Sold to the Alpha With Silver Eyes - Chapter 51: Chapter 51

*Dev*
My uncle stares at me, his eyes tense and filled with determination to make me break. Instead I look away, yawning as if I am bored with him and this meeting he claimed to be urgent. He must know by now of my distrust in him. The anger he has placed in me now grows and festers into a ravenous sea of hatred and disappointment.
This man raised me, treated me like a son next to Nate and yet, everything he does now is underhanded, and behind my back. There is no way he woke up one day and his roots in my displacement would be this deep. No, this is years of planning, years of lies and trickery and fake fondness for his dead brother’s son.
“Devereaux,” He says, clearing his throat to gain my attention. I exhale, turning my gaze to him as I blink and look back away, unbothered by his attempt to try to use any form of authority over me. “Please do not treat me with such blatant disrespect.”
It pleases me to no end, hearing the slip in his fake niceness that my defiance clearly brings out in him.
“What is it you would like to discuss, King Cedric?” I ask, looking at him, coding the emotion in my eyes and face just to make him ponder even more where my head is at.
“Do you really think I want to do this? That I wish for you cousin to take the throne?” He hisses at me, unable to control his emotions.
“Yes.” I tell him simply. He has the gall to feign pain in his chest at my one worded answer.
“I raised you as my own. Every year it is me who sings you happy birthday and gives you a present, me who has scolded you when you are in the wrong and applauded you for your wonderful service to the crown. And now, one hiccup in our long history of loving family relationships and I am cast aside like one of your foes?”
His fist grows white as he lifts it and hammers it down onto his desk, the hard wood creaking from the force as all the items on the surface dance in the air for a mere second.
“You have planned this for a long time, Uncle. Let’s break free of the lies and speak candidly.”
His cheeks grow red, lips twitching into a sneer, but he wipes it away with a lick of his lips before he clears his throat.
“Fine. Then let’s start with your lie about that Breeder you brought home with you.” He watches me, a smug grin on his thin lips. He thinks he has caught me in some huge scandal.
“I saved a girl by embracing what I thought was a fake breeder relationship. That is, until the official paperwork, which I told you about from the very beginning, made it a viable contract.” I try to explain it, but he scoffs and breaks in.
“And if she is pregnant with your pup? How will Jasmine handle that, or better yet, her father, your father’s only true remaining friend?”
I chuckle, my hand slipping over my chin and mouth before I level him with my glare.
“Eden and I never had sex. There was no acting on said breeder bond, and it was broken before the pull of it became too much.”
“Oh, and when was that? Hmm?” He asks, but I know he has the answer already.
It was naïve of me to think he wouldn’t use his alpha’s status to get whatever information he wanted from Paxton. And the fact he released him, only to have him killed before the border, means he had met the max usage out of the asshole.
“Thanks to your pal Paxton, I was able to secure my original copy of the breeder contract. Apparently, all it requires is a mutual agreement for it to end and the burning of the contract. Which, I must admit, was very hard information to come by.”
I can see his annoyance with me rising, his tongue gliding over his teeth under his pressed lips.
“So you were not lying when you told me you didn’t have a breeder as you had just rid yourself of the contract?” he says to himself, putting it all together as if it was some difficult puzzle for him.
“Of course not.” I snort.
He stands, pacing around the desk, his lips pursed in deep thought. Then he pauses and looks at me, eyes pulled together.
“And what of Eden? Will she leave now that you have announced your intention to mate with Jasmine? Hmm? It seemed to me like you quite enjoyed her company, and she seemed rather smitten with you. Never have I seen a woman trust someone as deeply as she seems to trust you.”
He picks his words as if picking a well-sharpened blade, plunging it straight into my ribcage to crack me right open.
“She will leave and choose her own path.” I shrug, trying to remain as passive as possible. But the way his eyes change, growing darker, as if he has a deep secret he can not wait to share with me.
“Ah, but she is meant to serve as a traitor for the rest of her life…yes?” He asks, a smirk at the corner of his lips before he hides it away. But it’s too late. I see how he enjoys to toy with me.
