Feral Bonds: Claimed By Rogue Alpha Brothers-Chapter 571: The Messed Up Timeline

Evaline:

My words lingered in the air, heavy and unresolved.

If the darkness beneath the West Tower had still been sealed when Naira was found unconscious... then how had her soul been taken?

The question echoed in my mind, circling endlessly, but none of us had an answer. Not River, not Oscar, not Kieran. The silence that followed was thick, pressing down on my chest.

And then...

A knock sounded on the door.

It was soft, hesitant, yet urgent enough to slice straight through the tension in the room.

River straightened immediately. "Come in."

The door opened slowly, and Rowan stepped inside.

The moment I saw him, my heart clenched.

He looked exactly the way my mates had looked when I first woke up - pale, tense, eyes wide with worry he hadn’t bothered to hide. His shoulders were stiff, as if he’d been carrying something unbearably heavy for hours and had no idea how to put it down.

And then his gaze found me.

It was almost painful to watch the change.

His entire body seemed to sag with relief, like an invisible weight was lifted off him all at once. His breath hitched, and his eyes shimmered, dangerously close to tears. He didn’t say a single word. Didn’t pause. Didn’t even acknowledge the three Rogue Alphas in the room.

He just moved.

One second he was standing near the door, the next he was right in front of me, wrapping his arms around me so tightly it knocked the air from my lungs.

Oscar, bless him, shifted instantly, stepping back to give Rowan space without hesitation.

"Eva," Rowan breathed, his voice rough, almost breaking.

I melted into him just as hard, my arms going around his back, holding on like he might disappear if I didn’t. The warmth of him, the familiarity, grounded me in a way nothing else could.

"I’m sorry," I mumbled against his shoulder. "I didn’t mean to scare you."

He pulled back immediately, hands coming up to cup my face, forcing me to look at him.

"Don’t," he said firmly, shaking his head. "Don’t apologize like that. Don’t make it sound like it was your fault."

His thumbs brushed under my eyes, his gaze searching my face like he was making sure I was really there.

"How are you feeling?" he asked softly.

"I’m okay," I said honestly. "Just... a little tired. But otherwise, I’m fine."

The relief that flooded his face was immediate.

He let out a long breath, one I realized he must have been holding in for a long time, and his shoulders finally relaxed. Only then did he seem to remember where he was.

Rowan glanced up and looked at my mates.

Despite everything, despite his fear and worry, he straightened slightly and nodded at them in respectful acknowledgment. It was subtle but sincere.

River returned the nod. So did Kieran. Oscar offered him a faint, reassuring smile.

Rowan still didn’t move away from me.

Instead, he sat down beside me on the bed, turning so he faced me, one knee bent on the mattress. His presence was protective but not possessive, familiar without being intrusive.

And none of my mates seemed to mind.

I noticed it in small ways - the lack of tension in their shoulders, the absence of any territorial edge in their body language. They understood what Rowan was to me. Just as my friends respected them not only as Rogue Alphas but as my mates, my mates respected my friends because they were mine.

That mutual respect wrapped around us like an unspoken agreement.

Rowan’s eyes softened as he looked at me again. "What happened?"

So I told him.

I told him about the images... the memories... how they had rushed through me like a storm, how my power had reacted to something in that secret chamber.

And then I told him about the theories.

About Carson.

About the Great Evil.

About the timeline.

"And that’s the part that doesn’t make sense," I finished quietly. "If Carson is the one who weakened or released whatever was trapped under the West Tower... then how did Naira become the first soul death victim?"

I swallowed.

"She was found soul dead months before Carson even knew about that place."

Rowan went still.

The name alone... Naira... shifted something in him. Pain flickered across his face, old and raw, never fully healed.

"I... I don’t know," he said softly.

For a moment, he looked just as lost as the rest of us.

There was no doubt that Niara was indeed soul dead, but the timeline was messed up.

Then Oscar spoke.

"Rowan," he said calmly, "did Naira ever visit the Silver Moon territory? Especially close to the days she was found... soul dead?"

Rowan frowned, clearly thinking hard.

It had been over a year and a half since Naira’s incident. Too much time. Too many memories layered on top of that night.

"I don’t think so," he said slowly. "She didn’t have any reason to be here. She worked locally. She didn’t socialize much outside our small circle of friends."

He paused, his brows knitting together.

"But..." he added, sounding uncertain.

We all leaned in slightly.

"There was something," he said. "The night before it happened, she came home really late. Hours past her normal working time. And it had never happened before that."

"What did she say?" I asked gently.

"She said she had to deliver goods to a customer," he replied. "Someone placed a last-minute order and there wasn’t any other staff member free. It required her to travel quite a distance, and that’s why she was late."

River’s eyes sharpened.

"Did she say where?" Kieran asked.

Rowan shook his head. "No. I didn’t press her. She looked exhausted, and I didn’t think much of it at the time."

Oscar exchanged a look with River.

"Did she mention the customer?" Oscar asked.

"No," Rowan said. "It might be nothing serious, but it’s the only unusual thing I can recall around that time."

The room felt colder.

I could feel the weight of it settling in my chest.

Who was the customer?

Where did she go?

And why did that delivery lead to her becoming the first soul death victim?

Or were we going in completely wrong direction?

Eva, focus, I told myself... but my thoughts were already racing.

My mates shared a look. Then Oscar straightened.

"I’ll have my men look into it," he said decisively. "Where she went. Who the customer was. Every trail that can still be followed... we’ll find it."