“What’s going on?” Jax shoved Gerald against the wall and clamped a hand over his mouth. The Hunters couldn’t hear them but they could sense them. Maybe they would sense their movement, too. He kept his focus outside the wall as more of them gathered. Security would have seen him head for the camera’s blind spot; it wouldn’t take them long to find the door. Gerald struggled, bringing his attention back to the drunk man. “Stop. If you don’t want them to catch you and torture you, just keep your mouth shut and follow me,” he hissed. It was hard enough to keep pushing Cain back without having to baby a grown human. Could he not use his logic? Or was he already drunk? That wasn’t fair, though. Like any human, Gerald was unaware of the darkness that fell over the hotel. He released Gerald and started walking down the stairwell. If both the hotel and the motel weren’t safe, did that mean they had their eyes on all his properties? The motel wasn’t under his real name, but it was comm
Layla pulled a pair of sneakers on and made her way out of the bedroom. Her stomach growled again. It was so loud she was sure everyone in the house could hear it. Jax didn’t bring her any breakfast as he promised. He hadn’t come back at all. Why was it taking so long to see the next group off? The lobby was as busy as she expected. The last group of people was supposed to head out at the end of the day, and then only the warrior would be left to defend the territory and try to get the missing wolves back. Things felt like they were heading back on track with Jackson. They could sit down and talk things through when he returned from his duties. She didn’t like that the bond made him feel as if they had to stay together even after she hit him. She didn’t like that he kept acting like she was in his way, making decisions for her and telling her her job was to look after Hope. But after that morning, she was sure they could talk things out. He had to have his reasons for being that w
Jax watched the metal jaws of the scrap processor as they crushed the car only for a moment before he placed a wad of notes in the attendant’s hand. The human grinned, counting his loot before he walked away. The human never asked questions; he just took the money and went about his business. He hadn’t even blinked when he’d thrown his bloody clothes in one of the fire pits at the back of the yard. It made him shudder to think what else the human turned a blind eye to. Many of his cars ended up in the junkyard. It was just outside Wolfdale and surrounded by woodland. All he had to do was shift and run back home. “Pleasure doing business with you,” the human said. He nodded and looked around at the piled-up totalled cars around him. He’d been careful driving there but couldn’t be sure he hadn’t been followed. The Hunters were so different— what if they could track better? Heading directly to his territory wasn’t a good idea. Gerald was hopefully well on his way to the next ci
The tracks led Cain to the woods near the hotel. He didn’t stop to think as his beast crossed the road and stalked through the packed car park, bigger than any car parked there. Rage blinded him. There was nothing but red in his vision, nothing but bloodshed on his mind. The sun had set, but anyone leaving the hotel would see him. Cain was too big to be mistaken for the wolves that roamed the forest. But none of that shit mattered anymore. They had his mate. They had Layla, and they would all pay for that. He approached the hidden side door and sniffed again. The scent of dead Hunter's blood lingered in the air, but they had cleaned everything up. Before or after any human saw them, he couldn't be sure. Hunters were very good at hiding their activities and getting rid of witnesses. Humans would never know just by looking at the pavement that something happened there that morning. The lack of police vehicles suggested a cover-up by both the Hunters and his security team. Cain’s gro
Layla winced at the loud jackhammering in her head as she rolled over. Something cold and hard dug into her back, making her more uncomfortable. Why was her body hurting so much? And what was that smell? She slowly opened her eyes, only to close them again. The light above her was blinding, and it made the headache worse. Her limbs felt so heavy that she couldn’t lift her arm to cover her nose. It smelled like crap in the room. ‘Miss Layla?’ The voice in her head sounded louder than the pounding. Her eyes opened and widened as everything came back to her. She’d been caught! And somehow, she could hear Faith’s voice. She sat up slowly, wincing as her muscles refused to move like she’d been comatose for months. But once she was upright, she had to suck in a breath as she looked around her. She was in a cage. A metal cage used for wild animals and not high enough for her to stand. There were several similar cages around her in the large, cold room that looked like a warehouse, and
