Chapter 364: Stepbrother’s Promise
Evaline:
My eyes fluttered open at the softest tap on my shoulder. The dim light from the wall lamps made the edges of the room blur, but soon enough, my vision adjusted. Standing above me was Madam Elira.
I blinked, confusion clouding my head for a moment. The last thing I remembered was lounging in the living room after dinner with Oscar and Kieran. I was wrapped in Oscar’s arms while Kieran was sitting on the couch beside ours with Lioren resting against his chest. The pup’s little breaths had been so steady, so soothing, that at some point I must have drifted off in Oscar’s hold.
But now... there was no sign of either of them. No sound of their voices, no presence through the bond. Only Madam Elira. And she was holding Lioren in her arms, the little one bundled up, still fast asleep.
Noticing my searching gaze, she spoke in her calm, reassuring tone. "It was Alpha River," she explained gently. "He just called his brothers to his room for a talk. They left barely two minutes ago." She shifted Lioren slightly, her touch protective as always. "Why don’t you head to your room and rest, child? You must be exhausted."
I stood up, brushing my palms over my dress as if it would clear the heaviness from my body. I nodded, though a strange unease began coiling low in my stomach. "Alright," I murmured.
Madam Elira gave me a warm smile, then turned toward the stairs. I followed her in silence, her steps slow and measured as she carried the pup with utmost care. But when we reached the top, I stopped.
"You should head to the room first," I said softly. "Take him. I’ll be there after I have wished them goodnight."
She didn’t question me, just inclined her head and continued down the hall toward my bedroom. I watched her until she disappeared inside, the door closing quietly behind her.
And then I turned. My feet, as if pulled by an invisible thread, carried me toward River’s room at the other end of the hallway.
My heart was beating faster than it should, my breaths coming short for some reason I couldn’t understand. I told myself it wasn’t because of what happened with River earlier. No... it was because something in me already suspected this "talk" wasn’t something ordinary. The image of his bloody knuckles from earlier flashed in my mind, the deflection in his eyes, the guilt in his voice. He hadn’t been honest with me. I felt it deep in my bones.
And if he thought he could just keep me out of it by hiding behind closed doors with his brothers, he was wrong.
I was still some distance away when my sharpened hearing - new, still unfamiliar in its reach - caught something.
A very familiar name.
Damian Greystone.
I froze mid-step.
The world tilted around me, sound rushing in my ears like waves crashing against jagged rocks.
No. No. No.
I shouldn’t listen. I knew that. The bond might betray me, might carry my emotions to them. I clenched my fists at my sides, forcing myself to breathe, forcing myself to stand very, very still.
But I couldn’t move away either. I strained my ears, every part of me both desperate and terrified to know more.
Draven’s voice broke through first, sharp with fury. "Explain, River! Now."
The tone made my skin prickle, but it was River’s calm voice that followed. Calm, yet heavy.
"Jasper contacted me earlier," he said. "Just as I returned home. He informed me that Damian Greystone fled the slave village where he was exiled with his mother and sister."
My lips parted soundlessly.
"He disappeared a week ago," River continued. "Neither his mother nor sister had any idea where he went. Jasper has been trying to find some trace of him, but so far... nothing. No tracks, no leads. It’s as if he vanished into thin air."
The words sliced through me.
I staggered back a step, one hand flying to my chest. My nails dug into my skin, desperate for something to hold onto, something to keep me from falling.
Damian.
Gone. Disappeared.
I couldn’t stop the flood of memories crashing over me - his voice whispering against my ear, venomous promises that I could never escape him. The way his shadow had loomed over my entire life until the night of Shadowfang Pack’s annihilation, the way fear had been carved into my bones, leaving scars deeper than anything visible on my skin.
You can’t run from me, dear sister. Nor can you hide. No matter what, I’ll always find you. I promise.
His words started replaying like poison, over and over.
My breath turned shallow, and my body started trembling. If he had fled... if he had learned that I was alive... then it was only a matter of time. He would come for me. He always did. And I knew better to think otherwise.
The bonds. They would feel me soon. My panic, my dread. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to smother it, trying to shove it deep down where they couldn’t reach it. But how do you cage fear that’s been part of your soul for years?
Still, I tried. Forcing my face blank, forcing my heart to slow. Willing myself invisible.
Because if they knew, if they felt me outside this door, they would stop talking. They would lock me out of the truth all over again.
But I had already heard enough. Enough to shatter me. Enough to make my world collapse.
Damian was free.
And he would find me.
I turned around, ready to walk away before my mates could sense my presence, ready to disappear in my room as if those walls could protect me.
But the moment I turned, a sudden wave of darkness flashed across my eyes and a sense of dizziness overwhelmed me.
I tried to reach out for something to steady myself, the closest thing being the wall, but instead of the solid wall, my hands came in contact with the familiar warmth of Oscar’s body.
In the end, I still failed to keep my presence hidden.