Page 6 of Bewitched

L ayla curled against the door of the truck, the window cool on her cheek. Rain pattered against the windshield, turning everything blurry and reflective. Her mouth burned. The cab was filled with Jaxon’s cinnamon pheromones, but she could also smell his sweat and skin. Scents that wouldn’t have meant anything to her before but now made her want to clench her thighs tight together. She hit the button to roll down the window, but nothing happened.

Jaxon fidgeted beside her, keeping a tight grip on the steering wheel and glaring at the few people on the sidewalks as they stopped at intersections. She could smell the blood on his hands and streaked across his shirt. His eyes were wild and terrible. Feral. He wasn’t much of a man before, but now he was all beast.

Layla wanted to slide into the footwell and disappear. The space was big enough. She could fit. She wanted to hide somewhere dark and quiet. She wanted to take back the whole night and stay in her room. Then maybe Garret wouldn’t be dead, and she wouldn’t be kidnapped by a killer. Stolen. She wasn’t an omega bride to be stolen, but here she was anyway with the biggest, scariest, rudest alpha she’d ever known.

Layla curled protectively over her cramping stomach as she took off her shoes. She had no chance of escaping if she was running in heels. She should have thought about that in the park.

Another gush of slick spilled out of her, wetting the seat. She was making a mess all over his nice truck. She blushed. “I’m sorry.”

It was the first words she had spoken since they had left campus.

Jaxon gripped the steering wheel harshly, twisting the imitation leather. He didn’t look at her. “About what? About not answering my texts? About leaving your nice, safe dorm? About not listening to me at all? Because that’s what I’m fucking pissed about.”

Layla felt shame as she had never felt it before. She couldn’t even take care of herself, just like her mother said. “Your seat.”

He cracked his jaw with a sharp snap of his teeth like he wanted to bite her. “Right. You’re worried about the upholstery.”

She wrapped her arms around herself, pretending a hug could make her feel better. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

Jaxon glanced at her, taking his eyes off the road for a few precious seconds. “Oh? You’ve never had a heat before? I believe that. On the good stuff, right? Little rich girl suppressants that let her pretend she’s a beta.”

“I don’t… pretend,” she said.

He sneered. “Fucking naive little girl.”

She found some well of anger deep, deep down. She had always been talked down to and coddled because of her designation and because she was a girl. But she was more than any of those things. “I’m not naive. I’m an adult. I’m twenty-two!”

Jaxon laughed cruelly. “Yeah? Twenty-two and still fucking stupid. Pretending to be a beta for so long, she forgets what happens when she isn’t careful.”

Layla tensed and stared at him. Omegas lived behind fences for a reason. Because omegas couldn’t be trusted to keep their hands and pheromones to themselves. Omegas that couldn’t control themselves destroyed families and got people killed. Someone was dead because of her.

“It’s my fault,” she whispered.

Jaxon growled a deep animal sound. “Yes, it’s your fault. You should be safe in your cage, but here you are.”

Her heart stuttered and stomped, beating its way out of her chest to flee. She sniffed. “I’m sorry.”

Jaxon slammed his hand against the dashboard, leaving behind a smudged handprint in blood and sweat. “Stop saying you’re fucking sorry. It doesn’t fix anything.”

Her lip trembled, and she bit her bottom lip to keep from apologizing. Again. She had to be quiet. She had to be so quiet. Alpha demanded it. She dug her fingers into the leather seats. She never liked it when alphas were angry. But right then, trapped with Jaxon Harlow, she felt an almost paralyzing fear that made her want to please him. And if he wouldn’t let her apologize, let her tell him how much she knew she fucked up… what was she supposed to do?

He glanced at her and sighed. “Say it then.”

She sucked in a breath as if she had been underwater. “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

Jaxon groaned in frustration. “You know, a good alpha would take you back to your dorm or to your sister. Wash their hands of a naive, foolish little beta-wannabe.”

That he wasn’t a good alpha went unsaid. She knew he wasn’t. He had killed a man because of her. He would have killed another. He was never letting her go. She wasn’t sure she deserved to be free anymore.

