Feral Bonds: Claimed By Rogue Alpha Brothers

River:

The night had grown heavier.

Like the air itself was pressing down on my chest, making every breath feel slower, harder… wrong.

Even standing still became impossible. So I leaned against the car, folding my arms as I kept my eyes fixed on the front door of Kyros's house - waiting, hoping.

Even though I already knew what was coming.

The door opened moments later, and Kieran stepped out. And the moment I saw his face, I knew.

My heart clenched in pain, and my wolf started tearing at my insides all over again as its fury rose.

I closed my eyes to force the beast down. When I opened them a moment later, Kieran had made his way back to the car.

His steps were measured, controlled… but there was a tension in his shoulders that hadn't been there before. A tightness, a crack in his otherwise calm exterior.

His eyes met mine briefly. And then, he gave a small shake of his head. Once again, our attempt had turned out empty.

My jaw tightened, but I didn't say anything. I didn't need to. We were both thinking the same thing.

My gaze shifted to my wrist watch and only then did I realize it's already nearing eleven o'clock. Evaline had been missing for nearly nine hours, while we had been looking for her for the past six hours.

Six hours of searching, questioning, running through every possible place she could have gone, or every possible person she could have met... and we found nothing.

We had failed to get even a single lead. We had nothing - not from Eva, not from that boy - Charles, not even from his grandmother.

It was as if all three of them had simply… vanished. Like they had been erased from existence.

I exhaled slowly, pushing away from the car to turn to my brother as I asked, "How was it?"

Even though I already knew the answer.

Kieran ran a hand through his hair, frustration flickering across his face before he masked it again.

"He hasn't heard from her either," he said. "Not since morning."

My chest tightened.

Another dead end.

We had spent the last two hours going from house to house - every single one of her friends, every name she ever mentioned, every possibility we could think of.

Knocking on doors, asking questions, watching confusion turn into concern on their faces.

And every single time, the same answer - No. She hadn't come by. They hadn't heard from her. Not since earlier today.

It had taken a lot of convincing on Kieran's part to stop our mate' friends from panicking and running out of their houses to look for her.

Because the last thing we needed right now was a group of teenagers looking for Evaline so late at night and getting involved in something that clearly wasn't safe.

So Kieran had handled it. Like he always did - calmly, rationally, and with control.

What actually helped convincing them was that he told them to reach out to their classmates discreetly instead and ask around.

He also made sure to remind them to keep it quiet so no one would find out about Evaline's disappearance.

This wasn't the time for any rumors, panic, or attention.

Because if this was what I feared it was, the last thing we needed was to alert whoever had taken her.

My fingers curled slightly at the thought.

Taken.

The word alone made something inside me snap.

My wolf stirred. It was restless and agitated.

Find her.

The growl echoed through my mind.

Now.

I clenched my jaw and forced it back. I couldn't let him take over. Not now. Because if I did, if I let the beast loose, he wouldn't stop.

Wouldn't think.

Wouldn't calculate.

He would tear through everything in his path until he found her... no matter the cost. No matter who got hurt in the process.

And right now, that wasn't what we needed.

We needed control. We needed strategy. We needed... her. Safe and alive.

My phone buzzed in my coat pocket. I took it out and immediately picked it up, once again pushing the disappointment away for the caller not being Evaline.

"Alpha."

Jasper's voice filled my ear. He didn't waste any time and immediately updated me on how things were going at his end.

"We have collected all the nearby CCTV footages and our team is already going through them. Mark and his men are also looking into Charles and his grandmother. And there's..."

He trailed off suddenly, something he never did.

"What, Jasper?" I demanded. I had no time to waste right now.

"Alpha Grey wants to talk to you." Jasper finally revealed before adding, "He wants to join the search."

My first thought was to reject, but then I changed my mind. Right now, we needed all the trusted helping hands we can find, and Elion was someone we could trust with this matter.

"Alright. I'll talk to him. You continue with your search."

I ended the call and pushed myself upright and opened the driver's door.

"Let's go," I muttered.

Kieran nodded silently and got in.

The engine roared to life, the sound too loud in the suffocating quiet of the night.

But as I pulled onto the road, I realized something - I didn't know where to go.

For the first time in hours, we had nowhere left to check.

Kyros had been the last one, the last possibility where Evaline could have gone.

And now... we were left with nothing. Just empty roads stretching into the darkness.

I tightened my grip on the steering wheel, and forced myself to think.

There had to be something. Somewhere we missed. Some detail we overlooked.

But no matter how hard I tried, every thought led back to the same thing.

A wall.

A dead end.

Silence filled the car, heavy and unbearable. Until... headlights appeared ahead. A car was coming straight toward us.

I frowned slightly, instinctively slowing the car.

The vehicle got closer.

Closer.

And then-