Sold as the Alpha King's Breeder-Chapter 1589 - 31 : Mirroring Shock

*Briella*

I hissed as Drius rolled us over so that he was on top of me. My eyes widened as I realized my mistake by knocking him over. We had wrestled plenty of times in the past. Unless I had some kind of weapon on me, it was always difficult to get out of his hold if I ended up beneath him.

I cursed inwardly when my back touched the grass. I sucked in a breath and attempted to block the blows coming down, but Drius was too fast and annoyingly stronger than me. He had me pinned in no time, his knee on my stomach and his forearm against my chest.

I glowered up at him, attempting to wriggle away, but Drius’ weight was suddenly gone as Kryzen appeared and shoved him off me.

All I saw was red as I somehow ended up on my feet. I got right in Drius’ face. “Tell me what’s going on with you!” I commanded. “Now!”

Finally, I had pushed Drius to his breaking point. This was what I had been trying to do the whole time, poke and prod him until he finally admitted something to himself. Usually, it was that he was wrong about something. This time, he needed to admit that he had to talk to his best friend and be honest.

“I love you!”

I sucked in a sharp breath and reeled as if he had slapped me. I just stared at him, completely stunned by the words that had flown from his mouth.

He continued before I could even begin to process the three shocking words he had uttered. “I thought my feelings would have been obvious but apparently, I was wrong. I have loved you for years, Bri.”

The frustration and hurt that had been flooding me dissipated as my mind reeled. My whole body ached with exertion from our battle, but I no longer felt the pain as I stared at my best friend.

Drius’ words crashed into me like a tidal wave, threatening to carry me off as I stood there in utter shock. I felt numb all over, not sure how to feel. My arms fell limply to my sides, and my breathing stopped momentarily. I could feel that my eyes were wide with disbelief, stunned by the magnitude of what Drius was saying to me.

Drius’ declaration hung heavy in the air between us. He finally dropped his arms, his jaw clenching so hard that I heard his teeth creak slightly under the immense pressure.

Slowly, everything started to click into place. As I stared at Drius now, his strange behavior and almost desperate need to protect me started to make sense. He wasn’t just following my father’s orders, which I had known deep down. He had been harboring feelings for me and was acting on them.

The silence seemed to stretch for an eternity as we simply stared at one another. Drius’ jaw was still set tightly, his hazel eyes glinting almost angrily. As if finally feeling the gravity of what he just said, his almost defiant look morphed into one of shock, mirroring my own.

Without a word, he stepped away from me and turned so he could run off away from me and out the gates leading to the street. I just stood there, staring after him, my heart pounding in my chest. I raised one hand as if to stop him or call after him but lowered it a second later. I didn’t know what to say or even think. It was better to just let him go.

I didn’t know how long I stood there trying to process what had just happened. Drius had warned me I might not like what he had to say, but that wasn’t entirely true. A small part of me was relieved to finally know why my friend had been acting so strangely. I had him to thank for that, even if I did have to literally beat the answer out of him.

I had to wonder why Drius ran off though. Was he embarrassed to have confessed to me the way he had? Did he regret doing so when he saw the shock on my face?

As the shock slowly wore off, it was replaced by real worry for Drius. He always had a hard time understanding his real emotions and being honest with himself. He was probably having trouble processing what he had just said.

I felt regret settle in my stomach as I thought about the way I had pushed him and the harsh words I said to him. I could have been more patient and understanding.

Maybe then he wouldn’t have felt the need to run off.

I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to look at Kryzen, who was watching me carefully. I couldn’t read the expression on his face, but there was something intense in his gray eyes.

“Briella, are you hurt at all?” Roy asked with concern, appearing on my other side and lightly brushing my cheek with his slim fingers. “You’ve got quite a bruise forming there.”

“I’m fine,” I said stiffly but then put my hand against the spot that Roy pointed out and hissed through my teeth at how tender it felt.

Kryzen’s face darkened. “We should get you to a healer,” he said, putting an arm around my shoulders to steer me toward the house.

I shoved him off, nearly flinching as my whole body seemed to protest. “Stop overreacting,” I ordered. “It’s not like I broke any bones or anything. It’s just a few scrapes and bruises. We’ll get eye rolls if we show up at the infirmary in my perfectly functional state.”

