Feral Bonds: Claimed By Rogue Alpha Brothers-Chapter 570: Another Ability?

Evaline:

I opened my mouth.

Then I closed it again.

Kieran’s question lingered in the air, heavy and unsettling, and for a few seconds I honestly didn’t know how to answer him. Visions didn’t feel like the right word... but neither did memories, at least not in the way people usually meant it.

I took a slow breath, buying myself time, and finally spoke.

"I... I don’t know if I would call it visions," I said carefully. "It wasn’t anything about the future. There was no sense of prophecy or warning. It surely wasn’t something that will happen."

All three of them watched me intently, not interrupting. Kieran even nodded his head in agreement as he followed along my explanation of making sense of what I saw.

"What you described indeed felt like moments that already had happened," he said.

I recalled the scenes, letting them re-run in my head. "They felt like echoes. Memories that didn’t belong to me... but were still... there. Embedded - either in the tree, or the lingering remnants of the Great Evil, or in the place itself."

I swallowed, and then added, "It’s like... I wasn’t seeing possibilities. I was seeing history."

Silence followed my words.

It wasn’t uncomfortable, but it was dense... full of thoughts colliding and rearranging themselves in all of our minds. I could almost hear the gears turning as my mates processed what I had said.

River was the one who finally broke it.

His gaze sharpened, something thoughtful and calculating flickering behind his eyes. "Did Elion ever mention anything about the Silver Wolf bloodline having more than just healing power?"

The question caught me off guard.

I shook my head slowly. "No. He never said anything like that."

I paused, thinking back to all my conversations with Elion Grey. "If anything," I added quietly, "he made it sound like healing was the only power our bloodline ever had. Just rarer and stronger than what other healers possess."

The looks my mates exchanged were brief but loaded.

Oscar’s jaw tightened slightly. River’s expression darkened in that way it always did when new variables entered an already dangerous equation. Kieran, though, was the one who moved.

He took my hands gently in his, grounding me. "Hey," he said softly. "Let’s not jump ahead yet."

I looked up at him.

"What you experienced could be a one-time reaction," he continued. "An anomaly caused by direct exposure to something ancient and powerful. It doesn’t automatically mean you are unlocking another ability."

His thumbs brushed reassuring circles over my knuckles. "And even if it does turn out to be something more," he added in a firm voice, "you are not facing it alone. You have us."

Oscar nodded in agreement. "Always."

River didn’t say anything, but the certainty in his gaze was unmistakable.

I nodded slowly, letting their words sink in.

Truthfully, the idea of unlocking another power... especially one I didn’t understand... was terrifying. I was still learning how to exist with my healing ability, still figuring out its limits, its costs, its responsibilities.

The thought of adding something else on top of that felt... overwhelming.

But I had learned something important over the past months.

Fear didn’t make power disappear.

Facing it did.

"I’m not ready to label it as anything yet," I said honestly. "And I don’t want to. Right now, all that matters is understanding what’s happening with that tree... and what it means."

My mates nodded in agreement.

We shifted the focus back to the investigation, laying everything out piece by piece like a puzzle that refused to reveal its full picture.

"From what you described," River said slowly, "the dark energy was sealed inside that tree long before the academy existed."

"Yes," I confirmed. "Way before. Centuries ago, at least."

"And the witches," Oscar added, his tone thoughtful. "They were the ones who sealed it."

I nodded again. "A whole circle of them."

Kieran leaned back slightly, crossing his arms. "Which means this wasn’t a small threat. Whatever that darkness was, it scared them enough to bind it beneath the ground."

"And not just bind it," River said. "They anchored it. Trees are often used as living seals. They absorb, contain, and redirect energy."

A chill ran down my spine.

"So the tree wasn’t just a prison," I murmured. "It was a lock."

"And a failsafe," Oscar added grimly. "Which explains the cracks you saw forming over time."

Silence fell again.

"If the tree cracked," I said slowly, thinking aloud, "then the seal weakened. The darkness didn’t escape all at once... it leaked... before Crason set all of it free."

River’s expression hardened. "Waiting for the witches to respond isn’t enough anymore," he said. "If they were involved centuries ago, they might not even know what their ancestors did. Or they might refuse to speak without pressure."

"So we involve the Council," Kieran said.

"Yes," he confirmed. "We present what we have found. The underground chamber. The tree. The historical evidence. If we want answers from the witches, we’ll need the Council’s pressure."

He paused, then added, "I’ll still try to reach out personally. Maybe the ones who helped set the wards around the academy might be willing to speak off record."

That sounded like the Alpha he was... always trying both routes.

Digging into history felt like the right move. Whatever this Great Evil was, it didn’t just appear out of nowhere. It had a past. A reason for being sealed. And possibly a reason for resurfacing now.

But as we spoke, something nagged at the back of my mind.

A thread that didn’t quite fit.

The timeline.

I frowned slightly, my thoughts drifting.

"If Carson started feeding the tree with his blood..." I said slowly, "...and if that’s what accelerated the cracks, then it explains why the soul deaths started happening after him."

River nodded. "Yes. Carson may not have created the problem... but he worsened it."

"But," I continued, my chest tightening, "Carson wasn’t the first victim."

They all turned to look at me.

"Rowan’s friend," I said quietly. "She was the first confirmed soul death. And back then... the Great Evil was still trapped beneath the West Tower."

The room fell completely silent.

"If the darkness was still sealed," I whispered, the unease growing heavier by the second, "then how did Naira become the first victim?"