The Alpha's Little Slave

Chapter 155: Healed

I didn’t know when I had fallen asleep. All I knew was that there were gentle, soothing strokes made to the top of my head, smoothing my hair down the entire time. When I cracked open my eyes, I found myself still by Blaise’s bedside in the infirmary, the place eerily dark.

As soon as I sat up, the weight on my head quickly disappeared. My attention was first drawn to the moon and then to Blaise. I sucked in a sharp gasp of air when a pair of silvery gray eyes stared back at me.

"Blaise..." I murmured his name under my breath, my heart pounding against my ribcage. The beating of it was so hard and loud that it was practically deafening. A swirl of excitement and relief pierced through my chest, and for a moment, I couldn’t discern who these feelings were from.

Without another word, I pounced into his open arms, tucking my head in the crook of his neck. When I breathed in, in this position, his natural scent overwhelmed my nose, the perfume of home. I snuggled further into his embrace, and when he softly laughed, my body moved along with every movement he made.

"It’s good to see you too, Harper," he muttered into my hair, placing a soft, gentle kiss on the top of my head.

I loved the way my name rolled off his tongue. I felt as though I was about to melt into a puddle, but first and foremost, tears welled in my eyes.

"You scared me!" I yelled between choked sobs. With a light punch to his chest, I cried out, "Don’t ever do that again, you hear me? If it comes between you and me, leave me for the dead. Save yourself."

Blaise caught my hands in his, his larger hands easily encasing my smaller ones. He brought it to his lips, placing a kiss on my knuckles as well, his eyes not once leaving mine. ƒreewebɳovel.com

"You’re my mate, Harper," Blaise said. "Who else would I give my life to, if not for you?"

"How about me?" The both of us whirled around, only to find Damon standing in the doorway, with a raised eyebrow as he looked over the both of us. To my surprise, I did not sense any irritation, jealousy, or hurt― emotions I had come to associate with Damon whenever I interacted with Blaise in his vicinity.

Instead, I felt relief, and an understated joy, along with amusement. Damon was wholly grateful that his brother was awake and well.

"You?"

"Yes, me," Damon said, crossing his arms, his face in a painted scowl, but I knew there was no real heat behind it. "You know, your literal twin brother? Your alpha?"

"Ah, I’m sorry, but who are you?" Blaise asked, his eyes glinting mischievously as he leaned back against his pillows, a hand on his chin. "I must say your face looks awfully familiar, yet familiarly awful at the same time."

Damon scoffed at Blaise’s words and walked into the room, planting his entire hand on top of his brother’s head. "Memory loss doesn’t suit you. And don’t say that your own face is awful."

I snorted with laughter, and both brothers turned towards me, matching looks of surprise on both their faces. My face warmed as I had two, equally entrancing pairs of eyes staring straight into my own.

"Ignore me," I said, waving a hand. "Please continue with whatever strange male bonding ritual you have going on with each other."

"Harper, you make it sound so illicit," Blaise scolded playfully.

"Your mind is in the gutter," Damon scolded Blaise as he rolled his eyes.

"Guilty as charged. It’s not as though I had time to think of anything else," Blaise said with a casual shrug. "The alternative was just thinking of pain, pain, more pain. Damon, if anything, I have accidentally stumbled upon a very effective torture method for werewolves. Dig some silver bits in them, and you’ll be aching everywhere and nowhere at once. So little silver for such big damage... it’s honestly remarkable."

Now, it was Damon and I who wore matching gazes of heartache. I bit my lip, while Damon gripped the edge of the bed tightly enough that his knuckles turned white. Blaise could talk about his own injuries and near-death experience so cavalierly, but it was a different thing altogether to experience it when we were sitting helplessly on the sidelines. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

Worry and guilt swirled in the depths of our mate bond; deep down, Damon and I both blamed ourselves for the hardship Blaise had to endure. Damon could claim that Blaise was doing his duty until he was blue in the face; I knew better than anyone now how those were simply a mask to conceal his worry.

Of course, Blaise sensed my guilt and worry and shot the both of us a cheerful smirk. He reached out, grabbing my hand with one of his own, the other he tried to reach out for Damon’s own, only for Damon to take it away with a scowl.

"Brother, come on, are you going to make me, the wolf that just underwent surgery, stretch for your hand?"

"You’re fine so you don’t need to hold my hand. What are you, a child?" Damon shot back, but I noticed he moved slightly closer than before.

"He held your hand while you were unconscious," I helpfully added, and Damon shot me a look of incredulous disbelief. He probably didn’t think I would betray him in such a manner. "Damon, don’t be a coward and hold your brother’s hand! Or do you only touch him when he’s asleep?"

"Harper, your last sentence sounds even more lewd," Blaise added cheekily. "You should say it more loudly so that every werewolf gets the wrong idea."

Damon growled, but it sounded more like a petulant huff to my ears. "The both of you are so annoying. I can’t believe the Moon Goddess saddled me with the both of you."

Despite his complaints, Damon sat next to his brother. All I could feel was contentment radiating off him.

But all contentment faded when Elijah thundered into the room, a surprisingly grim look on his face.

"Alpha Damon, Everhaven is refusing to send us food."