Jax bounced his leg as he watched the unconscious man chained to the chair. He hadn’t even fucking touched him; Ambrose passed out like the coward he was before he’d brought him down to the basement. Everything was taking too long. Layla had been gone for hours and he was no closer to finding the truth. What business did a man like that have with an organisation like the Hunters? What did they offer him for him to risk his life? Miss Roberts did the same in a bid to join them, but he never had the chance to get answers from her before the Hunters whisked her away. He heard the sound of the door opening and threw one last look at Ambrose before he left the interrogation room. The door slid closed behind him just as Dylan came down the steps with Gavin, their faces sombre. They’d left their emotions wide open. He could sense their sadness without them having to open their mouths. He could feel their resignation. They thought Layla was gone for good. He growled and turned away fro
Layla jolted out of her position when a loud scraping sound echoed in the warehouse. The tension around her rose to overwhelming levels, and a few whimpers came from the cages around her. She pushed to her knees and remembered not to move off the small mat. Around her, the other wolves had withdrawn into themselves, hugging their knees tighter. Only when she caught the familiar scent did she understand what was happening. Somewhere in the warehouse, the Hunters had opened a door. The air shifted as fresher air came in from the other side of the doors, and heavy boots echoed in the room. Her body was taut with tension, but it rose even higher when she heard the dragging sounds and the moans. They were dragging someone else into the room! She blinked and tried to focus, but her head was still swimming because of whatever drug they used to knock her out. Whoever they brought smelled familiar. ‘Don’t bring attention to yourself, or you’ll be next.’ She didn’t look back at Faith wh
Jax barely cleaned the blood off before rushing to the empty lobby with Dylan and Gavin on his heels. Dylan gave him the fresh clothes, but that was pointless as far as he was concerned. He didn’t need them for long. “Alpha Chase is coming over to help,” Dylan said. “This needs all of us, Jax. You can’t find her by yourself.” Chase was bound to Layla through the blood oath he’d made to protect her, so he wasn’t surprised by that news. But all the other Alphas knew to stay away. They’d never fucked with the Hunters, and now wasn’t the time to start. Something had changed. “He can help you with the pack while I’m gone. You’d stand a better chance if he brought the rest of his pack to our territory,” he growled as he switched on the computer at the front desk. Outside, red and blue lights were flashing. The human emergency services responded to the fake call and secured the area, but it would take time until someone gave the hotel the all-clear. Even then, his doors would remain shu
“What’s this?” Jax looked at the envelope in front of him with the Circle’s seal. The last time he received one of those, they summoned him and Layla to stand trial. He looked up at Hugo, sitting at the end of his conference table with Keith and frowned. If they thought they could punish him for defending his pack, they could think again. “You’re not going to sit at my table and tell me that piece of shit deserved to live, are you?” he growled. Hugo shook his head. “No, of course not, Your Majesty,” he said. “That’s just a formal apology from the Circle, acknowledging our mistakes. And we’d like to welcome the Queen and her family into your pack.” “They don’t need your shitty welcome,” Ryker snapped. Hugo flinched and looked at Ryker, who was sitting opposite him. Out of everyone, the Alpha of the Night Walkers was the least agreeable about the new partnership. If anyone knew how to hold grudges, it was Ryker. He wouldn’t be surprised if he managed to string one of them up
Layla struggled to breathe. She could feel Lincoln’s large hand crushing her windpipe, even though part of him was twitching on the floor in front of her. Her mind was foggy with the lack of oxygen, but the fear that crippled her disappeared. Jax had taken charge now. Everything would be okay. Her eyes fluttered and then closed even with all the commotion around her. The cut-off screams. The scent of blood that even her nose could pick up. And when she heard her mother’s voice, she breathed a sigh of relief. Rebecca’s wolf was stronger than Nia. She would never allow anyone to hurt her family. She relaxed entirely until Britney's scream brought her back to the present. Her heart lurched as she sat up and saw Alpha Cole drag her and Hope towards him. Maybe Cole didn’t have a wolf, or he wasn’t shifting because he knew he was outnumbered. But there was no denying he had enough dark magic to follow through with his threats. She could almost smell it even though she was less than
The dark magic continuously ripped Jax’s cells apart even as Cain worked on healing them. Cole—that fucker—rounded up some of the strongest witches. They were no match individually for Diedre, but together they bound her up tighter than anything. He gritted his teeth and looked sideways at Diedre. Her face was pale, her teeth snapped together, and her eyes closed. He sensed her pain. He felt all the pain in the room, even the children’s. “Silence!” The command rippled across the room. Cain growled in his head at the challenge. Had he not been bound, he would have commanded Cole just as he did at the trial. Another warrior fell beside him, and the pain slashed through his body when another bond broke. He was still trying to recover when Lincoln grabbed Layla by her throat. His claws dug into her delicate skin and punctured it. And the scent of her blood overpowered every other smell in the room. Her blood. Her pain. Her fear. All of it clouded his head, calling on the beast
