Page 5 of The Alpha King's Fate

There was nothing that would keep her away from Brit now.

Chapter 3

“What do you mean we’re different? It's everyone else who is different.”

Layla swallowed and set her cutlery down. The dining table had been full even before the guests arrived for the memorial, but now only the three of them sat around it. There had been a lot of confusion when she’d brought Britney down for dinner and a lot of sniffing. Brit smelled very human—nothing extra or ‘other’ about her.

Her heart sank when she looked at all the empty seats.

She looked over at Jax, but he continued eating as if he was determined not to help her explain just because she wasn’t doing it how he wanted her to.

“Well... you said you’re hearing voices in your head—is it just one voice or many?”

Brit speared a potato without looking up at her.

“I don’t know. One, I guess,” Brit mumbled.

Where was her mother when she needed her? She disappeared before the place became too crowded with the excuse that she had lived alone for too long; she wasn’t used to crowds. She didn’t even have a chance to tell Rebecca that Brit was starting to experience some changes. Her mother would have been the perfect person to explain.

“Well, see... you’re starting to go through some changes that may seem a little overwhelming at first,” she said carefully. “I’m not sure how long it will take, but you’re in the safest place, and I will help you every step of the way.”

“You’re not making sense. The safest place for what?” Brit asked, throwing her cutlery onto her plate.

“You know how you thought something was wrong with the guys? With Jax?”

“I still think something is wrong with Jackson,” Brit mumbled again.

Jackson gave Brit a pointed look but said nothing as he chewed a mouthful of his steak.

“You two are going to have to get along. We’re a family now. You’ll have to get used to him being around for the rest of my life.”

Brit chuckled and pushed her plate away.

“I don’t know what fairytale you’re living in, but that never happens. He’ll leave,” Brit said. Her sister was making a point not to even look in Jax’s direction. “They always leave. He hasn’t even married you, and you’re talking about forever.”

Jax started coughing and then reached for his glass of water. When he settled himself, he met her gaze briefly before he turned back to his food.

“It’s different for us,” she said weakly. It was hard to defend that when Jax didn’t look interested in the conversation.

“Because you have a child together? People leave their children all the time,” Brit stated.

“Not because of that. It's because we’re... mates. We’re fated.”

Britney stopped fidgeting and looked at her. And then she looked at Jax, possibly for the first time.

“Is that what they teach here?” Brit asked. “Destiny, and being one with the earth and all that?”

And then her sister’s eyes widened.

“You’re in a cult! Oh my god, Layla, you’ve mixed us up with a cult. Who else would live in this scary forest surrounded by wolves like they don’t know how many people disappear here every year.”

Jax coughed and covered his mouth, but she could feel his amusement colouring the air.

Of course, he found that funny. She’d assumed the same thing when she first arrived, but it took her days to reach that conclusion. Brit hadn’t even been there a day yet.

“It’s not a cult. We’re... we’re a family. A pack.”

Brit pulled back in her chair, looking at her like she’d grown two heads.

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