Sold to the Alpha With Silver Eyes - Chapter 25: Chapter 25

“You are going nowhere,” Uncle Cedric scoffs, looking up from his breakfast. “What is out there that you find so damn important?”
“I want to see if I can find some of those contracts. Look at them and see how similar they are to the real thing. You told me to back off on this entire thing and focus on becoming king soon, but I can’t help but feel that I have to wrap this up in order to be worthy of the throne. This was my father’s last law that he changed.” I remind him.
He drops his fork, lifting the napkin from his lap before he wipes his mouth and looks away.
“How badly do you want to do this?” He asks, softly.
I perk up, pushing off the counter where I lean. “It’s a need, Uncle, not a want.”
“Fine. I will send a crew of men to find the documents.” He exhales, thinking he is giving me what I want, as my frustration only grows. I snort a dry laugh before I move to the table and take the seat next to him, commanding his attention.
“I don’t want a team to do this for me while I wait here and do nothing. What I want is to go by myself with my team.” I repeat the demand in clearer terms.
“Do you think I am dumb?” He asks, his tone growing dark.
“Of course I don’t think that.” I frown, my shoulders dropping.
“You are panicking about taking over. If you truly wish to wait longer to step into the role, fine, just say the words, but don’t you dare make up excuses to go hide out away from your responsibilities.” He says with a look of disgust.
“That has nothing to do with it,” I gawk at him, completely taken aback by his lack of insight into this. “I just told you the reason.”
“You are not to go,” He says, standing from his chair as he throws his napkin down on the table. “That is the end of this discussion.”
“Uncle, I am an adult and seasoned warrior, one whose throne you are keeping warm. This isn’t me asking, this is me telling you I am going.” I stand up, facing him as he glares at me.
“If you leave, I will give this throne you think I have kept warm for you to my son. We may be blood, boy, but I am still your king. Not a partial king, not your place holder, but the real functioning king.” He growls out. “I am ordering you to stay in this damn pack, warrior. Is that understood?”
My face twitches as I scowl at him, my lycan wanting like hell to fight the direct order. But no matter how we play this, a direct order is one we can not disobey.
“Yes, my king.” I grumble before I brush past him and make my way out of the house, ignoring everyone who shouts their good morning well wishes. How the fuck am I supposed to tell Eden I can’t go do the very simple thing that will free her? And what is to stop her running off and going on her own to find it when I tell her?
“Shit,” I grumble under my breath, trying to calm myself and find a way to break the news to Eden and keep her here in the pack safe from whoever is after her.
Keeping Eden safe is already not an easy task, considering there should be no way anyone can get into this pack undetected. I even checked the reports from the other night from the border patrol. There was no break in the area for any of the patrollers and no one reported a damn thing.
I choose to avoid heading back to Leoni’s instead of heading to the pitch to get some training in, or rather let some anger out. Except when I get there, I only find ten men, all of them having a heated discussion as I walk over to them.
I recognize one of them from one of the missions I had to lead years ago. His massive frame stands out against the group of them. The man is a wall of muscle. Though he is not taller than me, he is indeed wider. The largest thing about him is his unsettling presence.
“Pax,” I call out in greeting, the man turning around to furrow his brows in confusion.
“Alpha,” He lowers his head in respect before looking back up. “I wasn’t expecting you…”
“This pitch is open for training use at any time, and I often train.” I say, narrowing my eyes as he shifts from one foot to the other uncomfortably.
“King Cedric called for it to be a closed training and meeting today.” He says, walking toward me as he removes himself from the group. “He sent out a pack-wide message just ten minutes ago.”
I look down at my watch, checking the time. He sent the message out minutes after I left him. In my anger, I had shut down all mind links, making sure no one can reach me that way. I sigh, annoyed, of anyone here Pax will be the one who will enforce this rule, regardless of who I am and what I say.
“Let me guess, you are all part of a special task force?” I ask, arching a brow to hide the way alarm bells go off in my head. The last thing I need is these guys going out there and finding that paper work with my name on it.
“Yes, sir.” He nods cautiously.
“Then I suppose I will leave you to it.” I mutter, looking over my shoulder as I hear footsteps growing closer. Leoni jogs over, coming up on my right side as she stops looking at me curiously.
“Are you going with us, then?” She asks, her eyes saying something different from her mouth. Leoni is worried about leaving Eden here alone if I am going along on this journey. I shake my head half heartedly.
