Sold to the Alpha With Silver Eyes - Chapter 6: Chapter 6

*Dev*
I stare at the stars, the night sky clear through the windows the trees create with their leaves. It has been hours of laying here, exhausted and yet, sleep refuses to come. There is too much on my mind, too much to do, and so much more to report to my uncle. I’ve been away from home for over four months this time.
And then there is the issue of my breeder. Leoni and Hastings are the only two that know I purchased her, that she has to remain close so we can find a way out of this. If anyone else knew, if my uncle knew…Shit, he would pick Sheldon as the next lycan king over me.
Even if I didn’t want the throne or title before, it was once my father’s. Since leaving, I have realized how much closer I feel to my deceased family being in that throne room. There is nothing that can keep me from what is rightfully mine, not even a hiccup with cute scars and long, flowing auburn hair.
I sigh, long and slow, my fingers and legs growing antsy the longer I lie here, unable to sleep. My anger grows as I turn to my side, pain rolling through my thigh as I gasp and freeze.
“Fucking leg,” I grit out, gingerly rolling over to my back again before I kick at the blanket over me with my foot.
“Mom…” A desperate soft plea floats to my ears and my brows furrow, listening closer as a whimper follows. “Travis…no, no!”
There is no way I am hearing things as I grunt, sitting up, my eyes scanning until I land on the poor excuse of a tent Leoni set up for Eden. I shouldn’t go closer, if not for respecting her clear disdain for me, then due to my healing leg, but I can’t help it. She intrigues me and after watching her eat earlier; I realized I want to know everything about her.
I lean to my side, forcing myself up as I hobble over toward her tent. My leg is stiff, muscle sore as I force the pain to the wayside, closing in on the clear sobbing coming from her tent.
She can’t be awake, not with how much she seems to skip around in her words. My fingers hesitate at the opening, curling back as I glance around, the feeling of eyes on me making me feel unsettled.
“Please, let me save him,” Her voice is broken, raspy as if she has inhaled lungs full of smoke. It makes my shoulders drop, a sadness washing over me. What kind of life has this poor woman lived? Where in the spectrum of awful things did I stumble upon her and make things notably worse?
I suck in a deep breath, ducking down as I pull aside the flap and look into the darkness. The linen blanket stands out against the dark ground, her small frame shivering under it as I inch closer. It feels wrong, like a breach of her privacy, but I move forward anyway, gently dropping to my hands and one good knee as I look at her pale face.
There is a tiny lantern by my side and I click the on button, dimming it significantly to not blind her and wake her in a fright. The yellow light reflects off her tear-stained cheeks and sweat laden forehead, her hair stringy and wet as she thrashes from side-to-side mumbling incoherently.
I reach out, my hand landing on her shoulder as I give her a gentle shake.
“Eden,” I say as soft as I can. “Eden, you are having a nightmare.”
It doesn’t seem to work at all as she grows more frantic, fighting against me, her hands flying out as if trying to hit me. I try to dodge but she gets me in the corner of the mouth, a twinge of pain and taste of blood alarming me as she continues to try to get up, almost as if I am in her way or holding her down.
“Just let me save him! Please!” She roars in my ear, my arm slipping around her waist as she sits up and flails in my arms.
“Eden,” I say more firm, my lips touching her ear as she continues to trash. “Eden!”
“I want to die with them, let me die…” she breaks down, her body going limp.
My stomach twists in a strange way as I lay her back down. Just as quickly as I get her back down she pops back up, my eyes widening in shock as she climbs over me, my leg giving out forcing me to I fall on my back, her on top of me, legs on either side, blanket between us. I throw my hands up to protect my face as her arms come to either side of my cheeks and I blink up at her.
Her hair tumbles around me to the left, the light shining up on her as she seems to blink away the sleep and nightmare. She is red eyed and puffy-cheeked but she is stunning in her heartbreak and I hate that I notice that.
“D-dev?” she stutters, yanking her hands back as she sits up, her body pressing on my pelvis. I bite back a groan, trying to ignore the unfortunate place she is sitting.
“You were having a nightmare,” I offer. “I was worried and tried to wake you up.”
“Oh.” She frowns before she lifts her eyes, looking at me in shock and leaps off of me, folding in on herself as she covers with the blanket as though it were a shield protecting her from me. We sit in silence as I push myself up, my eyes on her as she tries to avoid looking at me.
“You want to talk about it?” I ask her and she shakes her head adamantly. Eden tucks her hair behind her ear, exhaling deeply before she looks my way.
“I am sorry I woke you up. I didn’t mean to fall asleep, but it’s been a rough…”
“Life?” I chuckle and she smiles at me for the first time, a soft amused smile as she nods.
“You could say that,” she mumbles.
