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129. "I, Alpha Jackson King..."
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
The Alpha King's Curse 130. Goodbye
Jackson gripped the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles were white. He should have known. Left alone, Layla would do the one thing she had been trying to do since the day he met her: run away. She could sense how angry he was, but she was still emotionless. She was sitting in his passenger seat, her head held high as if she had done nothing wrong. Did she even think of all the things that could have happened to her out there alone? Had she thought of the baby? She’d walked so far she’d almost reached the boundary of a rival pack, for fuck’s sake! He clenched his jaw to stop himself from saying anything. If he spoke, she wouldn’t like what he’d say, and her time at the hideout would be anything but stress-free. He snuck another look at her. The skin on her shoulders and face looked an angry red, and if she had been out any longer, she would have started blistering. But it looked like she had already started healing. Pregnant wolves tended to be more sensitive to the eleme
The Alpha King's Curse 131. Coward
Jackson snuck out of the house like a thief while Layla was sleeping and drove out of the woods like the hounds of hell were chasing him. He wasn’t being a coward. He was the fucking Alpha King! But damned if he would stick around for the agony that saying goodbye to her face would bring him again. He didn’t slow down once he reached the main road that would take him into the city. The pull back to Layla was worryingly tolerable. That only happened after marking, or mates would never get anything done if they had to fight it all the time. He didn't know much about red wolves, but mating with one wasn't supposed to be different. "It's impossible," he said out loud. 'Maybe it's the number of times you growled 'Mine!' when you were fucking her,' Cain said gleefully. 'Like in the movie when you say 'Candyman' three times in the mirror.' "Shut the fuck up." They'd finally agreed on this. They couldn't do anything that would hurt Layla, marking or rejecting included, so why the hell d
The Alpha King's Curse 132. Enemy
Three months. That was how long Jackson had ignored her while Faith and Gavin had imprisoned her. She'd felt like somebody had plunged a knife through her chest the whole time. She looked back at the man following her at a distance and pulled a face. He stopped at a distance and lowered his head. His heart started beating a little fast as it had done since he’d brought her back home by force after her last escape attempt. She knew she’d kept her emotions in check, and he hadn’t seen anything wolfish, so why the hell was he scared? She turned back to the dirt trail through the woods and looked at the distance she still had to go before she reached the boundary. Beyond that was No Man’s land, only to be crossed once the baby was born. It took longer to walk there because of how big she’d gotten. She looked overdue instead of seven months pregnant. Faith assured her it was okay and said stuff like Jackson had been a big baby, too, as if that was supposed to make her feel better.
The Alpha King's Curse 133. Brutal
Jackson had known it would mess him up to get that close to Layla again. He stopped at the front door and closed his eyes as her scent wrapped around him, making his beast whimper. The sweet scent killed them but brought them back to life at the same time. He had checked on her from a safe distance for months because he’d known this would happen. The bond he had been trying to ignore flared to life and pulled him towards his mate. He should have kept away, but he couldn’t avoid this meeting. Layla would have heard more than Gavin; he was almost sure of that. The warrior said she’d started acting strangely on their walk, and then when he’d caught the intruder’s scent, Layla had rushed into the house without him having to tell her to. It had been three months of dead ends; this was his first real lead to the problem keeping him up at night. He’d already scanned the area for miles and sensed nothing, but he had caught a hint of a scent just as he had at the hotel. Amber was someho
The Alpha King's Curse 134. Old Tricks
Jackson looked away from his brutal mate and tried to focus on the issue at hand. Making sure he got rid of all the threats to her life was the only reason he was still breathing; otherwise, he would have succumbed to the pain a long time ago like his beast. "I don't know how far she was, but she was in that direction, past the boundary at the end of that trail,” Layla said, gesturing with her head to the woods. “She was quieter than the men who patrol your packhouse; I had to really focus to make sure I heard right. I might not have heard her if it wasn't for all that dry, long grass. And I know it’s long and dry because of the sound it makes when blowing in the wind.” It seemed she had kept up with her training. Not for the first time, he wondered how strong she would be when she finally came into all her power. When he was dead and gone, would his mate still be the Queen she was meant to be? “We caught her scent on the breeze, but I don’t know how far that would have travelled
The Alpha King's Curse 135. Dead
Layla had been standing by her window for hours. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t sense anyone else in the woods except Jackson and the men he had arrived with. She hadn’t realised how much she had come to rely on her senses until Jackson had told her that Amber was somehow hiding in there. Her enhanced senses were useless in that situation. But Jackson said he was stronger than the others. That meant he could find her, didn’t it?“You should rest.”She looked back at Faith, who was pretending to read a book. And she knew the girl was pretending. Faith couldn’t hide her anxiety, even though she looked calm.“I’m sure it’s nothing. Why would we get an intruder so far away from anything?” Faith continued.Even though Faith knew she had been involved in the fighting at the packhouse, the girl still didn’t discuss pack business in front of her. Maybe they were all going to pretend she didn’t know when they let her go after the baby was born, although she doubted it would be as