“No, I am needed here in the pack.” I tell her, giving her a slight nod that seems to ease the tension in her neck. “Will you be okay with this mission?” I ask her.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” she scoffs, looking away. Pax looks at her funny, before he rolls his eye.
“The only woman on this detail and she is already trying to prove she is so tough.” He grumbles under his breath.
“The hell did you say?” Leoni snaps, her nostrils flaring as she glares at him.
“Your mate just died and you are so eager to go back where he was killed. I wonder if you are going on this mission because you’ve been asked or if you are looking for a fight.” He turns to face her fully, his tone accusatory. “Because if you put any of my men in danger looking for revenge, I will not hesitate to leave your ass behind.”
“The fuck you will,” I growl, pushing on his shoulder so he meets my full face of anger.
“I am not going for vengeance or to see where I lost the love of my life, Paxton.” Leoni says, her usual calm washing over the anger I can feel emanating from her. “I am going because I was asked and I will stick to my duty, because that is what I do. Some of us don’t interpret things how we want so we can get a sick enjoyment out of others’ pain.”
Her words are lost on me as I watch his face morph before he throws up his stone wall.
“Whatever.” he grumbles. “Either way, Alpha, I do have to ask you to leave, as you are not allowed to be a part of this meeting.”
Paxton gives me a smile, one that says he enjoys having something like this over me. Power has always gone to this prick’s head, which is why I refused to work with him again after the last time.
Leoni has him pegged right. He does things for his own gain and personal enjoyment. He gets off on others’ suffering and to me, the last place someone like him should be is in charge and a warrior.
“I will be on my way.” I mutter, watching him walk off to the others, who are still chatting away.
“There is no way in hell I will let him find your paperwork before me if it’s still there.” She says in a hushed voice. “By the way, I volunteered when I heard you weren’t allowed to be a part of this. Your uncle did not ask me.”
The sick feeling in my stomach and heaviness in my chest lessen when I glance at her and see the sincerity there.
“I would never have asked you to do this,” I tell her and she shrugs.
“You didn’t have to, Dev.” She smiles before she walks off to the others.
It takes every ounce of willpower to walk my ass out of there, heading back to Leoni’s after all and hoping that Eden is still fast asleep. This day is not going my way in the slightest, and the last thing I need is her concerned gaze and blushed cheeks. She doesn’t realize it, but she has quickly turned into my weakness and yet, I know that if I don’t see her, I will remain in a shit mood until I lay my eyes on her.
As I walk up to Leoni’s house, I see someone sitting in the flower bed, humming as the tug weeds from the dirt tossing them over their shoulders and into my path. I grin, bending down to pick up a handful of weeds and toss them at her.
She freezes, turning around with a glare, speckles of dirt on her flushed face. She looks incredibly silly with the green plant on her brown hair and narrowed eyes.
“Why would you do that?” She asks, standing and brushing the weeds off and shaking the dirt from her hair.
“I needed a laugh.” I tell her honestly and her defense falls away, her eyes growing concerned.
“Everything okay?” She asks, pulling off the gloves covering her thin hands.
“We may have a small problem.” I sigh, scratching the back of my neck.
“What kind of problem?” Her brows pull together and her eyes grow wide.
“The kind where a task force is being sent to find the contracts, and I have been ordered to stay behind.” I wince at the words and she places both hands on her head, cursing under her breath. Then she freezes and looks at me, wide eyed.
“Should I go? I-I could demand I want to go, and tag along.” She rushes out, throwing the gloves to the ground and stepping out of the flower bed.
“Fuck no,” I rush out. “Leoni already volunteered to go.”
Her eyes fill with tears and she paces away, then looks back at me.
“Can she handle that? I mean, she is tough, and she has made so much progress, but I still hear her crying sometimes at night and it’s not exactly where it happened but…” She rushes the words out, worry and fear on her face. I step up to her, placing my hands on her shoulders.
“Leoni made this choice on her own.” I tell her.
“But she is doing it for us.” She whispers.
I can’t help but laugh lightly as I watch her frown up at my reaction. She is so sweet and has come so far living with Leoni. From being afraid of making eye contact to now worrying about others and preparing to rush into a task force to fix things. How she is able to shake the traumas she lived through to still be able to find bits of herself is beyond me. But it makes her all the more special to me.
I know this breeder bond has been a curse to her, one she hates and wants to escape so desperately, but I find myself less angry about the whole ordeal every day. I get to know her a little bit more. Being stuck with her wouldn’t be so bad. In fact, I’m wishing it could be a reality.