Page 44 of Pack Nightmare

“I can’t let her get away with it,” I growl, the sound rumbling in my chest.

“You will make her pay when the time is right.” Landon’s voice is gentle, but I won’t be soothed.

“Release me,” I snarl, using the alpha command to force them to comply. They have no power to hold me.

As one, my mates release my arms, and I get one more step forward before I’m hit in the face with a blast of air. It shocks me momentarily, setting me back on my heels.

Derrek wastes no time, scooping me up and climbing into the back seat, keeping me tightly in his lap. “Hurry, we have to go!”

Landon and Milo jump in the front and Jared joins us in the back, pulling the door closed as we peel out. The other group has already pulled Jeremy’s body into their vehicle and is right behind us.

Coming back to my senses, I snarl, thrashing at the arms pinning me tightly to Derrek’s body. “Let me go!” My alpha command echoes through my head, but Derrek isn’t affected.

“I can’t do that Lex. I’m sorry, I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“Landon-” I start with the alpha voice rumbling in my chest, but Derrek claps a hand over my mouth.

“If you order him to stop, he will, and put all of us in danger. Is that what you want? Or do you want to do your job as alpha and protect your pack?”

A frustrated, animalistic scream pours from my throat. He’s right, and I have no choice. We’ve already lost someone, and we’ve got no weapons against a powerful witch.

Finally giving in, I sag against Derrek’s chest.

“If I let you go, will you be smart and make the right decision to keep everyone safe?” He asks carefully.

I nod, and his arms loosen, allowing me to slide to the seat between him and Jared.

Slumped over, I rest my head in my hands and do my very best not to cry.

I can’t believe how utterly and completely I’ve fucked up.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Layla

After riding in a state I can only describe as numb for an indeterminate amount of time, I suddenly come back to life with the realization that, as alpha, I probably have a lot of important things to do regarding Jeremy’s passing.

I send a message to Roxanne, confessing where we went and the summary of what happened. She can judge all she wants from afar. But I’m the alpha and I make the decisions, and the pack lives with it.

Or dies with it.

Roxanne gives me instructions on where to go, and I relay them to Landon. Milo sends them to his friends in the other vehicle. Once we arrive in town, I’ll have to accept the responsibility for a death that was easily preventable. If we’d never left the pack grounds, it never would have happened.

Those boys weren’t even meant to be there.

But they came to protect you, their alpha, I argue with myself. If you hadn’t gone, they wouldn’t have gone.

No one asked them!

Your fated did.

The guilt and accusations float around and around in my head, coiling in useless circles.

Eventually, I start reflecting on the trip, every individual little moment, trying to assess what I could have done differently.

Obviously, not going at all would be a great place to start. She didn’t even tell me the one thing I went there to ask. Her voice echoes in my head. “… you know how to break the curse; you’ve known it all along. But none of you can see what is right in front of your nose. Until you do, there’s nothing I can do for you.”

What does that even mean? I don’t know anything about breaking the curse, or I wouldn’t have been there asking.

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