Where did the vampire come from? How did he go through Diedre’s wards? Layla backed up until she felt Jax’s car behind her. The vampire grinned, showing his teeth, and she froze in place. Fear filled her body. This was her worst nightmare come to life. She was vulnerable, and her child was in the hall. She couldn’t protect her. “Breach!” Someone shouted behind the vampire. But she would never have outrun him even if the fear didn’t paralyse her. Their speed was unmatched. There were screams. Something zoomed past at such speeds she realised there were more of them. And if the vampires were there, the Circle was making its move. And that was the twist—the final nail in the coffin full of all her hopes for a future with Jax. Something snapped around her, some invisible force that pulled her forward. It was magic. How did it even get past Diedre’s wards? She tried to lift her arms and drag her feet, but it was futile. Wolves around her were hauled towards the hall like rag do
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
Layla smoothed her summer dress and adjusted the straps before she took a fortifying breath. Not that the expensive clothes would make a difference. Compared to how vibrant she’d looked when Nia manifested, she looked like crap now. No amount of makeup could hide the bags under her eyes or how lifeless her eyes had become. And she couldn’t tame the frizz, no matter what she did. She'd tied her hair up in a puff— the same style she used to have before she’d met Jax. She tilted her head to see the angry red mark on her neck. Her stomach churned, almost bringing up the few bites of food she’d managed to eat. Images of her night with Jax returned, and her nostrils flared. What did he think would happen now? The bite wasn’t healing as it did the first time; it was starting to look infected. Jax poisoned himself for nothing. She ripped out the hair band and the millions of pins holding her hair up and fluffed her hair, covering the mark again. No one else needed to know what Jax did.
“What the hell have you done?!” Layla repeated, and this time her anger surged as her voice rose. Jax gently pulled out of her before he straightened. He’d known how the night would end. It had been the same the first time he marked her. But her anger still hurt. It had been months, and every second of that had been torture. Did she not feel the same? “I did what I had to do, Layla.” “How could you do that to Cain?” Layla shouted. She pushed him aside and got off the hood to look for her skimpy little night dress. “We don’t know what they put in my blood, but we know damn well that it will kill him!” Layla pulled her nightie on before she turned to face him. Her emerald eyes blazed at him. He’d been just as angry when she bit him the night before the blood moon on his birthday. Marking someone without their consent was a dick move, and as the Alpha King, he’d put down a few wolves for that exact reason. But there he was. Being a dick. “It was Cain’s idea. And I completely agree
Layla rolled her neck and shoulders to ease some of the stiffness but knew it wouldn’t do her any good. She couldn’t remember a time when she’d felt that tired. She spent money that she didn’t have to buy some energy drinks to keep her awake for the drive home. It was almost two in the morning, and working two jobs was sucking the life out of her. At one point in her life, she’d even had three jobs and still had the energy to run around after Brit and take care of their trailer. With a sigh, she grabbed her bag from the passenger seat and shoved her door open. The car had been a piece of crap when she’d bought it, but it was worse after being off the road for so long. She’d worked at least a month to afford the extra money to pay someone to get it roadworthy again. It was hectic catching buses or getting a taxi to take her close enough to her neighbourhood, especially this late at night. She hadn’t seen Jax since the picnic, but some warriors hung around the neighbourhood for wee
“Jax?” He kept his back to her with fists clenched. Cain wasn’t backing down. It felt like the time the beast had completely taken over when he killed Alpha Kendrick on his doorstep to protect Layla. Now all he wanted was to sink his teeth into her neck and return what was lost. “I’m sorry I don’t have the endurance I used to have,” Layla said as she came up behind him. He sensed the pain in her words but didn’t turn around to offer any comfort. If he’d needed proof that her wolf was well and truly gone, he had it now. Even before she had shifted, Layla could sense the danger in the air. She’d been able to feel when he was losing control. ‘She can’t sense me at all.’ Cain’s words caused an avalanche of pain that shoved him further into despair and buried him deep within it. He tried to focus so he could pull himself out, but it was pointless. He felt the same way his beast did. Cain couldn’t live without his mate, either. And if he tried to deny his mate, he would end up like