Chapter 283: Terrifying presence

Kieran body went into high alert immediately.

Without a second thought, Kieran half-shifted, his eyes flashing brilliant Alpha blue as he sprinted wildly down the hall toward the master suite. Yuki and Kaden were both inside that room—for them to be completely quiet meant something catastrophic was occurring.

Kieran might not possess the raw, destructive physical power of Alexander or Kaden, but in his entire life, he had never encountered an aura so terrifyingly vast that it made his very blood freeze in his veins.

He reached the heavy doors, slamming them open as he burst into the master bedroom. His sharp eyes immediately snapped to the king-sized bed—and froze.

Cold, wet rain blew across the room through the wide-open balcony window.

The loud, violent crash of the door swinging open startled Kaden awake. Kaden’s eyes snapped open, his dark brows pulling together in confusion as he sat up abruptly in his chair, rubbing his eyes. He blinked, looking at Kieran standing frozen near the bed.

"What happened?" Kaden grunted, his voice raspy from sleep.

The question had barely left his lips when Kaden’s own skin suddenly erupted in heavy goosebumps. His head snapped toward the balcony, taking in the fluttering sheer curtains and the cold night rain pouring onto the marble sill. Kaden frowned deeply. Was it just the cold draft...? He couldn’t remember opening those heavy glass doors.

Even weirder—how in the world had he fallen so soundly asleep sitting upright in a chair?.

Before Kaden could process the eerie feeling that something was deeply wrong, Kieran crossed the room in two long strides, his face pale. "How could you sleep so heavily?!" Kieran demanded sharply. "Someone was inside this room!"

Kaden looked at his brother with genuine, baffled confusion. "What are you talking about? No one entered this room, Kieran," he argued.

Kieran didn’t have the time or luxury to debate the mysterious presence. He pushed past Kaden, leaning over Yuki’s resting frame. To his absolute amazement, her breathing was smooth and rhythmic, her pale skin cool to the touch. Her fever had completely vanished.

Kaden stood up, stretching his sore shoulders. "Did you finish the compound?" He asked.

Kieran pulled the sterile glass container from his pocket, popping it open to reveal the two glowing golden pills. Kaden looked at the luminous medicine, feeling the raw, concentrated magic radiating from the pills, and couldn’t help wondering what immense physical toll creating them had taken on his brother..

Kieran gently tapped Yuki’s shoulder, trying to rouse her. "Yuki... wake up for a second." He coaxed gently.

Yuki let out a soft, drowsy groan, her emerald eyes opening just a fraction. Guided by Kieran’s gentle hand, she opened her lips and swallowed the two golden pills with a sip of water before instantly sinking back into a deep, peaceful sleep.

Kaden wiped a hand over his face. "What now?" He asked

"We wait," Kieran answered softly, pulling up a chair beside the mattress. "With any luck, the compound will completely purge the toxin and restore her natural regeneration by tomorrow morning."

A breath of relief escaped Kaden subconsciously.

Kaden observed Kieran’s hollow eyes and pale skin, frowning. "You need to sleep, Kieran. You look like you’re about to collapse.". He suggested.

"I need to stay right here in case her body reacts poorly to the serum," Kieran insisted stubbornly, adjusting his posture..

Seeing the unyielding, quiet resolve in his brother’s eyes, Kaden knew Kieran wasn’t going to budge. Kaden pointed toward the wide, plush velvet couch across the room. "At least sleep on the couch, then. If you collapse from magic exhaustion, you’ll be completely useless to her if she worsens. I’ll watch over her for the rest of the night.".

Kieran looked at Yuki’s peaceful, sleeping face, then at the comfortable sofa. Reluctantly, he gave a slow nod. "Fine.".

The truth was, Kieran was utterly drained. Channelling high-tier magic continuously for over six straight hours had pushed his physical core to its absolute limit. He walked over to the couch, lying down flat on his back. Though he initially refused to close his eyes, Kaden’s firm voice cut through the quiet room.

"Go to sleep, Kieran."

Exhaustion won the battle almost instantly. Within two minutes, Kieran’s breathing evened out into a deep, heavy slumber.

Kaden released a long sigh, stepping over to close and lock the balcony glass doors before turning his dark eyes back toward the roaring storm outside.

******

Meanwhile, miles away at the grand Alpha estate, Killian sat alone in his dimly lit executive study..

A single antique lamp illuminated the dark mahogany desk, casting long shadows across the room as jagged strokes of lightning flashed outside the wide bay windows. Killian held a Montblanc pen over a stack of contract proposals, but he hadn’t written a single word in nearly an hour.

A heavy, suffocating premonition hung over his chest like an iron weight, his predatory instincts buzzing with relentless anxiety.

’It’s officially confirmed, Killian,’ Maverick’s sharp voice suddenly slid into his mind through an encrypted security link. ’The emergency military summit called by Gamma Reed today is directly tied to the rogue incident at the hospital today.’

Killian’s fingers tightened violently around his pen, the metal bending slightly under his grip..

He had been fully aware of the hospital containment breach the moment it occurred, despite the military’s aggressive attempts to gag the staff and scrub the records. Kieran had already given him a massive headache by abruptly smuggling Yuki out of the facility, but what troubled Killian far more was the absolute certainty that something catastrophic had occurred to push the rational doctor into taking such a reckless gamble. To make matters worse, Kaden had completely vanished from the military grid as well.

Killian put his money on the fact that both of his brothers were currently hiding out together with Yuki. He knew every private safehouse Kieran owned, but he had intentionally refrained from tracking them down to avoid drawing the council’s eyes to their location..

He trusted Kieran’s medical brilliance implicitly, yet the sickening gut feeling refused to leave his chest.

Before Killian could reply to Maverick through the mindlink—

BANG!.

The heavy double doors of his study were slammed wide open, rebounding violently against the stone walls.

Killian raised his sharp blue eyes to see his father, Alexander, striding into the room with a thunderous, furious scowl etched across his weathered face.

"Get your bloody brothers in check, Killian!" Alexander roared, his voice vibrating the glass lamps on the desk. "How on earth is Yuki currently named as the primary subject in a national security execution motion?! Aevia is downstairs crying herself sick!"

Killian leaned back in his leather armchair, a cold, mocking smirk touching his lips as he looked at the Patriarch.

"Aren’t they your sons, Father?" Killian drawled smoothly, his tone laced with dry, razor-sharp irony.