19. Zayden
Chapter nineteen
Zayden
I find Reed lying on the kitchen floor when I come downstairs, his face covered in blood and bruises.
I drop down on my knees beside him, giving him a tut-tut. “What the fuck, Reed…”
He opens his eyes. Or tries to on account of them being swollen.
The Alpha reaches a trembling hand out, and I take it at once, squeezing his fingers tightly.
We’re still good. Of course we are.
I could never hate him for too long.
He’s my Alpha.
And when I see him looking so pathetic, lying in his own blood on the kitchen floor, then I can’t help but want to take care of him.
So I force him up to his feet, placing him down at the table as I grab a first-aid kit.
“How long have you been lying on the floor?” I ask, gathering what I need.
He scoffs. “How long has it been since Magnus came down for ice cream?”
I think. “A few hours.”
“Well, there's your answer.”
I roll my eyes, wiping at the blood on his face. It has crusted over a little bit, and he has never looked so gross.
Reed winces as the antiseptic wipe stings his cuts, and I shake my head. “Oh, get a hold of yourself.”
Now the Alpha broods as I clean up the rest of his face, and I’m surprised he even let Magnus beat him up, to be honest.
He feels bad about what happened. I know he didn’t mean to form the bond with Opal.
There is still so much we don’t know about Acutes. Even Reed doesn’t know his own strength and power at the best of times.
“So, how did it happen exactly?”
He freezes.
“The bond. We all know now that you're peering into her head, Reed.”
Reed exhales heavily, and his hair wafts in front of his face. “When I touched the back of her neck. My fingers grazed her old bond mark with that… that Alpha , and then I saw things…”
“What things?”
“Opal… her memories. What he did to her…
The Alpha grips the edge of the table, and the wood cracks and splinters beneath his fingers.
A shiver courses down my spine.
Shit.
I grab his massive shoulders, shaking him. “Keep it together, Reed.”
The Alpha finally snaps out of it, bowing his head sheepishly. “Sorry, Omega.”
Now I gather my composure, cleaning up the rest of Reed's face as I try not to think of the things he saw.
It's not even worth thinking about now. I can't even imagine what she went through.
Now I think about how we will all pay him back when we finally get our hands on him.
The warden is a dead man.
Unfortunately, it’s going to be a few weeks before Reed's eye heals.
It's swollen and completely purple.
His good eye, too.
Now he won’t be able to see.
Lucky thing he has that strong sense of smell, or he'd be blind.
“She wants you to join.”
Reed tenses, but he doesn’t meet my gaze.
I put the first aid kit away now. “Your choice, Reed. You have my full blessing.”
“But… Magnus…”
“Will behave. Stop trying to come up with excuses.”
I start making my way back to Opal. I study the Alpha on my way out, shaking my head.
He really is a fool.
Only an idiot would willingly refuse Opal.
A complete, total idiot.
But that's just Reed. Always so stubborn.
Well, he will live to regret it.