“She has served more than enough time and losing her family—”
“Her family was a traitor to the kingdom your father made great, the one you are meant to inherit.” He argues back.
“You mean the one you are trying to take from me and give to your son?” I snap and he rears back, feigning shock at my anger.
“My job is to ensure this title goes to the one who will lead the future packs the best. And here you are, pinning for a woman who betrayed the very crown you are so desperate to put on your head.” He says.
“Her family betrayed the crown, not her.” I remind him and he waves his hands as if I were an annoying fly he is swatting from his ear.
“We bear the sins of our families, Dev. One of the very favorite sayings of your father. She i no different in the eyes of the law, and in the eyes of the people as well.”
“I don’t plan to mate with Eden.” I say, even though I want to. Even though saying her name makes me feel raw and ache for her nearness. “Jasmine is my mate. We have chosen each other, and that is the end of this all.”
“Nate has been in love with Jasmine since he rejected his mate.” He says softly. “You know how he craves her and wishes only for her and yet you take her from him–”
“Oh no, no. You do not get to put that on me. This is your doing, not mine. You are trying to give him everything, the girl he wants and the title that is mine. I should give up everything because he wants a specific mate who wants nothing to do with him?”
Cedric doesn’t answer. Instead, he watches me, his eyes flitting over my face as he lets the silence eat up the tension between us.
“I want you to think hard, Devereaux. Is this title truly what you want? Is it what you expect it to be? Let’s face it, you have been gone the majority of your mature life, running missions, climbing the ranks because you felt the need to earn this title.”
“Have I not earned it?” I ask, scoffing at him. “Everything I have done was part of the plan all along. My father’s plan, I would climb the ranks and my brother would be the alpha, but when they both…” I pause, clearing my throat of the growing lump. “I needed to be me and still do what is right for my family’s name.”
“Does Nathan not have the same family name? Has he not been at my side learning and watching as I lead in your father’s stead?” He asks.
I hate to admit he makes a point, but the truth is, it’s not a valid point, as the bloodline goes directly to me now. Not to Nathan, and I should have already taken over years ago.
“Has this been your plan all along?” I ask, meeting his eyes as he frowns and looks away.
“Your father wanted this position for you, just like any father should. And I am no different. Your part of the legacy died when you ran away from your responsibilities to hide your pain with fighting.”
I scoff, dragging my hand over my face.
“I left to become a man because you told me it was what needed to be done!” I remind him. He nods, his back to me now as his muscles pull on the fabric of his button-down shirt.
“And while you were off doing that, Nathan was doing both, learning and fighting, all while staying close. The pack knows him better. They respect him and call him prince, a title you refuse to be called.”
My face twitches at the word. The more I hear it, the more I hate it. It makes it sound so royal, like he deserves the spot more than me. But we are lycans, not royal blood from the human medieval era. I am a Lycan Alpha, the last one with the pureblood from my father.
“I do not need to be a prince to become the king, uncle. I simply need to demand the title that is mine, the title that I must willingly give up before you can bestow it on anyone else. That is the law.” The words creep out of my grinding jaw, more a threat than a reminder.
“And you won’t do that?” He asks, finally looking over his shoulder finally like I am worthy of facing while we speak.
“Hell no.”
“Interesting.” He muses, a glimmer in his eyes like there is more beneath it, but he doesn’t elaborate. “Until you take over and I remain the king, just understand if you break any laws or my order, you will give up your title.”
He looks so smug, his arms crossing over his chest as the corners of his lip twitch up in the faintest of smiles.
“I am well aware of how it works.” I snarl at him, and he nods, showing me the door so I can leave.
“Just a reminder. No one leaves the pack without permission. Just in case you find a reason or need to leave, I will not be permitting it. You are, after all, the heir and therefore must remain safe here with us.”
There is a message in his words, one that makes me uneasy as I slide out the door and make my way to my room, my legs antsy as I pace around the room trying to come up with any reason why he would say what he did.