I had only been here once, decades ago—shortly after Michael had become Alpha—and even though the memory threatened to rise up I fought against it until it backed off, giving me some respite.I was already at capacity with the thoughts of Layla racing through my mind; the last thing I wanted to do w
“There’s been an unauthorised…!”I didn’t catch the last part of his panicked statement as I stepped out of earshot into the gates of the main Pack House, which loomed imperiously ahead of me.Without giving it much thought, I began to jog towards it, and as my strides ate up the distance I felt exc
Layla’s POVBy the Goddess, was I ever going to catch a break? These were the weary thoughts that crossed my mind as Hector tensed when he turned to see Xavier, who stood just inches away in front of the throng that’d gathered around us.I was still reeling from the emotions that seeing my mate had
For a species as rigidly hierarchical as ours, there was nothing more humiliating, and it was only when Carlos materialised out of the crowd to pull me out of the way that I realised just what I had done.The weight of my actions slammed into me, forcing the breath out of my lungs, and when I turned
Beside me I felt Carlos grow tense, but around us the hall broke into a smattering of optimistic cheers.Xavier didn’t look away from Hector, but his lips quirked slightly as a slow chant of his name picked up. But none of this seemed to register with my mate, who simply righted himself.The only di
Layla’s POVThe sound of the loud and desperate scream filling my ears split my attention in half as I watched Hector face plant directly into the floor after the kick.As it continued, I felt a flare of irritation go through me, but this emotion was short-lived because I soon realised that the soun
Then the sound of a sharp, sickening crack echoed through the gym. Xavier didn’t immediately react, but when a second crunching followed—Hector fracturing his tibia—he let out a low groan, stumbling to put some distance between them. My mate wouldn’t allow that though. With all the focus and inte
Layla’s POVIn the moments that followed Hector’s exit from the gymnasium, not a single one of us seemed to know what to do with ourselves. There was a sense of general disbelief at what had just happened, and I could see why that was the case as I sifted through the room of mostly bewildered expre