The Alpha King's Curse 136. The Night Walkers
When Jackson opened his eyes, he was in a dank, dark little room. His wrists were bound by chains suspended on some contraption on the ceiling, and his shoulders were on fire because they were supporting his weight. His fingers were numb and cold because the fuckers had chained him too tightly. Was this how he died then? In the hands of his enemy, months before he held his child? He felt lightheaded from the lack of circulation in his body. He tugged at the chains to test them out but could barely move his arms. It was the arrow that had weakened him. He could feel the dark magic burning through him as it had the other times, but this time he could still feel Cain. Maybe the magic wasn’t as strong this time. His beast was weakened, but he was already working hard to heal them. Still, he didn’t see them getting out of this anytime soon. He was too weak to even command anyone to release him. He looked at his feet and tried to wiggle his toes, but they were swollen. Both his feet
The Alpha King's Curse 137. Hope
Layla bit the blanket and clutched the bedding through another contraction. Tears fell unchecked down her cheeks. She’d endured hours of the pain, and now it was almost continuous. But the labour pain was nothing compared to the pain in her heart. The pack had returned from the woods without Jackson with nothing but lies on their lips. Dylan said Jackson would be with her as soon as he could, but where was he? If he was okay, why could she sense all that despair in the air? Why had Faith been crying? And why had they called more people from the pack to gather in the back garden? “You’re doing very well, Layla. Just a little bit more,” the doctor urged. He had his protective equipment on and settled at the foot of her bed. She’d been hooked to a machine to monitor her and the baby. It seemed Jackson had indeed been prepared for the child to be born in the middle of nowhere. She had assumed she would be taken to a hospital when her labour started, but the moment Faith had burst in
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The Alpha King's Curse 164. Grateful
Jackson grinned when Dylan rolled his eyes at him as Hope led him by the finger to the tea party she had set up in the garden. “Enjoy your party,” he called to them before he turned and walked toward the packhouse. The trainees had the day off today, but he was pleased that most of them took their training seriously and were sparring in the fields. All the kids had to grow up quickly after the last war. In a few days, they would all hold a memorial honouring all the people they had lost. Gavin walked up to him before he reached the door. “Everything is all set, Alpha,” he said. Gavin was the most prominent reminder of what the war had cost him. He’d had to fill Micah’s big shoes. Though it wasn’t his fault, his heart cracked whenever he saw Micah’s replacement as the Gamma. “Thank you. We’ll be ready in time,” he said with a nod. The packhouse was spotless as usual, awaiting all the guests he had invited. As he walked toward the stairs, Faith’s mother walked in, a huge sm
The Alpha King's Curse 163. My Queen
Layla clutched her heart and fell to her knees. Hope started to cry behind her, as if her poor child could sense her pain, too. Faith tried to soothe her, but there was too much fear in the air, too much pain. “Jackson is hurt,” she whispered, looking at her mother. She had held out long enough. The house was full of all the vulnerable people in the pack, and their fear and anxiety weighed down on her. She couldn’t wait any longer. Rebecca walked over to Faith and took Hope from her. And her little girl instantly quietened in her grandmother’s arms. Rebecca met her gaze and nodded. “I will look after Hope. And I will protect everyone in this house,” Rebecca said, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears. Her mother knew what she had to do. She couldn’t leave Jackson to fight alone, but if anything happened to one of them, it would happen to the other. “Can I trust you, Mum?” she whispered. She hadn’t called her mum since the day she had abandoned them. “Always,” Rebecca whis
The Alpha King's Curse 162. Brothers
The dark clouds completely covered the sun. Jax stood at his lookout rock and looked over the forest. Even the witch was closing in from that direction when it was supposed to be their safest. He could sense her magic filling up in it even though he couldn’t sense any individual wolves. It was like when she’d sent the rogues who had hidden in the shadows right under their noses. His warriors wouldn’t sense them until it was too late. ‘The women and children are in the packhouse,’ Dylan said in the mind link. He didn’t know if that would make a difference. The strength he could sense in the magic around him was something he had never experienced from the witch before. He could feel it in the clouds above him, in the air they were all breathing. He could feel it rippling over his skin, yet they had not reached their boundary. Cain was silent in his head, already in hunting mode. But he couldn’t hunt everywhere at once. They were surrounded by armies bigger than any that had ever
The Alpha King's Curse 161. Dark Clouds
