Feral Bonds: Claimed By Rogue Alpha Brothers
Chapter 103: Calling Him a Coward

Chapter 103: Calling Him a Coward

Evaline:

If I found the headquarters suffocating on my first day of internship, then today was far worse than that.

From the moment River and I walked into the building, tension clung to us like a second skin. Neither of us spoke as we made our way to the Alpha floor.

The silence between us was loud. Deafening, even. But I kept telling myself I would get through the day. I had already faced worse than River Thorne and his volatile moods.

It didn’t help that the atmosphere inside the Council headquarters was as heavy as ever. Warriors in crisp black uniforms were standing at every corner, Alphas and their betas were moving like shadows through the halls, and I had tasks stacked on my desk waiting for me. There were reports to sort, summons to prepare, files to organize. The usual.

I buried myself in the work.

I didn’t look at River unless I had to. Didn’t speak unless required. And he... he stayed silent for the most part, though his tension was tangible - like he was a bomb ticking down to detonation.

Somehow, the hours passed and before I knew, it was almost the end of the working hours. I stepped into the office and found River standing stiffly near his desk with his phone pressed tightly to his ear. His voice was low, dangerous, and laced with the kind of sharpness that made your skin prickle even from across the room.

"No, I don’t give a damn what the High Table thinks," he growled into the phone. "Tell them if they push this any further, they are going to regret it."

The line went dead with a final click, and he stood there, unmoving.

I should have backed away. I should have turned and walked out without another word.

But the printer had jammed, and I needed his access to get into the file room. So, I stepped forward, pretending not to notice the fury radiating off him.

Absolutely stupid of me.

"Alpha River, the file room’s on lockdown again," I said while keeping my tone professional and actually using his title to not give him a reason to shift his anger at me. "Could you-?"

"Why is that report still on your desk?" he cut in sharply.

I blinked, my mind freezing for a moment. "What?"

"The request from the northern packs. It was supposed to be sorted and filed before lunch."

"I-" I turned to look back at my desk. "I prioritized the southern territory logs because those had a Council deadline."

His eyes darkened. "So you just decided which tasks were more important on your own?"

"I-I wasn’t trying to-"

"Of course you weren’t," he snapped, his voice rising. "You were too busy playing the sweet little assistant while plotting how to turn my entire life upside down."

I froze. "What?" I was barely able to process the sudden shift.

He stepped forward, looking extremely cold. "You act like you are this poor, innocent girl with no clue about the world around her. But I see you, Evaline."

My breath caught in my throat.

"I see exactly who you are," he continued. "You wear that soft face like a mask. You smile and play kind. You pretend you are weak. Helpless. But you only show your true self to me."

I swallowed hard. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"You tricked everyone," he spat. "Kieran vouched for you. Oscar protected you. You made it to the Academy on the back of my brother’s help and then lied to everyone’s face about how you earned it. You think you deserve to be there? You are a fraud."

His words were hitting like a slap. Not because they were true, but because they weren’t. Because I had worked. I had fought for everything I had, even when the world tried to knock me down.

"I didn’t lie about anything," I hissed. "I worked hard to be there. I earned my place-"

"Bullshit," he growled. "You tricked Oscar in the final round, didn’t you? Used whatever little tricks your father taught you."

And just like that, he went too far.

My eyes widened. The burn started in my chest. It was a slow blaze climbing up my throat.

"Don’t you dare bring my father into this," I said, my voice trembling with restrained rage.

"Why not?" He demanded with a cruel smirk. "You carry his blood. The blood of a murderer. A traitor. You think you can hide from that?"

I felt my knees going week with his each word... allegation.

"And now look at you," he sneered. "Turning my brothers against me. First Kieran, now Oscar and Draven. You are doing exactly what your father tried to do - tearing my family apart. He didn’t finish the job back then, so you are trying again."

"Stop." My voice cracked, but I refused to cry.

"Don’t act like the victim, Eva. You are no better than him."

"I said stop!"

The file I had in my hands dropped to the floor, making the papers scatter like leaves. My chest was heaving and my hands were clenched, but my voice... my voice stayed firm.

"You don’t know anything about me," I said as I took a shaky step forward. "You think you see through me, but all you ever see is what you want to see. My father might have been a killer, but I’m not him. I have never been him. And if you weren’t so obsessed with controlling everything, you might actually realize that I’m not the enemy here."

He just stared at me, his face blank just like his eyes.

"You think your pain gives you the right to wound others?" I asked. "You think punishing me for my father’s mistake is showing your strength? It’s not. It’s cowardice."

His eyes flared. And for a moment, I thought he was going to shout again. Say something worse. Something unforgivable.

But instead, he just stared at me. Cold. Silent. Like he didn’t recognize me. Or maybe... like he didn’t recognize himself anymore.

Right that moment, the door behind us opened and an assistant stepped in, only to get startled by the tension in the air. "Um-Alpha River, the Head Councilor is ready to speak with you now."

River didn’t even blink as he growled the words at the poor guy. "Get out."

The guy scampered off, clearly shaken.

I looked back at River one last time. And as I spoke, my voice was barely above a whisper. "I thought you were a lot of things, River. But I never thought you were spineless."

And then... I walked away.

I didn’t wait for him to stop me. I didn’t wait for his anger to burst again because of my words. I just walked back to my desk to pick my bag and phone, and then left the office as the clock struck the end of my shift.