Pledge to Me

Chapter Four

Telling Leo shouldn't have been as ominous as Anders made it seem, but I couldn't fight the tightness in my gut at the thought of telling him. I didn't really understand why I owed him an explanation in the first place. He was nothing to me but another overbearing Alpha who didn't know when to reel it in.

Anders studied me carefully, his piercing gaze raking over my face, peeling back every layer. The way he looked at me, made me feel like he could see right to my soul. I felt vulnerable, naked.

What did he see?

Before I could question him about it, the door to the cabin opened. My stomach dropped.

No, I wasn't going to be nervous about this. I didn't have any reason to be. It was just Anders's words that are making me feel this way. I'm reacting because that's what they expect me to do...right?

Leo was slightly wet, indicating he had taken a shower before coming inside. He seemed calmer than before, after our weird encounter. But as if he could sense the tension, he stared at us suspiciously.

"Did you have any trouble setting the traps?" I finally asked when the silence became too much.

Leo shook his head, still suspicious.

"We'll do our rounds tomorrow afternoon," Anders said. I was relieved that he didn't force the other topic into conversation. But of course, that was short lived. "Micah."

I rolled my eyes, before turning to Leo with a glare. "For some reason Anders seems to think I need to tell you that I'm unmated even though it's none of your damn business."

Leo's eyes widened and nostrils flared. I froze, watching him cautiously. I really didn't understand why this changed anything. They had their own suppressants; they should be in control. In no way should this affect anything. So why?

"You're...unmated?" Leo finally asked, though the sound came out as more of a growl. Guttural and full of emotions that should not have been present. Emotions that didn't make sense.

I nodded once, not trusting my own voice.

Leo tilted his head up, closing his eyes and pinching the skin at the bridge of his nose, ever the picture of distress.

"Why the hell does it even matter?" I protested, getting to my feet. I'd had enough of the fucking dramatics.

"How do you not sense it? I've been going crazy this whole time because I thought there was something wrongwith me, coveting you when had bonded with another. But–" Leo cut himself off with a roar of frustration, fist slamming into the rotting wood of the cabin wall, successfully putting a hole through it.

"Are you insane?" I screeched, about to make a move for him, but Anders was there, grabbing my arm and yanking me back with such force, I lost my footing and stumbled into him.

"Let's all be calm about this," Anders said with warning. "We need to think about this rationally."

"Rationally? Are you kidding me? He just punched a fucking hole in the wall like a goddamn knothead!"

Leo's nostrils flared at the insult. He made a step toward me, teeth bared. I faced him, ready to take him on, but then I realized it wasn't me he was glaring at with such hostility I felt the heat of it from across the room. It was Anders's hands on me.

"Leo, control yourself or you'll bring him harm," Anders said. Something in his tone, in those words, rang all the alarm bells in my head, but I didn't know why. There was an unspoken conversation flowing between the two through looks alone.