Sold to the Alpha With Silver Eyes - Chapter 30: Chapter 30

*Eden*
I lay in my bed; the blankets pulled up to my cheek as I stare at the wall, fighting the tears that threaten to stream down. It has been so long since I’ve felt that pain, a burning so intense it made every nerve shut down as it brought everything back.
Even this room reaks of smoke and my burning flesh. I know it is all in my head, that’s the worst part. My sense of smell has long been gone, and it didn’t start working now. But my brain can’t quantify that it wasn’t real.
That I wasn’t back in the house feeling like the fire was burning me from the outside in all over again. My whole body aches, each joint sore, every muscle heavy as if I have no control. I can hear the door creak open, the clattering of plates as Leoni pushes in.
“Hey, how are you doing?” She asks, her words somehow triggering the emotional side of me that feels like I have been holding on to so much pent up rage and brokenness. My mouth opens, but no sound comes out as she sets the tray on the side table and sits on the bed, her hand touching my shoulder.
I shake my head, my lips pressing together as I tell her without words I can’t speak. A sob breaks free and my knees curl up to my chest, my hands over my face as I fall apart. She doesn’t say anything, no words of comfort. Instead, her hand is gently stroking my arm while I unleash years of fear and despair.
I don’t know how long I cry, but the room grows brighter. The sun creeping in as I hiccup and force myself to sit up in the bed, my back to the headboard, knees to my chest. My cheeks feel tight from all the tears, and my eyes itch from crying for so long. Leoni gives me an encouraging smile, folding her hands in her lap.
“I’d ask how you are doing again, but that seems to set off quite the reaction.” She grins, trying to lighten the mood. “So Instead, are you hungry?”
“Is the food not cold?” I whisper and she lifts the warm bowl of soup like she is showing it off, even giving me a small shimmy before she points to a grilled cheese sandwich.
“Dev swapped it out for me when I thought you were coming around. Thankfully, I was right.”
I reach out for the bowl, taking it from her hesitantly until she pushes it closer to me. “Come on, you need something in you. No way you are losing any weight on my watch,”
“How long was I crying?” I ask, and she shrugs.
“It doesn’t matter. What matters is you needed it, bad.”
“Yeah.” I say, my voice hoarse as I try to clear it. “Ugh, I feel so gross now. My nose is all runny and my face is probably streaked. Don’t even tell me how red and swollen my eyes are.”
“But do you feel better? Inside I mean?” She asks and I shrug, lifting the spoon to my mouth. “Do you want to talk about it? It might help.”
“I doubt that will help.” I mutter, the soup feeling amazing against my raw throat as I close my eyes and relish it.
“It helped me a lot with losing Hastings.” She offers and I give her the side eye.
“Who did you talk to about it?” I ask, trying not to be offended she didn’t talk to me. But then again, I didn’t know him well and perhaps it makes it harder to mourn him when I have nothing to add to the conversation.
“His parents.” She looks at me like I am crazy. “They are my family, Eden. They loved him as much as I did, and they feel the same hole and ache.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.” I mutter. “But I don’t have anyone to mourn with. It’s just me.”
“Not even an aunt or distant cousin?” She asks, sorrow written all over her face.
“How do you know I’m in mourning, anyway?” I ask, taking another spoonful.
“Girl. Seriously? I recognize that agonizing cry and that was a panic attack, was it not? You keep holding it all in. It won’t get any better.” Her hand reaches out, and she pats my knee. “From one broken heart to another, I am here to listen.”
I press my head against the headboard and whimper, trying so hard to even think of where to begin. There is so much that has never had the chance to be resolved in my heart. My soul aches and my body’s brokenness was a way to escape it. It gave me a reason to cry when I couldn’t bring myself to grieve out of anger.
“I wish I could have talked to my best friend back then,” I whisper. “She was there, begging for my life to be spared when I was in the house burning…dying.”
“Why didn’t you talk to her?” Leoni asks.
“I couldn’t speak, smell…see…all I could do was hear out of my one ear.” I close my eyes, my nose burning as tears ready themselves. “Every day she would beg her uncle, our alpha, to spare me from punishment. But the punisher refused. I hadn’t suffered enough, according to them.”
It is easy to sense the change in Leoni, the way she goes from comforting to confused as she listens, not asking a single question. I know she has lots of thoughts swirling in her mind by now, so I press on.
“I was sent away two days after my family died in fires of that explosion.”
“Sent to better healers?” Leoni asks, finally breaking in. I scoff and shake my head, a dry laugh on my lips.
“No, to the place I was a servant.” Her eyes grow wide and her mouth falls open.
“I regained my sight on the third day, after they got sick of me not responding to their orders. They hit me hard enough I regained my sight, or at least that is how they made it seem. They made me thank them by kissing their feet.”