Layla stared through the windshield, watching the lights of high-rises reflect in the rain. She didn’t know where they were going. She didn’t recognize any of the landmarks in the dark. She was terrible at navigation anyway. Or left and right. She was an adult and still couldn’t tell her left from her right. Why did her father ever let her leave the house?

Because she was supposed to be safe, Layla promised she would be good. She wouldn’t go to wild parties. She would stay safe. She would call Mina if anything happened. She would take all her medication on time. She had broken all the rules except the last one. She got her shot on time. She took extra suppressants just to make sure. Why was this happening to her?

“I can’t be in heat,” she said.

Jaxon glanced at her but, for once, opted not to argue. “Why not?”

Layla had held her mother’s hand tight as the doctor drew blood from her arm. Mina glowered from the corner chair, picking at the bandage over her own arm.

“It’s okay,” her mother said. “It’s just a precaution. You won’t… you won’t be like him.”

Roan had just returned home, a mating bite on his neck, an alpha at his heels. He’d looked ill as he crossed the police barricade into the courthouse. Shera had only stared — had only been concerned with the scandal. It wasn’t how a Nash should present themselves to society. So it was good that he wasn’t a true Nash, just the omega son of an omega whore.

When the doctor returned, her mother fell into a chair. The prognosis was grim. Omega. Layla didn’t even hear what he said about Mina.

Shera Nash wept.

Layla had been barely ten years old. She thought she was dying. Incurable. She’d never be perfect again.

Her mother’s eyes were frantic and wild as she held Layla’s small cheeks between her hands. “You’ll never be like them,” her mother said. “Will you? You’ll be better than that omega whore. You’ll be better than her child. I should have known he would be a whore just like her. I should have let him die. You’ll never be like them. We’ll do whatever it takes.”

Tears filled Layla’s eyes, turning everything blurry. “Mommy—“

Her mother squeezed her tighter. “You’ll be a good girl. You’ll never be like those other disgusting omegas. I’ll make sure of it.”

Layla had smiled up at her mother, and her mother smiled back.

“Well?” Jaxon asked.

Layla was supposed to be perfect. Failure was worse than death. How did she explain that to Jaxon Harlow? The alpha with scars and tattoos who dragged himself up from the gutter, growling and snarling. He wouldn’t understand.

Every diagnostic, every medication tested and perfected. She would never have a heat. She would never be an omega, not really. “I’m not allowed.”

“Allowed? What in the hell does that mean?”

Layla rocked back and forth in the bench seat, trying to soothe her frazzled nerves, every stress from the night bubbling up at once, clawing at her throat until she wanted to scream.

“I have to be perfect. I have to be good. I was good. I am good! I’m not bad! I’m a good girl! I have to—“ She tugged on the door handle even as the truck continued to roll down the street, but the door wouldn’t open.

“God damnit, Layla, NO!” Jaxon grabbed her arm, jerking her away from the door as he pulled over and threw the vehicle in park halfway on the sidewalk.

Layla struggled against his hold, trying to smack him as much as she tried to get away. Bad Omega. “I’m not bad. I’m not bad. I’m not bad!”

Jaxon grabbed her hands and spun her around, forcing her back against his chest. She kicked at the door and the window, bruising the soles of her feet on the armrest.

“Omega! Stop!” he said close to her ear, his scent overwhelming with his closeness. “You’re not bad. You’re a good little omega.”

“No!” she wailed. She couldn’t be an omega. “I’m not allowed.”

He breathed harshly into her hair as held her, his arms so tight she nearly couldn’t breathe. It felt good, like a really heavy blanket. The rain continued to thump endlessly on the roof, giving the world a strange musical quality.

Her feet hurt.

Slowly, so slowly, she relaxed in his embrace. His hands held her wrists close to her body so she couldn’t swing at him again. She stared up at the ceiling of the truck cab. There were thumbtacks in the lining.

Jaxon chuckled humorlessly. “Well, who fucked you up?”

Layla leaned her head against his shoulder. She was suddenly exhausted down to her bones. She didn’t have the energy to fight him or the pride to argue. “It’s my fault I’m an omega.”

“I don’t think it works like that.” His voice was surprisingly soft.

She let him tip her head to the side, and his mouth rested on her scent gland. Her skin was sensitive, and his tongue was so hot. His hand was on her belly, fingers spread from her ribs to her mound. She wanted his hand higher or lower, in any direction. His teeth pressed into her neck, and Layla’s hips bucked.

