Kieran:
If there was one thing I hated more than walking into chaos, it was being kept in chaos with no explanation.
Oscar was standing by the window with his arms crossed, scowling at the floor like it had personally offended him. River was sitting behind my desk like a king on his throne, stone-faced but smoldering beneath the surface.
Neither said a word.
"Are we doing this in silence now?" I muttered and turned to Oscar, who was looking like he would rather claw through the glass than speak. "Alright, little brother. Start talking. What the hell is going on?"
He finally opened his mouth, but it was River who barked out first in a voice that was sharp with frustration. "What’s going on is that our baby brother has suddenly decided to be stupid."
I raised a brow at that. "That’s a bit dramatic. Stupid how?"
Oscar, clearly bristling, turned to face me now. "I refused to get engaged to Jasmine Bills."
I blinked. "Excuse me?"
River barked a bitter laugh. "See what I mean? Stupid."
Oscar ignored him and looked at me. "And now he’s throwing a fit because I said no."
I rubbed my forehead. "Okay, let’s back up. Refusing? That doesn’t sound like you, Oscar."
"I’m not being stubborn," Oscar cut in, looking both irritated and exhausted. "I just don’t want to get engaged to her, that’s all."
"You just don’t want to?" River echoed mockingly, standing up now. "Do you even realize what this engagement means for us? The Bills are one of the wealthiest packs across the western territory. Joining with them would seal alliances, open resources, and-"
Oscar groaned. "And turn me into a political pawn?"
"You are not a pawn," River growled. "You are one of the heirs to this family. Sometimes, sacrifices are necessary."
I stood there quietly, letting my brothers go back and forth. I wasn’t surprised. As the Rogue King, River was always looking at the larger picture. And while Oscar was passionate and impulsive, he wasn’t foolish. If he was fighting this hard, there had to be more to it.
"You’ are 21," River continued, exasperated. "We are not asking you to marry her tomorrow. Just get engaged. You two can take your sweet time tying the knot."
Oscar scoffed. "Then you do it."
River’s jaw clenched. "Excuse me?"
Oscar turned and glared at him. "You want the alliance so bad, you marry Jasmine."
I winced, knowing this was going to light the fuse.
"She likes you, Oscar," River shot back, his anger finally flaring. "She’s not throwing herself at me or Kieran or Draven. She wants you. So stop acting like a brat."
Before Oscar could throw another jab, I stepped between them before the air turned to lightning.
"Enough," I said, my voice calm but final. "If this was just another of your little brotherly arguments, I would let you bite each other’s heads off. But this? This sounds serious. So let’s treat it like it is."
I turned to Oscar first. "Let’s be honest here. Is this about the engagement itself? Because if it is, if it’s about timing, you can delay the wedding. You don’t have to marry Jasmine right away."
He opened his mouth to argue but I stopped him.
"Or is it because you don’t like her?" I continued. "Because sure, she’s a little spoiled - what Alpha’s daughter isn’t - but she’s smart, one of the class topers, and trained to run a pack. She would make a good wife with the right guidance."
He still didn’t look convinced.
"Then let me ask you this," I said softly, watching him carefully. "Is there someone else?"
The silence that followed was not empty.
Oscar didn’t move. Didn’t breathe. But I saw it - the faintest flicker of tension in his shoulders, the twitch in his jaw. And I knew.
River’s brows pulled together, his sharp gaze honing in. "Oscar," he said, the name tight with warning, "you know better than anyone that not just anyone can be a part of this family. If you are-"
"What if it’s my mate?"
Oscar’s voice sliced through the tension, it was low but powerful.
And then everything went still.
The words hung in the air like frozen thunder, and I couldn’t help the sharp breath I sucked in.
Mate.
He said mate.
River visibly froze, and I... I didn’t even know what to say.
We had never spoken of it out loud, but we all had same thoughts about our mates... or the lack of them.
Most werewolves found their mates soon after they turned sixteen, or within a few years. If they didn’t, there was always some delay - distance, location, rare exceptions. But River was twenty-five. I was twenty-three. Oscar was twenty-one. And Draven nineteen.
And still, none of us had found ours.
Well... I had once felt the mate bond four months ago, but it vanished before I could track it down. And I had failed to find her no matter how hard I was trying.
But now... Oscar. My little brother.
My chest tightened.
"You are serious," I said, watching him closely.
He nodded once. "Yes."
"You have confirmed the bond?"
He pressed his lips together and nodded. "Yes."
"Do we know her?" River asked, his voice a little rougher now.
Oscar hesitated. And his hesitation was all the answer we needed.
River leaned back against the edge of the desk, folding his arms again. His jaw was clenched, but he didn’t explode - not yet. He was processing.
And I was still stuck in the storm of my own thoughts.
If Oscar had found his mate... that changed everything. It explained why he refused the engagement. It explained the sudden distance, the storm in his eyes lately.
"I understand now," I said finally, exhaling slowly. "But that brings us to the next problem."
Oscar looked at me warily. "What?"
"River’s right. The Bills alliance is important. If you are turning it down for your mate, then she must be someone worth losing that opportunity over, and I’m not talking about her status or family background. So who is she, Oscar?"
He opened his mouth, then closed it again.
But before he could speak, River pushed off the desk. "Who is she, Oscar?" he repeated, and this time, the Alpha in him was starting to show.