Something wasn’t right. The place was too quiet. Layla didn’t know if this was a boarding house of sorts or a hotel, but she had seen more people around when she had been downstairs the first time. Now all she could hear was the sound of her beating heart.She walked down the last flight of stairs and eyed the front door. She knew she wouldn’t get far because of the distance to the front gate and hadn’t figured out what sort of security was around. “This way.”The girl walked towards a different hallway to the one she had gone down that morning. Okay, this definitely had horror movie vibes. It wasn’t happening. She stopped in her tracks and turned to walk back to the staircase. She might have been stupid with Jackson, but she wasn’t falling for this trick, no matter how much she wanted to get out of this place. She took only a few steps when someone grabbed her hair from behind. “What the hell?” she shouted as she fell backwards. Pain stung her scalp as they dragged her backwards
Jackson looked up at the broken security camera perched high over his wall and the footprints leading from the wall and back over. Whoever it was hadn’t gone far. His defences were better than a wall and flimsy camera, and the suicidal wolf must have realised that and turned back. But the fact that he had even dared to try had Cain ready to rampage. Again.Rogues always tried to breach their boundaries, but Cain, as territorial as he was, always got excited because it meant he could go hunting. But now he was in a rage, just because his mate was within these walls and his over-protectiveness had gone into overdrive.And because he had refused to leave his mark on her.Pulling himself away from Layla before he’d bitten her had nearly killed him. He'd lost his head when he’d fucked her. He’d gone all-in, and she had taken all of it without inhibitions. Human or not, she had handled Cain better than anyone he had ever been with.And she’d loved it.She’d loved every second of it.He’d b
Layla opened her eyes and realised she was now in her bedroom prison. Dylan and those girls hadn’t killed her.A sense of relief flooded her body, and then she felt nauseated that she had ended up in that position in the first place. For two days in a row, her life had been in peril. How the hell had she ended up like this?She sat up gingerly so she wouldn't aggravate anything. Her head had hit the concrete pretty hard; she was surprised it wasn’t hurting more than it was. Even her ribs felt only slightly tender. There was blood on her hand from when she stabbed one of them, and despite everything, it made her feel horrible. She wasn’t a murderer. She only had weapons for self-defence but had never used them against anyone before. And those girls had been pretty messed up in the head, so she wasn’t sure she could blame them for what was happening. She tried to wipe the blood on her already ruined clothes but it was pointless. There was no saving them. With her meagre wardrobe, she w
Jax tracked the scents to one of the lounges. It was where the younger wolves liked to hang out after they’d finished training. He stood still at the door and listened to the loud, obnoxious conversations of teenagers who thought they knew better. Cassie was among them- Cassie and the two other wolves he had scented on Layla’s clothes.His fists clenched at his sides, but it wasn’t Cain’s anger he was reacting to. This was all him and the stupid bond. Layla’s emotions were all over the place, but the ones getting to him were the fear and the desperation, the same feelings he had felt when he’d gone for a run. Something had happened. Had she seen something? Or had Dylan lied to him about what had happened?His skin felt too tight, and his gums itched. Whatever the story was, Layla had been hurt. She wasn’t faking her emotions or the small bump on her head. Why hadn’t he seen that the moment he had walked into her room? Why hadn’t he checked on her after his run? He would have gotten t
Jackson walked through the trees to the secluded guardhouse behind the training grounds. Dylan and Micah, Cassie’s father, followed behind. “Has he said anything at all?” Dylan asked.“He’s saying many things, but none of them make any sense. And he’s...” Micah stopped and sighed. “You’ll see for yourselves.”Jax looked back at the warrior with a frown. Micah had been the head warrior when his father had been the Alpha King, so he had seen and dealt with many dangerous and unusual things. What was he about to walk into that had made Micah so agitated?They walked into the guardhouse, and the warriors on duty were already standing on alert with their gazes lowered. He walked past them to the room at the back, where the hatch on the floor was already open.He could smell the prisoner from there. He smelled of the earthy scent of his wolf and then the pungent, unbearable scent of death and decay. It was the scent of dark magic. He’d had that scent stuck up his nose for a long time afte
The sun was starting to set when Layla’s phone rang.She rushed back from the window where she had been trying to map a way to the front gate to grab the phone from the nightstand. The number flashing on the screen was unknown, but she already knew who it was.“Brit?” she said as she answered.“Hi, Layla.”Britney sounded cheerful. That immediately put her most pressing fears to rest. Her sister would never have been able to hide her emotions from her if something terrible was happening to her. “Sorry, I didn’t think about getting you a new phone until now,” she said as she sat on the edge of the bed. “I’ve been busy settling in, and this place is huge. Have you been okay?”The lie came so easily again. But she knew she would have to tell her sister everything when she was ready to escape. “Don’t worry about me,” Britney said. “This is so surreal. They gave me a whole wardrobe full of expensive clothes, and I’m allowed to order anything I want.”Her heart ached. Those were the thing
Layla smoothed the front of the dress as she looked at herself in the mirror. It was by far the most expensive thing she had ever worn. The soft silky fabric felt sensual against her skin as it skimmed against her curves and fell to her feet with a slit at the front. The round neckline made it look classy, and it draped at the back, showing more skin than she was comfortable with around Jackson.With her height, shopping was a chore most days, so she knew she would have struggled to find something that fit her so well if she’d had to shop for herself. It was gorgeous.But it was hardly the type of clothing to wear when running through the woods at night. And she wouldn’t be able to hide her knife under it.With a sigh, she fluffed out her curly hair and then slipped her phone into her cleavage before leaving the bathroom. Not the classiest of places, but she needed to get in touch with Brit once she was on the move. Jackson stood by the windows, but he turned when she closed the doo
Jax tightened his fist around his cutlery as he sensed the reactions around the room. The hatred, the disgust. It was no less than what he had expected, but he hadn’t anticipated how hard it would be not to react to it. Cain was still lying low, so once again, he was the one who wanted to rip heads off.He also hadn’t anticipated how he would feel when she’d walked out of the bathroom looking like a goddess sent to make him lose his mind. It was just a dress, and he had already seen her hair out of the braid when he’d made love to her. But this was a temptation on another level.She’d walked out of that room and had claimed another part of his soul. Something had flared inside him at the sight of her that changed something. His whole body had tightened in reaction. Her scent seemed stronger. The pull between them was stronger. And it appeared his need to protect her was stronger.After finding out that she was in danger, the best thing to do would have been to hide her away, but he k
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
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 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 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
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
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
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
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
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,”