Feral Bonds: Claimed By Rogue Alpha Brothers-Chapter 572: A Dozen New Questions

Evaline:

The door opened quietly.

I lifted my head on instinct, expecting to see Oscar or Rowan... or maybe both of them, already preparing to rush us out of here because the clock was ticking far too fast for comfort.

Instead, Kieran stepped inside alone.

He carried a tray in his hands.

The faint clink of porcelain reached my ears before my eyes fully registered what I was seeing. A bowl. Steam rising from it in soft curls. The scent followed a second later... warm, simple, comforting.

Porridge.

I blinked, momentarily thrown off.

The men had stepped outside minutes ago, saying they needed to talk. I’d assumed they were coordinating our departure. It was already 3:13 in the morning. And in less than three hours, people would start waking up at the resort.

Breakfast was scheduled at eight, which meant students would be gathering, resort staff would be moving around, professors would be up, and questions would start forming the moment they realized we weren’t there.

The drive back alone would take nearly two hours.

We were already running out of time.

So when Kieran walked in with food instead of urgency etched into his posture, it took me a second to process it.

He closed the door behind him softly and walked toward me, his steps unhurried.

"You should eat," he said gently, setting the tray down on the bedside table.

I looked from the bowl to his face, then back again.

I didn’t argue.

Despite the odd hour, despite the anxiety gnawing at the back of my mind about our absence from the resort, my body made the decision for me. The exhaustion I had been pushing aside made itself known the moment the aroma reached my nose.

I accepted the bowl without a word.

The spoon felt heavier than it should have, but the moment I took the first careful bite, a quiet sigh slipped from my lips before I could stop it.

It tasted... good.

Not fancy. Not complex. Just warm and grounding, like something meant to anchor you back into yourself. I took another bite, then another. The heat spread through my chest, loosening something tight inside me.

Kieran sat beside me on the bed, watching silently.

He didn’t rush me. Didn’t tell me to hurry. Just stayed there, his presence steady, reassuring.

It wasn’t until I’d eaten more than half the bowl that I finally looked up at him.

"Why aren’t we already on our way back?" I asked.

He smiled faintly, like he had been waiting for the question. "Ten more minutes," he said. "That’s all."

I nodded and went back to eating. I finished every last bite, then drank the water he handed me, feeling some of the fog lift almost immediately.

A deep breath left my lungs. I was already feeling much better. Only then did I really look at him.

Kieran was close enough now that I could see every detail of his face in the soft light - the faint crease between his brows, the tightness around his mouth.

And the shadows.

They sat beneath his eyes like bruises, dark and unmistakable.

My chest tightened.

I reached out without thinking, cupping his face gently between my hands. His skin was warm beneath my palms, familiar. He leaned into my touch instinctively, even as his brows furrowed in confusion.

"Evaline?" he murmured.

I studied him more closely now, my worry sharpening into something colder. "You didn’t look like this before," I said quietly.

His lips curved into a small smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. "You are overthinking."

I gave him a hard glare.

That wiped the smile right off his face.

"What happened?" I demanded.

He hesitated.

That alone made my stomach twist.

"Kieran," I said, sounding firmer now.

He sighed softly, clearly realizing brushing it off wasn’t going to work. "It’s nothing you need to worry about."

"No," I said immediately. "Don’t do that."

My hands slid from his face to his shoulders, gripping lightly. "You look exhausted. Drained. And you did not look like this before I passed out."

The thought hit me then, sharp and cruel.

Did he look like this because of me?

Because he had been worrying? Because I had scared him? Because I had collapsed without warning in the middle of a dangerous investigation?

Guilt crept into my chest, heavy and suffocating.

His eyes softened the moment he noticed the shift in my expression.

"Hey," he said quickly, reaching up to hold my wrists. "No. Don’t go there." He squeezed gently. "This isn’t because I was worried about you."

I searched his face, unconvinced.

"Then what?" I whispered.

His jaw tightened.

"Something happened down there," he admitted. "In the underground chamber."

My breath caught.

"What kind of something?"

He took a breath, choosing his words carefully. "I felt... something pull at my wolf. At my strength. My energy."

I stiffened.

"Pull?" I echoed.

"I tried to resist," he continued. "I didn’t even fully realize what was happening at first. But whatever it was... it succeeded. My wolf felt defenseless against it."

My heart began to race.

"You are saying someone... or something... extracted your energy?" I asked.

He nodded slowly. "I don’t know how. Or what exactly did it. But I could feel it. Like something reached in and took what it wanted."

My hands trembled slightly against his arms.

"When?" I asked.

His gaze met mine, steady but serious.

"Right before you passed out."

The room felt colder. But before I could ask anything else, the door opened again.

Oscar stepped inside, his expression all business now.

"We need to go," he said. "If we wait any longer, we won’t make it back unnoticed."

I swallowed hard.

Kieran shifted, standing up. "Catch some sleep on the way," he told me gently. "You need it."

He turned to Oscar next. "Take care of her."

Oscar nodded once. "Always."

Kieran leaned down and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

Before he could pull away completely, I grabbed his hand.

His brows lifted in surprise just as I closed my eyes and summoned my power.

Warmth surged through me, flowing down my arm and into him, steady and controlled. I felt his body react instantly, the drain easing, his energy stabilizing.

"Evaline - stop," he said, startled.

But I was already pulling my power back.

I opened my eyes and met his gaze.

"I didn’t heal you fully," I said before he could scold me. "Just enough. I know my limits."

His expression was a mix of gratitude and concern.

"You shouldn’t have," he murmured.

"I wanted to," I replied simply.

He sighed, then patted the back of my head. "Thank you. But my wolf would have recovered soon enough."

"I know," I said. "But now it won’t have to work extra hard."

A small smile finally reached his eyes.

I leaned forward and hugged him tightly. He wrapped his arms around me just as firmly, resting his chin on my head.

When we pulled back, he kissed me softly... just once.

Then I stood and hugged River next who just stepped inside the room. He held me with the quiet strength that always made me feel safe.

"Be careful," he murmured.

"You too," I replied.

Minutes later, I was climbing into the passenger seat. Oscar got behind the wheel, already focused. Rowan slid into the backseat, quiet but watchful.

As the car pulled away from the academy, the dark roads stretching ahead of us, I leaned back and closed my eyes.

We were heading back with a handful of discoveries...

And a dozen new questions waiting for answers.