl.

She nudged Jax when Josh lowered his gaze.

“It has nothing to do with you,” Brit snapped, linking her arm through Josh’s in a familiar way that suggested they probably sorted out their differences the second they left Jax behind.

“Brit,” Josh whispered.

Brit rolled her eyes like a typical teenager and lowered her gaze. She must have learned the rules in her time away.

It was a little worrying but comforting at the same time. Josh would have cared for Britney as promised, but what would happen once everyone else realised Brit was human?

Jax grunted in amusement and put his arm back over her shoulder.

The other cars stopped and more children ran out of the trucks. Max and his sister ran straight to their mother, and Jax's rescued children stood with Josh and Britney. They were nothing like the scared little kids they were when they left. They had filled out, and they beamed up at Josh and Britney. Even the older boy who’d protected the younger ones. They seemed to have formed a bond while they had been together. Brit fit in with them perfectly.

Her heart settled as she kissed Hope’s cheeks again. The grounds filled with parents welcoming their children back and the sounds of laughter that she hadn’t heard in what felt like a lifetime.

Including Britney’s. Brit wasn’t scared, even though she knew what everyone around her was. She looked confident. Did she look... different? There was something about her sister that wasn’t the same.

Brit looked back at her and smiled again. Maybe having a boyfriend changed her. Would they have to have ‘the talk’ about sex and boys?

Jax’s arm stiffened on her shoulders.

“This is going to be fun,” he muttered.

“What?”

Jax looked down at her.

“Nothing. Let's go and settle the girls inside. I’m sure everyone wants to rest now.”

She didn’t need Nia to know it wasn’t ‘nothing’.

Chapter 74

Layla didn’t sleep much. She’d alternated between having nightmares of Jax losing his wolf and watching her two girls sleep. She had her arm over them, content to soothe herself with their presence.

She didn’t know where they had been and how far it was, but after dinner, Brit and Hope had been ready to go to bed. Faith prepared Britney’s room next to Jax’s and moved Hope’s cot there because the girls bonded while away. The three of them snuggled on the bed together.

She imagined she heard someone outside the bedroom door a few times. She knew it was Jax. He’d told her the main bedroom was ready for her to return to, but she wasn’t prepared for that.

It would be like accepting what he did—acknowledging that he ruined his life over her.

Her hand went back to the bite on her neck. Did that mean they were mated again? It hadn’t felt the same as when he marked her the first time, even though it still caused the earth-shattering explosion. There had been no fire in her bones, and she hadn’t felt his emotions. Their bond had been a true mate bond, different from others, but several wolves in the pack had chosen their mates. How did their bonds feel? Or was she even stupid for thinking like that because she was human? There was no such thing between wolves and humans.

“You’re different.”

She looked up to see Brit’s eyes were open.

“Did it get worse while we were gone? Did someone hurt you?” Brit whispered.

Brit was bound to hear the stories about the Hunter base when she started interacting with everyone else. But she didn’t want to talk about that on her first day back.

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