Sold to the Alpha With Silver Eyes - Chapter 22: Chapter 22

“I’m fine,” I groan, pushing a set of hands away from my face. “Just need a second to regain my eyesight.”
“Wait, what? You mean I blinded you?” Leoni’s voice waivers and I can hear Dev as he growls low, no doubt at her.
“What the hell were you thinking?” He hisses over me, a warm hand cradling my untouched cheek while turning my head in the direction of his voice.
“I was going to pull the punch, but you startled me when you screamed my name.” She argues back at him. “What the hell are you even doing here?”
“You are a warrior. Is that how you react in battle?” He bites out.
“I didn’t expect anyone in the pack to come out of nowhere and scream my name.” She hisses.
“Could you two stop?” I yell, my head splitting as I wince from my own voice. “Leoni and I were sparring. Accidents happen.”
“She is trained enough that this shouldn’t happen.” He says, his voice directed right at me as I blink my vision back, looking at his fuzzy face as it finally comes into focus. My heart sinks when I notice how worried he is. His chest pounds noticeably and his eyes scan my face, looking for any sign I may be able to see again.
“Does it look that bad?” I ask him, my hand reaching up to gingerly touch my cheek, my eyes watering from the light touch. Leoni leans forward, coming into sight, and my eyes flicker to her, her own growing wide.
“You can see again?” Leoni asks in an exhale, cursing herself under her breath as she slumps under her weight.
“Yes, I told you I was fine and just needed a few seconds.” I scoff, finally shoving Dev’s hands away from my face. I groan as I push myself up, sitting upright, then pinch the bridge of my nose and grin over at Leoni.
“That was still a pulled punch, wasn’t it?” I ask, watching as she looks at me pitifully and then nods in affirmation. “Well, shit. Thanks for not breaking my cheekbone.”
She finally breaks a smile.
“I really thought you were going to dodge it,” she says, a mournful look in her eyes.
“Well, I was distracted. Dev showed up out of nowhere and I stopped paying attention.” I shoot him a scowl and he frowns, sitting back on his knees.
“I’m not the one who punched you in the cheek.” He defends himself. “Why am I getting scowled at?”
“You distracted me, though. Might as well have been your fist.” I say with added sass, and he chuckles dryly.
“Leoni, can you lead the rest of the warriors in today’s training?” He says, shooting her an order in the form of a question. She doesn’t have the ability to tell him no. I can feel it in his tone. But the question is now if this is her punishment for injuring me.
“Can she take me back first? I’m not sure I am all that steady on my feet yet…” I stop, a squeal breaking from my lips as Dev reaches for me, yanking me into his arms as he stands with ease, cradling me to his chest.
“King Cedric moved up the training time to six for the duration of this week. Please have them run after they finish training. Last ten to finish will run an extra five kilometers.” He says, ignoring me as I flail my arms and legs around, begging Leoni with my eyes to save me.
Her sly smile doesn’t go unnoticed as she spins her back to me as fast as she can to hide her face. There is no doubt when she gets back she will want me to tell her everything.
“I can walk, you know. It was my face that got hit, not my legs.” I grunt at him as he ignores my pleas and squirming.
“Unless you want to fall on your tailbone, you need to stop struggling.” He bites out, silencing me with a solid scowl.
My arms wrap around his neck to secure myself as I swallow the lump in my throat. It is incredibly uncomfortable to be in his arms out in public. In the privacy of Leoni’s house he is often stealing close moments that make me blush, but this…where anyone can see us, this is new.
“Dev.” I say, trying to get him to answer. His jaw clenches and he ignores me. “Dev,” I grind out again. This time when he doesn’t answer, I bring my face closer to his, my nose brushing his ear. “You can’t ignore me forever.”
“I’m not ignoring you,” he says, his words bland and lifeless.
“Liar. Why are you so upset?” I ask, and he scoffs.
“You are supposed to be healing, getting better. And instead you are out here, training when you barely sleep, sparring when you are not anywhere close to being skilled enough to spare yet. Do you have a death wish? Are you so used to abuse you only know how to thrive when you are barely making it by?” He bites out, turning his face to meet mine. Our noses touch, my stomach fluttering even if his words are harsh and stab me deeply.
“H-how do you know I barely sleep?” I whisper, my eyes meeting his as I watch him look from my face to my lips. My whole body shivers in thrill, and my wolf goes on high alert, wanting to do her duty to the bond we have.
“I know many things. I have people everywhere.” He whispers, but he does nothing to move away from me.