“You’re a good kitten. You’re a good girl,” he whispered.

She shuddered under the alpha’s praise. “Please.”

Jaxon released her and pushed her back to sitting in her seat. “We’ll be home in a few minutes.”

Layla kept her eyes closed as Jaxon pulled back into the flow of midnight traffic. He put a hand on her thigh, tugging her closer to the middle seat. She wanted to tell him that he was being rude and inappropriate. That she didn’t belong to him, but he was an alpha, and her tummy hurt, and she was so tired.

She might have fallen asleep, but she wasn’t sure. When she opened her eyes, the patter of rain was left behind for the bright overhead fluorescent lights of an underground parking garage. Jaxon’s hand was still firmly on her thigh, but it hadn’t crept any higher. She was strangely surprised by that.

Layla was sure she recognized the building, but she was far too tired to think of the logical places he would take her. His “den” he had told Rolland, wherever he called home.

He pulled into a parking spot marked by a yellow diamond with his name stenciled on in black.

Jaxon slipped out the door but leaned back inside. Suddenly, both his hands were on Layla’s bare thighs, pulling her across the bench seat to the driver’s side door. Her rear made a wet squelch as leather dragged against sopping wet skin.

Layla covered her face with her hands and blushed. There were only so many times she could wish to disappear before knowing that God was doing this to her on purpose.

Jaxon chuckled and helped her slip out of the truck. Her bare feet were cold on the cement of the garage floor. “You’re alright, kitten.”

She wrapped her arms around herself protectively. She needed this night to end. “I’m sorry.”

“My truck is going to smell like wet, leaking omega for months. Can’t be mad at that.”

She scrunched her nose, not particularly pleased with her own smell. It was too sweet, too omega. She tugged her dress down fitfully. It was soaked in the back and clung to her bottom.

“My dress is wet.”

Jaxon looked her up and down. A smirk stole over his face, and his hands landed on her hips, dipping over her bottom and dragging his fingers over the slick-damp material.

Layla shuddered helplessly. “Don’t.”

“Right,” he said. “Why did you wear this damn thing anyway?”

She couldn’t look him in the eye. “It’s an Iverson Original — one of a kind. Helena said it looked good on me,” she said quietly.

He nodded. “It does. Just not very you.”

Layla blushed and kept her gaze away. She hated how he was right. He shouldn’t know her so well. They weren’t friends. She could never be his friend.

Jaxon shrugged out of his suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders. She grabbed it to keep it from sliding off and shoved her arms into the sleeves. It was warm from his body heat and smelled like his sweat. It was way too big, but it fell to her knees, covering the worst of her shame, even if anyone could smell that she was a mess.

“Thank you,” she said.

He took her arm and led her through a steel door to an opulent lobby of blue-green and brown. Now she knew where she was. Greenway Tower. The Sorreto base of operations. It was far more ostentatious than the Bay Complex owned by the Bartlets or the Rose Garden owned by the Waylands.

All the Sorreto staff had rooms at the Tower. Mina was there somewhere, sleeping. Never knowing that Layla needed her.

“Mina,” she whispered.

But he heard her anyway. “No,” he said.

Her stomach sank.

Jaxon coaxed her toward a bank of elevators past the empty reception desk. It was too late for anyone to be in the building that didn’t live there.

There was a sharp clip of heels behind them. “So it is true,” a woman said. “I thought Rolland was drunk when he called. Of all people, you . Have you gone insane?”

Layla turned to see a tall female alpha with strawberry blonde hair pulled back in a tight bun. She wasn’t wearing a standard security uniform but a black pantsuit and matching heels.

Jaxon’s grip on Layla’s arm tightened. “Not now.”

The woman stepped forward as if she had no fear of the great and terrible alpha holding Layla so tight. “She’s Mina Nash’s sister. Do you know what she is going to do to you?”

“Georgia!”

Kaiser Sorreto strode across the lobby. Kaiser Sorreto was an omega and Damian Sorreto’s only son — Raina’s uncle. Layla had known him for years. They weren’t of an age to be friends. He was closer to her father’s generation, but omegas looked after each other. They had to. Kaiser could… what could Kaiser actually do?

