Chapter 86: A Tense Encounter - Callista's POV

Dinner came all too soon. There was only a knock at the door to announce it, followed by one of the staff telling me it was time. I stood up slowly, smoothing my hands down my clothes even though it didn’t help with anything. My nerves were already too rattled.

The walk to the dining hall felt longer than it should have. When I arrived, Riven was already there.

Of course he was.

He stood near the table, posture rigid in a way that told me he was trying too hard to appear normal. But there was nothing normal about this. Not the silence. Not the way the Alpha King watched us from the head of the table. Not the fact that the bond between us reacted the second I stepped into the room.

I hated how fast it betrayed me.

Riven’s gaze lifted the moment I entered. For a second, neither of us moved. Then I forced myself to sit at the far end of the table, away from him, which seemed to perturb him.

The Alpha King didn’t comment. He simply sat as well, as if this arrangement had already been decided long before we arrived.

Dinner was served without conversation.

The food didn’t matter. I barely touched it. Every time I tried, I felt the weight of the room more than the plate in front of me. It wasn’t the silence that bothered me. It was controlled silence. Everything was awkward and wrong.

Riven didn’t eat much either. I could feel him watching me sometimes, even when I didn’t look up.

The bond kept flickering between us in small, inconsistent waves. It wasn’t strong enough to overwhelm, but enough to remind me it was still there and still active.

At one point, the Alpha King set his glass down with a soft sound that still cut through everything.

“You will both be up early,” he said calmly. “Do not make me repeat myself.”

Neither of us answered. I think that was the point. He wanted us to obey without mouthing back. Right now, I didn’t feel like saying anything or else I would have.

When dinner finally ended, there was no relief in it. We were promptly dismissed back to our rooms, which meant being led back by two staff members, who made sure we got into our own rooms.

Inside my room, I locked the door this time. The click of it sounded too final.

I stood there for a moment, listening anyway. Listening for footsteps. For anything. But there was nothing except the faint, constant awareness of him through the bond.

I moved to the bed but didn’t sit immediately. Instead, I went to the window and pulled the curtain slightly aside.

The grounds outside were dark now. It was quiet in a way that felt unnatural. I saw guards moving around the perimeter, checking for whatever threat they thought was out there. I let the curtain fall back into place, then sat down.

Time moved strangely after that. I couldn’t sleep, because I knew what I was about to do. But I knew I should prepare for tomorrow.

“Ah, what am I doing?” I groaned.

Tonight, I’d find out what I was dealing with, no matter the cost. That was what I had to do.

Our future depended on it. If I didn’t understand what was happening, then how was I going to stop it? That thought sat heavily in my chest until I finally stood again.

I unlocked the door and stepped into the hallway. Oddly, it was quiet without a soul to be found. I looked around, both ways, trying to talk myself out of it, but there was no going back now.

I had to find him.

Without a second thought, I left, heading straight for the east wing.

The air shifted around me, growing colder and colder until I was shivering. Still, I kept going. That was when something whispered to me, though no one was around.

“This one,” it said in a chilling voice.

I turned, only to see a door that barely looked together. It creaked open and I knew I shouldn’t step through, but I had to know.

I swallowed, stepping forward and pushing it open. It creaked the entire way, revealing a room that I would have never thought belonged to the mansion. Everything was dimly lit by a fireplace. There were claw marks along the walls with several deeper scratches. It was utterly destroyed.

A shadow around the bed caught my attention and I stepped back.

A man, barely older than myself stepped into the light of the hallway, while staying in the room. Black veins ran across his flesh and I followed them all the way to his eyes, which were solid black. His lips parted as he sucked in a breath.

“You’re the girl bonded to him,” he said, his voice low and dangerous.

“What?”

He laughed, his eyelids fluttering. “You came to see what he becomes. Tell me, seer, how is my brother?”

“Your…brother…” The words tumbled from my lips.

He took one step forward, and that was when I saw it. His hair was dark like Riven’s. Even his facial structure was similar.

“No, he can’t be your brother,” I said, shaking my head. “This can’t be real. I’ve met his parents.”

“Oh, so you don’t see how much we look alike?” He asked, then laughed. “Or maybe you missed the fact that we share other things in common.”

“But how? You’re…the Alpha King’s son.”

He grinned, but it was broken. When his head tipped back, he inhaled deeply. “You smell so good, seer.”

I took another step back. “This was a mistake. I shouldn’t have come here.”

“You’re right, seer. You really shouldn’t have come here, because now you have seen the truth. And our father, well, he likes his secrets.”

“Then we can pretend I never saw you and I know nothing, right?” I asked, though it wasn’t really a question. “I’ll go back to bed and act like this never happened.”

“Callista!” Riven shouted, his voice echoing off the walls.

My head snapped to the side as he stormed down the hallway. “Riven?”

“Well, this sucks,” he said, his voice low. “I guess I’ll just do it now since my brother showed up.”

“Do—” I turned, and all words died in my throat as he lunged for me.