Feral Bonds: Claimed By Rogue Alpha Brothers

River:

The door shut behind me with a soft thud as I entered my room, sealing me off from the rest of the world...or at least for tonight.

My limbs were aching and my neck was stiff from sitting through endless meetings at the company. Too many numbers. Too many people. Too many damn eyes watching me, waiting for a single crack in the image I had spent years perfecting.

Without turning on the main lights, I made my way to the bathroom, tugging off my tie and tossing it somewhere near the chair. My clothes were gone in no time. The shower hissed to life, its warm spray fogging up the glass. I stepped under it, letting the water beat against my skin, hotter than it probably should have been. But I welcomed the sting. It cut through the stiffness in my muscles and the deeper, darker tension buried beneath my skin.

I stayed there longer than usual. Long enough for the steam to fog up the mirror and drip down the tiles like sweat. But eventually, I turned the water off and reached for the towel.

With pajamas on and damp hair brushed back, I stepped into the warmth of my bedroom, drawn immediately to the small wine cabinet in the corner near the fireplace.

This wasn't a celebration. This wasn't a moment of joy. Instead, it was one of those nights I needed something stronger than silence.

I uncorked the bottle and poured myself a glass. The fire had already been lit earlier, and a soft glow was dancing against the glass windows overlooking the east garden. I settled into the couch with glass in hand, watching the quiet flicker of flames.

I had barely taken my second sip when the knock came.

Soft. Predictable.

I didn't answer. I didn't have to.

The door opened, and in walked Kieran - freshly showered and wearing his usual silk pajamas that made him look far too harmless for someone like him. His eyes swept over the wine bottle and glass in my hand, and one brow lifted in silent question.

"Long day," I said simply.

He didn't comment. He walked over and dropped onto the couch opposite mine, his usual ease dulled by something heavier tonight. Without a word, I poured him a glass too and handed it over.

We drank in silence, the crackling of fire the only sound between us. Minutes passed. Maybe ten. Maybe five. Long enough for the questions in his head to ripen and press against his lips.

"Why did you agree to let her stay?"

Ah. So we were doing this now.

I leaned back, swirling the wine in my glass. "That's what's bothering you?"

His lips tightened. "It's not like you."

I chuckled, but it was dry and humorless. "What's bothering you more? That I didn't object... or that I approved it?"

He didn't even pretend to think. "That you approved it."

At least he was honest.

I sipped again, this time letting the silence hang between us. I could feel his eyes on me - curious, cautious, even a bit concerned. But before I gave him what he came for, I decided to turn the table first.

"Then let me ask you something," I said, shifting slightly to look him in the eye. "Why did you invite Evaline here in the first place?"

He didn't flinch. He set the glass down and met my gaze with something that bordered on fury, but a controlled one, the kind only he could manage.

"Because you destroyed her world," he said, not bothering to sugarcoat the truth. "You didn't just kill the Alpha. You razed the entire Shadowfang Pack to ash. Her home. Her family. Her future. She has no one left, River. No place to go. No family to hold her. We took that from her. You took that from her."

He paused, exhaling slowly as if trying to release the weight of it. "So offering her a place to spend her holidays for a few weeks isn't kindness. It's the bare minimum. It's what we owe."

His voice stayed calm. Gentle, even. He always did have a way of making harsh truths sound like lullabies. But I knew the storm behind his restraint. Knew how hard it was for him to say those words out loud.

I didn't mind them. Not anymore.

I tapped my finger against the rim of the glass and pointed at him. "That's exactly why I said yes."

He blinked, visibly thrown. "What?"

"I said yes for the same reason you brought her here. Because we took everything from her. We left her with nothing."

His suspicion was instant. He sat up straighter, the wine forgotten. "Are you saying you feel guilty?"

My lips lifted at the corner. "No."

That wasn't it. It was never just guilt.

"Then...?" he asked, searching my face as if trying to see through the cracks I rarely showed anyone.

I tilted my head, watching the firelight dance in his wineglass. "She's still breathing, Kieran. Still standing. After everything we did... I did... she hasn't begged. She hasn't broken."

I looked up at him, my voice quieter. "Don't you want to know why?"

He didn't respond right away. His eyes flicked down, something close to shame settling in the lines of his face. "I thought you had lost it," he said quietly. "The ability to care."

My heart didn't sting at his words. It should have, but it didn't.

I raised my glass and finished it in a single slow sip. "Maybe I had."

He looked up, his face unreadable now.

"But not entirely," I added. "Apparently."

He gave me a faint smile. "Thank you, River."

I nodded, barely acknowledging it. "Go to bed brother."

He stood and left, pausing only at the door to look back at me. Then he was gone.

And I was alone again.

Moments later, I stood slowly and walked to the shelf beside my desk. My fingers moved with practiced ease, retrieving the folder hidden behind two thick ledgers. I returned to the couch, flipping it open with a soft breath.

The familiar pages greeted me - Photos. Reports. Witness statements. Surveillance stills.

Every detail of Evaline Greystone's life from the day she was born to the day she was captured and thrown into my dungeons.

The day Jasper handed me this folder, I was expecting anything but what it contained, it carried the story of a girl the world had already broken... long before I ever stepped in.

I remembered the nausea that had twisted in my gut as I read the summary of eighteen years of her life.

And I remembered the chill that ran down my spine as I realized -

She wasn't fighting me.

She was surviving me.

And after learning everything about her, I didn't start to pity her. No! I started respecting her.

I closed the folder, placing it gently on the table before me.

The firelight flickered softly, and for the first time in a long while, I wasn't sure who the real monster had been in the end.

Me?

Or the world that had created her?

Either way... I knew now... I hadn't been breaking her.

She had been broken long before I ever touched her.

And that knowledge?

It haunted me more than her silence ever could.