The air was knocked out of her lungs as Layla landed in a heap in the field. Everything hurt. Jackson had been pounding into her for hours. ‘And not in a good way. How the hell are you getting worse at this instead of better?’ the voice in her head said. Since Jackson had marked her, that voice had become a more permanent feature in her head. She’d been able to shut it off before, but now it was impossible. She was constantly arguing with it and losing focus, and her ability to control her emotions was also on the fritz. Her moods were yo-yo-ing worse than when she’d been pregnant. “You’re distracted.” She lifted her head with the bit of energy she had left and looked at Jackson, who was glaring at her from the other side of their makeshift ring. “I’m tired,” she corrected. “Let’s take a break.” “We can’t, Layla,” Jackson growled. He marched across to her and helped her to her feet. “You pissed off the Circle, and I pissed off the Wicked Witch. It was fine when our sins were
The Alpha King's Curse 160. Angelic Singing
Angelic singing. It drifted in and out of his ears and tried to force him from his peaceful slumber. It was beautiful but it was pissing him off. Why did anyone have to sing so much when people were trying to fucking sleep? His eyes shot open. His heart slammed in his chest. Could it be? He turned and saw the face he had fallen asleep next to because it was the last face he wanted to see before he died. Layla’s mouth was slightly open and she was snoring softly. He sat up with a jolt and listened to the singing. Those weren’t angels. That should have been his first clue. His soul had been damned long ago; there were no angels in his afterlife. “What are you doing? Come back to sleep,” Layla mumbled. It took her a few more seconds, but Layla jolted awake and her eyes widened as she looked at him. She sucked in a breath, her heart hammering to match his. Maybe he was dreaming. Perhaps he wanted this so much that he was dreaming about it just before the curse snatched his l
The Alpha King's Curse 159. Happy Birthday, Jackson King
Jackson watched the sleeping baby in his arms and blinked back his tears. He was leaving his precious little girl in chaos. All his efforts to find the witch had failed. She’d disappeared after Amber and Miss Roberts had failed. He assumed the witch knew there was no point now. She’d already achieved her goal of making the rest of his life miserable. “I’m sorry, Hope,” he whispered. “I know you’ll become a better person than I was, even in any adversity. Do you know why? Because you also have your mother in you. You are going to be magnificent.” The more he said it, the more he would believe it. But it was hard to see any such future in a helpless three-month-old. “What the fuck was I thinking?” His chest squeezed as it had done all day. “It’s not your fault.” He looked up to see his mate in the bathroom doorway, a vision in a green, body-hugging dress. It had thin straps, so his mark was on show. For a second, he felt pride in it. But he remembered it was nothing but a death s
The Alpha King's Curse 158. We Effed Up
Jackson wasn’t too worried about Hugo’s threat. Since Diedre had started feeling better, she had been working hard to remove all the traces of dark magic around their territory. Her well of magic seemed to run deeper, even though it was not yet fully replenished. Warding the whole territory had been beyond her before Layla had healed her. But all the entry points had been fortified. Her magic wasn’t as it used to be but strong. Nobody would enter through his gates without his permission. Even if Diedre’s magic didn’t work on him and Layla, it had to work for the rest of the pack. Right? He was more worried about what the hell Layla was doing there. She should have been home with Hope and the others. Especially since he’d already warned her that the Circle was worse than any Hunter she would ever meet. Layla seemed intent on breaking all his rules. He was about to tell Hugo they had wasted their time when he sensed the rage rising in his mate. It was so dark it felt like Cain’s
The Alpha King's Curse 157. Something's Changed
Layla opened her eyes and stretched. And then she remembered what she had done. She sat up and looked at the other side of the bed. Jackson hadn’t come back, though she could sense he was close. And he was angry. Rightfully so. She lay back and pulled the covers over her naked body. Her hand went to her neck, and she felt the grooves left by his teeth. She’d assumed his bite would heal like all her other injuries. Maybe that was why they called it marking. Would everyone be able to see it? It tingled when she ran her fingers on it, and though the way she had got it made her cheeks heat up with shame, she didn’t regret it. She had known he would react like that. She would have been livid in his shoes. If he never spoke to her again, then she would understand. But she would never have forgiven himself if he died and she could have saved him. She’d had no choice. She sighed as she pushed the covers off again and slid off the bed. She started walking toward the bathroom, but her st
The Alpha King's Curse 156. Different
Everything felt different. The longer he lay on the rock, the more he sensed the differences. Everything was sharper, as if there had been a veil on his vision before. The stars were so clear he felt like he could touch them. The air was sweeter. The chirping of the birds as they woke up to get the worm... Beautiful. Fucking beautiful. And the rage in his heart eclipsed it all. He’d told her. He’d said no over and over again, even before she had known what his bite would do. And she’d gone ahead and violated his trust. Violated him. ‘She was never going to give us up without a fight,’ Cain stated. ‘Stop talking like you knew it was going to happen. This isn’t Romeo and Juliet. We don’t have to die together!’ ‘What would you have done in her shoes?’ That question cooled some of his anger. He knew what he would have done for his love. He’d have moved heaven and earth to save her. He’d have crossed any ocean, climbed any mountain. But this wasn’t about him! “I’ve killed her,”
