𝐃𝐞́𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐮𝐫 || 𝐒𝐞𝐨𝐤𝐒𝐨𝐨

Chapter 15

Joshua woke with a groan, stretching and yawning as his eyes adjusted to what little light there was in the room. The surface beneath him was hard and cold. Why was he sleeping on the floor? And whose floor was he on?

His body protested its bed of stone, making its complaints known in small aches and pains across his back. Joshua rubbed a hand across his forehead, glancing down at himself and taking in the fact that he wasn’t wearing a stitch of clothing.

“Um…”

What the hell had he been drinking last night?

“Morning,” a voice said quietly from behind him.

He whirled around to see Seokmin sitting up against the wall, and the events of the previous night flooded back to him.

“Hi,” he said, flailing around for something more eloquent to say as he tried to decide whether to cover himself with his hands or not. Seokmin was also naked and seemed completely unconcerned by that, so Joshua decided to follow the alpha’s lead.

“You back with me?” Seokmin asked.

“Uh… I think so,” Joshua said. “Shouldn’t that be my question for you?”

From his recollection, Seokmin had been in a bad way the night before.

Almost the worst state Joshua had ever seen an alpha in.

“All present and correct,” Seokmin said tiredly. He even managed a smile, small though it was.

“You know we’re going to need to talk about the chaining yourself up in the basement thing, right? There are other ways to handle this, better ways. There’s help out there.”

Seokmin’s face changed in an instant, the smile gone, a mask of indifference taking its place. “I don’t need help. I’m handling it.”

“Right,” Joshua replied. “If this is your definition of handling it, I’d hate to see you in a real crisis.”

Though that was exactly what this was—a personal crisis of epic proportions. One that could easily become a public crisis if something simple were to happen, like the hinges on the basement door giving way.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. You’ve been here for all of five minutes and what, you think you know everything there is to know?”

Joshua wasn’t sure what he’d expected after the events of the previous night. A thank you, maybe. Not to be attacked and belittled.

Feeling very conscious of his nakedness, he cast his eyes around, relieved to see his clothes sitting in a bundle where he’d left them. He crawled across the floor to them, pulling his T-shirt on over his head. His boxers and jeans were tugged on next, followed by his socks and shoes. He checked his pockets, confirming his keys and phone were still in there, and then turned toward the door.

“What’s the code again?” he asked Seokmin.

“Five-seven-three-nine-two.”

He punched it in and opened the door, happy to see daylight at the top when he stepped out onto the stairs.

Turning back, he met Seokmin’s gaze.

“It’s up to you whether you seek help or not, but I have a duty of care to make sure you get that help, one way or another.”

Seokmin’s eyes went wide, and he pushed to his feet.

“You’re going to report me?”

It was almost as if the thought just hadn’t occurred to him.