“You are not perfectly functional,” Kryzen argued. His tone was annoyed. He grabbed my wrists and lifted them. “Look.”

I glowered at him but obeyed, following his gaze to the backs of my hands. This time, I flinched as I took in the split knuckles, skin peeling in multiple places, and blood dripping off the sides. The whole area along my knuckles was an angry red and would likely bruise.

“Okay, so I need some patching up,” I allowed. “But it still isn’t bad enough to go to a healer. I can bandage this up myself.”

Kryzen’s eyebrows rose. He glanced briefly at Roy before looking back down at me. His hands tightened around my wrists. “Fine, no healer,” he said. “But only if you let me tend to your wounds.”

I debated arguing and telling him that I didn’t want to make any deals with him but saw the way his eyes darkened. I knew the fight just wasn’t worth it. “Deal,” I mumbled.

Roy went to put the groceries away while Kryzen led me into the bathroom. There was still some fog lingering on the mirrors from his bath. The warm humidity in the bathroom seemed to soothe my tense muscles. I told myself I would need to soak in the tub later.

I moved to sit on top of the closed toilet seat, but Kryzen suddenly grabbed me around the waist and set me on the bathroom counter. I blushed bright red, my legs dangling over the edge. I suddenly felt like a child since my feet were nowhere near touching the tiled floor.

“I was going to sit on the toilet lid,” I grumped at Kryzen.

He glanced up unapologetically at me as he rummaged through the cabinets below the sink. “This will make it easier on me since I won’t have to bend down to clean your hands,” he explained, but he smirked at me, cluing me in that he was enjoying my embarrassment.

I watched quietly as Kryzen gathered the bandages and antiseptic for my split knuckles. I shifted so he could run them under warm water before patting them dry with a clean cloth. I ground my teeth against the sting. I couldn’t hide the pain when he used the antiseptic on my sensitive knuckles. The sharp sting was unbearable.

“Sorry,” he murmured, making me look up in surprise.

“You have nothing to apologize for,” I told him. I wanted to thank him for helping me, but the embarrassment kept me from doing so.

“I’m going to apologize anyway,” he said as he wrapped my hands with the thin bandage strips. “I don’t like seeing you in pain, no matter how minor.”

My head snapped up so I could look at him, but he didn’t meet my gaze as he continued to tend to my hands.

I felt my face flame as Kryzen’s strong fingers grazed my skin while he wrapped the bandage around my knuckles. The warmth didn’t stop in my face. It seemed to continue through my whole body.

I was embarrassed to have my long-time rival tending to my wounds, seeing my weaknesses but I also couldn’t help but be touched by his care and gentleness. It seemed to be a rare sight.

“Does that feel alright?” Kryzen asked as he finished, securing the bandage so it wouldn’t fall off.

I flexed my hands experimentally, finding the fit snug and not too tight. I beamed at him. “It feels great. Thank you.”

Kryzen smiled slightly, but his expression hardened as he scowled at me. “You really shouldn’t have wasted all that energy on Drius,” he said. “He really wasn’t worth you getting injured.”

“Don’t say that,” I snapped, surprised by his sudden harshness since he was just being so gentle with me. “I told you before that it was necessary to knock some sense into him.” I sucked in a breath and looked down at my mended hands. “I guess now I know why he was acting so weird with me.”

Kryzen froze for a moment before recovering and starting to put the medical supplies away. “I take it you didn’t know about his feelings.”

I felt my shoulders sag as I slid off of the counter. “No,” I admitted. “I honestly had no idea. Drius has always been like a brother to me. I don’t know what to do now. I don’t know if I can face him after his confession.”

Kryzen wasn’t looking at me, but I could tell his jaw was tight by his profile. “Is that because you don’t know how you feel about him?”

I knew what Kryzen was asking. I shook my head sadly. “No, it isn’t that,” I said in a low voice. “I love Drius, but I know he’ll always be my best friend and nothing more.”

I didn’t miss the way Kryzen relaxed, his whole posture loosening. He turned to face me. His expression was serious. “If he truly is your best friend, then I think you owe it to him to be honest about your feelings toward him. It wouldn’t be fair to him to leave him hanging and wondering about your feelings.”

I winced but eventually nodded, knowing that Kryzen was right.

I also knew facing Drius now would be much easier said than done.