Evaline:
My words lingered in the air, heavy and unresolved.
If the darkness beneath the West Tower had still been sealed when Naira was found unconscious... then how had her soul been taken?
The question echoed in my mind, circling endlessly, but none of us had an answer. Not River, not Oscar, not Kieran. The silence that followed was thick, pressing down on my chest.
And then...
A knock sounded on the door.
It was soft, hesitant, yet urgent enough to slice straight through the tension in the room.
River straightened imdiately. "Co in."
The door opened slowly, and Rowan stepped inside.
The mont I saw him, my heart clenched.
He looked exactly the way my mates had looked when I first woke up - pale, tense, eyes wide with worry he hadn’t bothered to hide. His shoulders were stiff, as if he’d been carrying sothing unbearably heavy for hours and had no idea how to put it down.
And then his gaze found .
It was almost painful to watch the change.
His entire body seed to sag with relief, like an invisible weight was lifted off him all at once. His breath hitched, and his eyes shimred, dangerously close to tears. He didn’t say a single word. Didn’t pause. Didn’t even acknowledge the three Rogue Alphas in the room.
He just moved.
One second he was standing near the door, the next he was right in front of , wrapping his arms around so tightly it knocked the air from my lungs.
Oscar, bless him, shifted instantly, stepping back to give Rowan space without hesitation.
"Eva," Rowan breathed, his voice rough, almost breaking.
I lted into him just as hard, my arms going around his back, holding on like he might disappear if I didn’t. The warmth of him, the familiarity, grounded in a way nothing else could.
"I’m sorry," I mumbled against his shoulder. "I didn’t an to scare you."
He pulled back imdiately, hands coming up to cup my face, forcing to look at him.
"Don’t," he said firmly, shaking his head. "Don’t apologize like that. Don’t make it sound like it was your fault."
His thumbs brushed under my eyes, his gaze searching my face like he was making sure I was really there.
"How are you feeling?" he asked softly.
"I’m okay," I said honestly. "Just... a little tired. But otherwise, I’m fine."
The relief that flooded his face was imdiate.
He let out a long breath, one I realized he must have been holding in for a long ti, and his shoulders finally relaxed. Only then did he seem to rember where he was.
Rowan glanced up and looked at my mates.
Despite everything, despite his fear and worry, he straightened slightly and nodded at them in respectful acknowledgnt. It was subtle but sincere.
River returned the nod. So did Kieran. Oscar offered him a faint, reassuring smile.
Rowan still didn’t move away from .
Instead, he sat down beside on the bed, turning so he faced , one knee bent on the mattress. His presence was protective but not possessive, familiar without being intrusive.
And none of my mates seed to mind.
I noticed it in small ways - the lack of tension in their shoulders, the absence of any territorial edge in their body language. They understood what Rowan was to . Just as my friends respected them not only as Rogue Alphas but as my mates, my mates respected my friends because they were mine.
That mutual respect wrapped around us like an unspoken agreent.
Rowan’s eyes softened as he looked at again. "What happened?"
So I told him.
I told him about the images... the mories... how they had rushed through like a storm, how my power had reacted to sothing in that secret chamber.
And then I told him about the theories.
About Carson.
About the Great Evil.
About the tiline.
"And that’s the part that doesn’t make sense," I finished quietly. "If Carson is the one who weakened or released whatever was trapped under the West Tower... then how did Naira beco the first soul death victim?"
I swallowed.
"She was found soul dead months before Carson even knew about that place."
Rowan went still.
The na alone... Naira... shifted sothing in him. Pain flickered across his face, old and raw, never fully healed.
"I... I don’t know," he said softly.
For a mont, he looked just as lost as the rest of us.
There was no doubt that Niara was indeed soul dead, but the tiline was ssed up.
Then Oscar spoke.
"Rowan," he said calmly, "did Naira ever visit the Silver Moon territory? Especially close to the days she was found... soul dead?"
Rowan frowned, clearly thinking hard.
It had been over a year and a half since Naira’s incident. Too much ti. Too many mories layered on top of that night.
"I don’t think so," he said slowly. "She didn’t have any reason to be here. She worked locally. She didn’t socialize much outside our small circle of friends."
He paused, his brows knitting together.
"But..." he added, sounding uncertain.
We all leaned in slightly.
"There was sothing," he said. "The night before it happened, she ca ho really late. Hours past her normal working ti. And it had never happened before that."
"What did she say?" I asked gently.
"She said she had to deliver goods to a custor," he replied. "Soone placed a last-minute order and there wasn’t any other staff mber free. It required her to travel quite a distance, and that’s why she was late."
River’s eyes sharpened.
"Did she say where?" Kieran asked.
Rowan shook his head. "No. I didn’t press her. She looked exhausted, and I didn’t think much of it at the ti."
Oscar exchanged a look with River.
"Did she ntion the custor?" Oscar asked.
"No," Rowan said. "It might be nothing serious, but it’s the only unusual thing I can recall around that ti."
The room felt colder.
I could feel the weight of it settling in my chest.
Who was the custor?
Where did she go?
And why did that delivery lead to her becoming the first soul death victim?
Or were we going in completely wrong direction?
Eva, focus, I told myself... but my thoughts were already racing.
My mates shared a look. Then Oscar straightened.
"I’ll have my n look into it," he said decisively. "Where she went. Who the custor was. Every trail that can still be followed... we’ll find it."
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