The omega met Layla’s forlorn gaze for one long moment. His eyes widened as he took in her outfit and her scent. He quickened his pace to the female alpha and grabbed her arm, digging his fingers in until she winced.

Layla scrunched her nose at the thick scent of honeysuckle that trailed behind him. Too strong. Vile. He didn’t smell like that before. She wanted to vomit. Anything to get that omega smell out of her nose. She turned her face into the collar of Jaxon’s jacket to inhale cinnamon and musk.

“Georgia,” Kaiser said cautiously. “How about we let them go upstairs and settle in?”

Georgia gave Kaiser a contemptuous look and shook her arm from his grasp.

Layla recognized her then, Georgia Klein. She was Kaiser’s alpha mate. She’d once worked for Bryson Bartlet before Kaiser swept her away. She’d tell him, and he’d immediately tell Aslin. Her father would know where she was in a day. He would know she was stolen.

Tears filled her eyes.

Jaxon tensed, poised to strike. His grip on Layla slackened, but all his attention was on Georgia. “Listen to your boy,” he said. “Sometimes he has sense.”

Kaiser scowled and stepped between the two alphas, an easygoing smirk firmly in place, but Layla could see the strain in his shoulders. “You know I’m older than Georgia. I’m older than you, too.”

Layla shifted warily. Kaiser was distracting them, keeping two alphas from fighting. It was a skill she never developed. Obviously.

Georgia was taller than Mina and weighed more. She looked stronger, too. She might be able to take Jaxon, but defeating him was a long shot. She had seen enough blood for one day.

Layla twined her fingers through Jaxon’s, pressing her body into his side. She couldn’t let them fight. She stared up at him, silently begging.

Jaxon twitched and stared at her for a moment like he couldn’t believe she was there touching him. He nodded to her, then turned back to Georgia. “I left a mess in the university park.”

Georgia sneered but didn’t move, allowing Kaiser to remain between them. “Rolland told me about that, too. We’ve already sent Clover to clean up.” She stared at him in disgust. “Is this what you do when you get turned down?”

Kaiser’s eyes widened, and he turned back to his mate. “Stop.”

Jaxon’s hand tightened around Layla’s arm. “Go fuck yourself, bitch.”

Georgia snarled, showing off sharp teeth.

“I said STOP !” Kaiser yelled.

The alphas quieted.

Layla wished she had that ability, but being assertive wasn’t one of her few talents.

“Take her home,” Kaiser said, pacing between them like a nervous caged lion. “I’ll call you later, okay, Jaxon?”

“What the fuck for?” Jaxon growled.

Layla gripped his hand tighter, tugging him toward the elevators. She could feel his pulse in his fingers. Just get out of there. Just get him alone. She didn’t know what would happen then, but it couldn’t be worse than this.

“Trust me,” Kaiser said. “You’ll want to listen to me while you can.”

Jaxon glared but finally turned his back on the pair and led Layla into an elevator. He leaned against the back wall, pulling Layla to his side and wrapping his arm around her waist. He pressed his nose to the top of her head, breathing her in.

Layla trembled. Everything had gone so wrong so quickly. She had brought a whole new disappointment and shame to her family. She just wanted to sleep.

The elevator stopped on the fiftieth floor and opened to a row of apartment doors circling the elevators and emergency stairs. Jaxon’s apartment was near the back, tucked away from the thoroughfare.

She hesitated at the door. She could smell his den, thick and potent with his scent. She was so utterly fucking soaked that she didn’t think she could get wetter, but she did.

If she went inside willingly, was she agreeing with him? Was she agreeing that she was in heat and that he… would be her alpha? It was a foreign thought, an alpha of her own. She never wanted one. She never wanted Jaxon Harlow. She pushed the thought down to the back of her brain with all her other omega instincts. They never did her any good.

Jaxon waited by the open door, silent but agitated.

Layla wrapped her arms around herself, trying to become small. “I can’t.”

Jaxon scowled. “Can’t what?”

She looked back toward the elevators. “I can’t go in there.”

He touched her, his massive palm right at her lower back, then firmly pushed her inside his apartment and closed the door.