Feral Bonds: Claimed By Rogue Alpha Brothers-Chapter 656: In Serious Trouble

Evaline:

"Kyros?"

Rowan’s voice cut through the night before I could even process what I was seeing.

My eyes locked onto our friend walking toward us. His steps were hesitant, and his expression... completely shaken.

"Kyros," Rowan repeated, this time sharper. "What the hell are you doing here?"

I finally found my voice, even though it came out just as stunned. "Right! What are you doing here?"

The question sounded ridiculous the moment it left my lips. Because technically... I wasn’t supposed to be here either. None of us were.

But that wasn’t the point.

Kyros stopped a few feet away from us, his shoulders stiff, his gaze flickering between me and Rowan like he had no idea where to even begin.

He looked...

Caught.

Like someone who had just realized they had made a very big mistake.

"I-" he started, then stopped. Then tried again. "I just-"

He still couldn’t finish.

I crossed my arms, narrowing my eyes at him. "Kyros."

He visibly swallowed before he tried to speak again, just to fail all over again. "I didn’t think-"

"That much is obvious," Rowan muttered under his breath.

I shot him a quick look before focusing back on Kyros and said, "Start talking."

Kyros opened his mouth again, but before he could embarrass himself further... Oscar sighed beside me.

"I’ll save him from digging a deeper grave."

I turned to look at him. He looked... calm. Too calm. Which, somehow, made everything feel worse.

"What happened?" I asked.

Oscar glanced at Kyros briefly before looking back at me as he spoke, "He followed us."

"...What?"

"At the Warrior Academy earlier this evening," Oscar continued in a measured tone. "When I was calling the elite team for tonight’s mission."

My stomach dropped slightly as I guessed what might have happened. "He overheard?"

Oscar nodded once. "He heard me mentioning about an operation taking place tonight."

I slowly turned my head toward Kyros and watched him wince under my gaze.

"That got his attention," Oscar went on. "So instead of doing the smart thing - like staying out of it - he decided to follow."

Kyros rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I just thought-"

"You thought wrong," Rowan snapped.

I raised a hand slightly, silencing him before he could continue snapping at our friend. "Let him finish."

Kyros gave me a grateful look before continuing, though much more cautiously now.

"I thought it was some kind of mission... something important but normal," he admitted. "And I wanted to-"

"Prove yourself," I finished quietly.

He nodded.

"I wanted to show Instructor Thorne that I’m ready for the elite unit once I graduate."

My chest tightened slightly.

That part... it sounded like him. Kyros had always been disciplined. Focused. Not reckless. Which was exactly why this whole situation felt so wrong.

"But I didn’t expect..." he trailed off, his expression darkening. "I didn’t expect to come here... to the academy. And then I saw you and Rowan here too."

He let out a breath before continuing, "I got confused. Curious. And by the time I realized this mission was something I shouldn’t even know about... I was already inside."

A heavy and thick silence fell over us.

I stared at him, my mind trying to process everything - Kyros broke the first rule when he followed Oscar and the warriors, then he broke another rule by sneaking inside the academy, and only stars knew how much he witnessed inside something he should have never seen.

Beside me, Rowan let out a sharp exhale and muttered, "You are an idiot."

And before Kyros could react...

Smack.

Rowan’s hand connected with the back of his head, causing Kyros to flinch.

"Ow-!"

"What were you thinking?" Rowan snapped. "Sneaking into a confidential mission? Are you insane?"

"I didn’t know it was going to be this kind of mission!" Kyros shot back before immediately deflating. "...Okay, yeah. That sounds bad."

"It is bad," I said flatly.

Kyros looked at me then. Really looked. And whatever he saw on my face made his shoulders drop slightly.

"Eva..." he started carefully.

I sighed, dragging a hand through my hair.

"You are one of the smartest people I know," I said, shaking my head. "So how did you manage to do something this stupid?"

He didn’t have an answer.

Of course he didn’t.

Because there wasn’t a good one.

"Even if you thought it was a normal mission," I continued, "you should have asked Oscar to let you join. Not followed him."

Kyros winced again. "I know."

"And respected whatever decision he made."

"I know."

I exhaled slowly.

Stars...

This was bad.

Really bad.

Kyros ran a hand over his face, muttering under his breath, "How was I supposed to know the operation would involve the academy, witches, and an ancient..."

He stopped abruptly as realization flashed across his face.

Right.

Because saying out loud that he now knew things he definitely wasn’t supposed to know...

Wasn’t helping his case.

At all.

I pinched the bridge of my nose as I said, "This is a disaster."

"You think?" Rowan muttered.

Kyros looked at me again with a hint of desperation creeping into his expression now. "Eva... help me out here."

I blinked at him.

"...What?"

"I know I messed up," he said quickly. "I know. But you have got to help me. Please."

My lips parted slightly in disbelief.

"Help you?"

"Yes!"

"With what exactly? Escaping punishment?" I asked dryly.

"...Preferably." He said, then pointed his eyes at Oscar before adding, "He will listen to you."

I stared at him for a moment, then shook my head slowly. "You think you need to worry about Oscar?" I asked.

My question made him frown and he asked, "What do you mean?"

Oscar reached out and patted his shoulder. "What she mean is that I’m not the one you should be worried about."

Kyros blinked.

"...You are not?"

"I was indeed angry," Oscar admitted. "At first."

Kyros swallowed.

"But then," Oscar continued, his tone shifting slightly, "I realized someone else is going to do a much better job at dealing with you."

Understanding hit Kyros hard, though it took a solid minute. And once it did, his face went pale.

"...Alpha Thorne," he whispered.

Oscar’s smile was almost sympathetic as he nodded. "Exactly."

That’s right. River being the one representing the entire council during this operation, had every right to decide what to do with someone who had just compromised a confidential operation.

Kyros was in trouble with Oscar as well as with Kieran.

But River?

That was different.

That was dangerous.

And yet...

There was a small, fragile thread of hope. Because Kyros wasn’t just anyone. He was my friend.

And because of that - maybe... just maybe - River might go a little easy on him. At least that’s what I hoped.

Kyros, however, looked like he was mentally preparing for his funeral.

"I’m dead," he muttered.

"Possibly," Rowan agreed.

"You aren’t helping," Kyros snapped weakly.

Before the situation could spiral further... a loud creak echoed through the air, making all of us turn toward the gates.

They were opening, fully this time. And then, one by one, everyone started stepping out - the witches, the warriors, the Alphas and the council elder.

Tension filled the air instantly, making my heart race as my eyes scanned the crowd until I spotted Kieran.

He walked straight toward us, his expression unreadable, his steps quick and purposeful. He didn’t even pause when he reached us.

"Get in the car," he said firmly, making it sound like an order. Then he moved past us, heading straight for the driver’s seat.

I glanced behind him instinctively.

River was still inside the gates, speaking with the elder witches and the council members.

I turned away and climbed into the car, followed by Rowan and Kyros.

And all three of us knew... the night was far from over.