Page 59 of The Alpha King's Fate

“You still don’t know her name?” he asked.

“It... She didn’t say much.”

And that was something else he couldn’t understand. He and Cain were different from the others, but his wolf had made a nuisance of himself in his head long before his first shift. He had known Cain’s name from the first day he revealed himself.

But Layla’s wolf had been silent even though he could sense that she was still there. And she hid so well that Layla still smelt human. The two sides of her didn’t seem to co-exist very well. That was common in half-bloods who ended up running wild when their wolf side took over, but Layla's wolf wasn't like that.

Was that the reason his mate could imagine a life without him?

He threw the towel onto the hood and took another for himself. Not that it would do any good. He was covered from head to toe in blood.

“Let’s finish up. Our ride will be here soon; we need to burn all these clothes before a human stumbles onto them.”

Layla nodded and slipped her jacket off. She was halfway through undoing the buttons on her shirt when she paused and met his gaze questioningly. He was staring. The stupid thing in his chest tightened as he turned away quickly and wet the towel in his hand before he started wiping himself down.

It was less than an hour since she had walked in on the mess he’d made at the hotel. Not long enough for her to feel less disgusted with him. Touching her wasn’t an option. How had the tables turned so quickly? He’d been very angry with her on the ride to the hotel, but she was now the one putting the distance between them. Being unsure of their bond was fucking him up in ways he hadn’t even known were possible for him.

When he wiped off the blood he could see, he poured the rest of the water over himself before returning to the car to get another towel to dry.

He froze. Layla was fumbling with her leggings, still in her underwear, and his body hardened instantly. He’d shoved Cain back after they had left the hotel, but now the beast stood to attention, pining for the one person in the world who could sate his appetite.

It was like the beginning of their relationship all over again. Layla hadn’t wanted him then either, even when her body had reacted as it should have.

Layla’s gaze lowered to his boxers, and her eyes widened when she noticed what she had done to him.

But she turned away and quickly pulled her leggings up.

If that didn’t say ‘fuck off’, then he didn’t know what did.

He grabbed the dry towel and his clothes and walked to the back of the car to give her the privacy she wanted. His heart tightened in his chest, but he forced himself to focus on something else. The last time he’d allowed his emotions to get the better of him, he’d cut himself off from the pack so he could hide and lick his wounds. People died because of that. He couldn’t let it happen again.

Half an hour later, he’d burnt the clothes and wiped down the car. As it was a getaway car, there wasn’t anything in it that could be linked to him, but he killed time by checking everything several times over. By the time the helicopter he’d hired from a private company owned by humans arrived, he was more than ready to head back to the pack.

Layla didn’t look at him for the entire flight. Though he sensed her anxiety and fear, she didn’t talk to him, either. Those few hours were the most uncomfortable time he'd spent with Layla.

The helicopter landed on top of his hotel. He helped Layla out, but she pulled her hand out of his the second she was steady on her feet.

How many blows was his heart supposed to take?

When he opened the roof access doors, he remembered her father was still held in one of the rooms.

"Do you want to check on Gerald while we're here?"

"No," Layla answered quickly. "We need to get home and make a plan to rescue Faith and the others."

She started to walk down the flight of stairs but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She was killing him. He hadn't hidden any of his emotions—she had to know her actions were ripping him apart. How could she so easily disregard his feelings?

"We need to fix this, Layla. I've told you before, we can’t walk away from this. I can’t let you go."

He had to live with knowing that their bond meant nothing to her. That he and Cain disgusted her. That she felt trapped with him.

Layla’s eyes flashed, her anger surging briefly. What the fuck had he done now?

"That's not important right now, Jax. Let's get home."

Not important? Right.

He bit his lip and followed her down the stairs and to the elevators on the top floor. By the time they’d gone down to the basement parking lot, he’d shoved all his emotions to the back of his mind. So far back that he couldn’t hear Cain’s howling.

---