“They did what?” She grinds her teeth, and I watch as her hands curl into fists. “Fucking assholes.”
“There was no time to think about my family or really mourn them when I was there. I learned to be around flames at a distance because I had to. But when I feel the heat…it just…I can’t…” My voice cracks and I bite my lip. Putting the soup to the side. Leoni says nothing, the two of us sitting in silence before she exhales, and meets my gaze.
“Can I ask why you? What did you do that was so awful they felt you deserved this punishment? I mean, you clearly aren’t a killer and even stealing from the king himself doesn’t result in this severe of a punishment.”
It’s a question I have asked myself over and over again, one I will never have the real answer to. The only truth I got was that my parents, even my younger brother, were traitors and that I, as their only surviving flesh, would bear the sins of my family. I have spent years trying not to hate them, or blame them for all the suffering I’ve been subjected to.
“I was born to the wrong family.” The corner of my lips tip down.
“But that’s not a crime.” Leoni scoffs, standing and pacing away. “How the hell is it okay to punish you for something so trivial and stupid as that?”
“It can’t be undone now, and it’s why I can’t stay here. Why, even though Dev is just a warrior, I could never…we will never be able to be anything.” The truth hurts worse than I expect, leaving him bringing a new set of tears to my eyes. I’ve grown far too dependent on him and Leoni for my own good.
“Wait, wait.” Leoni shakes her head, confused. “None of this is making any sense…”
I sigh, tossing the blanket from my body as I reach over and grab the grilled cheese, eating it while I try to word it right. Leoni doesn’t know anything of what really happened, but she is right. Talking about it has helped, a little, even if it’s just temporary.
“My parents were convicted of being traitors, as was my younger brother. No one gave me details or proof, but when I went home one day, my house exploded. I was dragged outside to watch it burn. I had to fight to get back to them.”
“Traitors how?” She scoffs, sounding angry.
“Like I said, I wasn’t given any details. Just punishment for being their blood.”
“Are you sure your family was actually in the house? Maybe they escaped somehow?” She asks, looking hopeful as I chuckle and shake my head.
“When I heard them screaming in pain, I fought my way back in and fell into the basement. I was just trying to get to my brother. He was fifteen. Hardly deserving to be killed in such a horrific, painful manner.”
Leoni narrows her eyes. “What do you mean you fought your way back in?”
“All I can assume is that I wasn’t meant to be there and, based on the things I heard in my hospital room, my best friend had known about what was going to happen and pleaded for my life.” My lips quiver as I say the words, my chest tight like a vice grip is holding me in place.
“She sounds like a good friend.” Leoni gives me a hopeful smile.
“The kind of friend who keeps the secret about my family’s death and then expects me to be happy to live the life I was sentenced to. Yeah, she was fantastic.” I say sarcastically. It surprises me how much anger I still hold toward her, but then again, speaking everything out loud is bringing me new found emotions.
“Ah, yeah…there is that,” Leoni winces, coming back to sit next to me. “So that pain…when you were injured and now the heat from the bond burning away, is that what triggered the panic attack?”
“Yeah, I think so. Heat…scares me, and the way it came out of nowhere and felt like I was being burned alive all over again…” I admit and she frowns.
“Shit, Eden. I knew you went through shit, but damn.” She mutters. “That’s just awful.”
“Don’t tell Dev?” I ask her, worried about how he will view me, knowing what blood is in my veins. Blood of traitors, ones who allowed their own son to fall into the hands of those who would kill him in such a terrible way.
“Of course not.” She smiles, “I already told him I value your friendship too much to learn more about you and report it to him.”
“You know, I once thought they were amazing. My parents, so filled with life and love.” I laugh softly. “Now I know it was a rouse, we were expendable, my brother at least worthy of knowing their plans me…I was left out because I wasn’t good enough to know their true identity. And now I get to wear their shame as my own. How fucking fair is that?”
“I know this is going to sound…weird but…maybe there is more to it than that.” She offers.
“LEONI!” A growly, pissed off voice breaks out through the early morning. She freezes, looking over to the window. I jump up, rushing to look out only to freeze, blinking down at the massive mountain of a man glaring around.
“W-w-who is that?” I ask, stuttering out as I look back at her and she swears under her breath.
“That would be—”
“That’s the guy!” I hiss, hiding from the view of the window. “Leoni, that is the guy who pulled me out of the fire and tried to force me to watch it all burn down while they screamed for mercy.”
My body shakes, my hands uncontrollable as she rushes over and hugs me, pulling me close.
“That fucker won’t come near you ever again.” She whispers, “Dev will take care of it, he promised.”
“He did?” I ask, confused.
“That is Paxton, Eden. He is here for me, not for you and Dev will sort it out. For now, lets keep you out of sight, okay?”