Chapter 165

Layla’s POV

I woke up to great discomfort. I could not move my body. I looked down my stomach immediately where there seemed to be a restraint and I realized I was tied to a tree.

Panic clawed at my throat like a starving beast as I looked around. Disoriented, I blinked furiously against the harsh cold, the world a blurry mess of green and brown. My head throbbed a dull ache that pulsed with every frantic beat of my heart.

My breath hitched as I tried to move, only to be met with a sickening realization. My wrists burned – a rope, thick and rough, digging into my skin and binding me to the rough bark of a giant oak. The fibers bit deep, sending a fresh wave of panic crashing over me.

I heard someone groan beside me and I looked at my side to see Scott was tied in a sitting position at the foot of the nearest tree to me.

“What is going on? Did Marcus and your dad do this?”

“He is not my dad. There is no way that monster would be my