Chapter 69
Evaline:
I wasn’t sure what I was expecting when I arrived at the Council headquarters Sunday morning.
After how strangely Saturday had gone, with River suddenly acting so differently, I braced myself for another emotionally disorienting day. Maybe he would revert to his usual passive-aggressive jabs. Maybe he would come up with new creative ways to ruin my day. Maybe he would finally snap and remind me exactly who he was – the Alpha who hated my bloodline.
But none of that happened.
He greeted me… like actually greeted me… when I walked into the office.
“Morning,” he said in an even voice without the ice or condescension.
I blinked as surprise took over me, causing me to halt in my steps. “Good… morning?”
Our eyes met for a second longer than they should have, and I noticed as something flickered there… just a breath of something unreadable… but it was gone before I could decipher it. He turned back to his screen without another word.
I waited for the trap. Waited for a sarcastic remark or some impossible task. But he simply handed me a stack of notes and said, “Take your time. This one needs more organization than the others.”
That was it. Googlá´‡ search.net
No tone. No challenge.
Nothing.
The day passed like that. Strangely… peacefully.
He was quieter than usual, which was saying something. He didn’t hover, didn’t nitpick. He reviewed my work with nods instead of sighs, passed my desk a few times with silent glances, and once – once – placed a glass of coconut water near my elbow without saying a single word.
He didn’t even look at me when he did it.
At first, I thought it wasn’t for me. I glanced around the room, waiting for someone else to grab it. But when no one came, my stomach twisted.
I drank it anyway.
It wasn’t poisoned. Not literally, at least.
Still, I couldn’t relax.
The silence wasn’t comforting. It was loud in its own way. A quiet before a storm kind of loud. River wasn’t just being ’nice.’ No, he was being… different.
Detached, but present.
Restrained, but barely.
And I knew better than to lower my guards down around him.
But other than his unusual behavior towards me, something else was also different about him today.
I caught him once, staring out the window with his jaw clenched. His normally sharp, cold composure was replaced with something rawer… more volatile. His shoulders were too stiff, and he was drumming his fingers against the glass too fast.
And his eyes… there was a flicker of gold in them that hadn’t been there before.
It made sense, later, when the thought finally clicked in my head.
The full moon.
It was tomorrow. Monday.
And suddenly, everything about his strangeness made sense. At least the part where he was being silent, restraint, and the way his power kept shifting around the room like it couldn’t decide whether to retreat or explode.
I found myself recalling how Professor Kieran had looked almost similar to his brother just a week ago. But River was looking worse.
Not physically – of course not. He looked perfect, as always. Crisp black shirt rolled to the elbows. Watch glinting on his wrist. Hair slightly messier than usual, but not enough to seem deliberate. To anyone else, he looked flawless.
But I had spent enough time studying this particular Alpha for past few weeks to know better.
His calm wasn’t natural today. It was forced.
By the time the clock struck five, I had finished my work, proofread three internal memos, and organized two files that weren’t even mine. And River? He simply nodded, said, “Good work,” and let me go.
Just like that.
No insults.
No games.
Just… calm.
But he was too calm.
I didn’t know if I liked it. And neither did I know if I should like it.
Trusting River Thorne was like standing on ice in bare feet. You would be fine for a few seconds, maybe even enjoy the cold bite of it, until it cracked under you without warning.
So I didn’t let myself trust it.
But still… I noticed him.
When I packed my things, I noticed how he rubbed his temple for the fourth time that hour.
When I stood at the door and muttered a soft, “See you next Saturday,” I noticed how his gaze dropped to the floor, not in dismissal, but in hesitation.
And when I stepped out, I noticed how his power – usually wrapped around the room like a noose – receded completely, almost like he didn’t want me to feel it. Like he didn’t want me to carry that weight.
And I hated how much that tiny act affected me.
And I hated it more that I didn’t hate him enough.
I didn’t know what game he was playing, but if this was part of it, it was a dangerous one.
He was more dangerous like this – quiet, human, almost… kind.
Back in my dorm room, I tossed my bag onto the chair and collapsed onto the bed with my shoes still on. The sky outside was a soft lavender, the kind that felt too peaceful to be real.
I rolled onto my back and stared at the ceiling. My fingers were itching to grab a pen, to write something, to do something… but all I could do was replay every glance, every word, every unnerving absence of conflict from today.
What was he planning?
Why this sudden change?
Was it just the moon? Or something else?
I closed my eyes and let out a deep sigh. I hated how easily these brothers could completely overtake my thoughts without even trying to… or maybe this was exactly what they wanted.
One day, I might be worrying about River, and the other, my head might be filled with the thoughts of another of his brothers. Ever since they entered in my life two months ago, they had refused to let me live in peace.
And right now, nothing scared me more than what Moon Goddess had planned for me when it came to Throne Brothers.