“Leoni told you.” I say, feeling disappointed. It’s not like I don’t know he is her commander. But it still hurts that even something as trivial as staying up late to find answers about our predicament isn’t even sacred. Does she report to him about my weight gain as well? I mean, we discuss that every morning, making sure I continue my healthy weight gain.
“Does it really matter who tells me?” He asks, his voice hoarse as his chest pounds wildly under my arm. Dev still hasn’t moved away from me. Instead, he leans forward, his nose pressing harder into mine, before it moves to the side, our lips so close I can feel the heat of his breath.
“It kind of does.” I whisper. “Is it so bad to want a friend who is just my friend because I am interesting and not because they are watching me for you?”
“It was not Leoni. She established that boundary when I asked her if she could stay with you originally.” He tells me. My chest relaxes, my body melting into his arms as I exhale in relief.
“I am staying up late because I am trying my hardest to find a way out of this bond,” I breathe the words, my eyes closing while I beg him with all the might in my heart to just close the gap and kiss me. A real first kiss. Not the one that doesn’t count. Instead, he rips away, walking again with his eyes focused forward.
“I am too,” he mutters. “The pull is getting stronger every day. I didn’t expect it to mimic the mate bond in this way.”
My brows pull together in confusion.
“The mate bond feels like this too?” I ask him and he slides me a curious glance.
“Did you not feel it with your mate before he rejected you?” He asks and I look at my legs, breaking the bubble we seem stuck in.
“I couldn’t smell him, or really see him due to circumstances, to all I knew was the pain when he rejected me. There was no touch or anything like that. Just him seeing me and rejecting me before I could even think.” I whisper, my cheeks pink in embarrassment. “Can you please put me down now?”
He hesitates for a moment, his right arm releasing my legs as they slide down his body and he reaches around, spinning me so I land chest to chest with him. Well, more chest to torso for me. I can’t bring myself to look up at him, knowing if I get stuck in that bubble of desire, I don’t know what I will do.
My body craves his closeness, my wolf whining to just obey the bond already.
Is this really the same as the mate bond is? An intense longing for someone? All this time I thought, well, I was worried. I was falling for him. It makes my heart sink thinking none of this is real.
“I can make it back on my own now.” I force a smile, taking a huge step back away from him. My hand reaches up and I tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear. He chuckles, shaking his head as he reaches out, closing the distance and patting my head. Then I realize he is fixing my bed head I was not worried about earlier.
“Let me guess. Leoni turned the speaker on and left it on your doorknob?” He quirks a smirk.
“She has done that to you, too?” I gape at him and he shakes his head no.
“To Hastings. Every morning. He loved going on missions with her because she couldn’t bring her speaker with her and wake him up that way.”
I let him reminisce for a moment before his eyes refocus and he clears his throat and takes a step back.
“Sorry, your bed head just reminded me of how he showed up to training a lot.” He grins. “I’m glad she has someone to pester at home.”
“It’s nice having her around, honestly.”
“I suppose I should head back.” He looks over his shoulder reluctantly, then back at me like he is looking for an invitation. I nearly give him one, tugging at my shirt as I clear my throat and look around, catching glimpses of people emerging from their homes either to train or go to work.
“Yeah, I think I’m all good to head back on my own now.” I smile, wincing as pain zips up my face. “Might try icing this lump.”
He clears his throat and nods, then he steps forward and starts walking in front of me.
“Uh, isn’t training that way?” I ask him, hooking a thumb over to my side. He ignores me and I jog to catch up to him. “Dev, I thought you were going back to training…?”
“I think we should probably go over the new documents I have for you to look at regarding the breeder’s bond. That needs to take precedence, so you can go live your life sooner rather than later.” His tone is stoic, the wall he likes to throw up randomly standing tall, so I can’t sense how he really feels.
“Why do you suddenly think I need it broken this instant?” I ask, trying not to show that it offends me.
“I noticed your shirt.” He whispers. “And it is making it damn hard to not just seal this bond right here, right now. We both need it broken so we can think rationally.”
I look down at his shirt. The one that has been so comfortable and has helped me sleep for the first time in so long. My arms wrap around my stomach and I nibble on my bottom lip.
Did I wear it because the stupid breeder bond wants him? Or is it me, my warped brain thinking, the first man that treats me nice and looks at me with lust, forced lust, mind you, might ever want me for me?
“Uh, I will make sure to change immediately when we get back.” I mutter, walking along with him in silence. At least when this bond is broken, this hot and cold game will finally end. Maybe that will make leaving him that much easier.