Silence falls over us and I clear my throat, looking around. There isn’t much space in here and the longer I stay, the more uncomfortable I no doubt make her. I look up at her and she offers me a tense, fake smile.
“I should probably leave.” I offer.
“Okay,” she mutters as I try to stand with whatever dignity I can muster, rolling off the ground and pushing myself up, trying to apply less pressure on my leg. I make my way to the flap, opening it, stopping for a second before I exit and close the flap behind me.
“Dev…” Her voice is soft, calling out my name as I turn and quickly stick my head back in.
“Uh,” she clears her throat. “Thank you. For saving me, I know it wasn’t your intention, and you weren’t there for me, but…thanks for not letting me get sold as someone’s plaything.”
My face softens when I see the sincerity on her face.
“It’s kind of the job we were given,” I offer, like it was no big deal. The second it leaves my mouth and her face falls, I realize my mistake. Shit. Of course she is going to feel worse now that I phrased it like that. “But, uh, you’re welcome and for what it’s worth, you are the first girl I’ve ever…”
“Owned?” she asks, tilting her head, a hint of sass behind her words that I have not yet seen from her.
“I don’t own you.” I frown at her and she shrugs.
“Like it or not, you do. According to the paperwork and the bond that initiated between us.”
“Right, I get that technically, It looks like I own you, but that paperwork shouldn’t have been legitimate. There is obviously something else going on…” I try to explain, but I can tell she won’t change her mind.
She is right. According to the bond and the paperwork, it shows ownership of her. It makes me feel sick to my stomach as I nod, disappointed in how this went from her thanking me to me owning her.
“I’m going to go to bed.” I say, scratching the back of my neck as I give her a wave and an uncomfortable chuckle. “Uh, I’d say sweet dreams, but perhaps try to avoid dreaming.”
She says nothing as I leave the tent, exhaling deeply, shaking my head and moving back to my spot by the coals in the fire pit.
A tingling shoots up my spine, my lycan rising, disturbed by something. I whip around, searching the darkness in the woods around our little camp, my eyes narrowing on a shadow I swear shouldn’t be there. My skin crawls, and I swear I can feel sets of eyes on me.
“How is she?” Leoni asks, coming up beside me.
I shake my head and exhale. “That girl is broken. “
It is the only way I can think to phrase it where it has the depth of meaning I feel. Eden has endured more than she lets on. Her actions, her hesitation, hell, even her emancipated state speaks more to her trauma than she is verbally willing to admit. She has lived a hell of a life, one look at her when she is lost in herself and it’s more than evident.
“Broken, but not unfixable.” Leoni says, her voice light as if she is in thought.
“I hope someone is willing to spend the time to truly help her with that.” I say, refusing to admit that a part of me wants to be a part of that healing process. More than likely because I like to help others.
Leoni slows her speed, scanning the area around us, her eyes narrowing as she frowns.
“You feel it too?” I whisper, and she nods in the moonlight.
“I can’t scent anything, but it feels like someone is out there,” she mutters.
“Who is on night watch?” I ask her and she looks at me, panic flaring in her eyes.
“Hastings, he isn’t responding.” She rushes out.
–Everyone up, high alert–I shoot through the mindlink,–Hastings check in now! Alpha’s order–
“Leoni, I want you with Eden.” I tell her and I can see the defiance in her eyes. “Hastings will be found, and he will be fine. Right now, I need a warrior, not a worried mate.” She licks her teeth, letting me see how much she dislikes my order, but she does what I ask.
–It’s a group of Alpha’s–Hastings breaks into my mindlink, reaching out to only me as he sounds weak.
–Topher, get to Hastings, now!-- I roar through the link, keeping Leoni out of it as she needs to remain focused.
Within a second, bodies pop up from their spots on the ground, and I can see Leoni rushing over to Eden’s tent, dragging her out by her hand and shoving her behind her.
“You have my attention.” I say, sticking my hands in my pocket. “Is there something in particular you want?”
No one responds, not a word or a whisper. That is until a whistling noise comes rushing toward me and I tilt my head to the side, a stinging on my cheek as a silver arrow slices across my skin. Only a coward fights from a distance and with weapons that harm their own kind. Cowards and people who are afraid to reveal their identity.
“You missed. Not much of a way to attack.” I say, tilting my head, removing my hands from my pocket and holding them out as if offering myself up as a target.
“That was a warning shot to be sure we have your attention.” A voice says from the darkness, then a flame lights, showcasing shadowy figures just beyond the trees. “This is how we attack.”
They shove a man forward, his arms tied behind his back, urging him with words I can not hear, and I realize it is Hastings. I take a step forward, my eyes skirting over to Leoni, who also steps forward.
–Order Leoni to look away–He says through the mind link, and I see a shadowy figure raise an arm and an outline of a large spear as the rear back and release it into the air, flying straight for Hastings back.