All Chapters of The alpha's forbidden desire: Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

The hum of the vehicle was steady, almost lulling, but the air around Michael Volkov and his brother was anything but calm. Silius had drifted off somewhere between the last stop and now, his head tilted against the window, unaware of the quiet war being waged just beside him.Mathew rose first. He always did. There was something about the way Silius slept — defenseless, unaware — that made his brother's instincts sharpen like a blade. He walked toward them without a word, stopping just short of where Michael sat."Move," he said, the single word carrying the weight of a warning wrapped in frost.Michael didn't so much as flinch. He tilted his head up at Mathew, unbothered, almost amused. "Why should I?""Do you want me to punch you in the face and make you move?"The threat hung in the air, but before either of them could act on it, Silius stirred in his sleep, a soft, unconscious sound escaping him. Both brothers froze, their argument suspended mid-air, and for a moment neither dare

The party had long since dissolved into cheerful chaos. Laughter echoed through the spacious room as empty glasses gathered on the table, evidence of countless rounds of drinks and endless teasing. The spinning bottle seemed to possess a will of its own, repeatedly pointing toward the same unfortunate victim. Silus. Every single time, the question remained unchanged. "Who's your secret crush?" Each time the question was asked, Silus merely smiled—a strained, tight-lipped smile that revealed nothing. Instead of answering, he reached for another glass, tilting his head back to swallow the burning liquid in one smooth motion. Mathew watched him with an increasingly troubled expression. His brows drew together as Silus emptied yet another shot. "Who is it?" Mathew asked quietly, leaning closer so only Silus could hear. Silus merely shrugged, avoiding his gaze. "No one." "If there's no one," Mathew replied, his voice firm, "then why did you drink?" Silus blinked at him, already

Silius had been talking about it for weeks — counting down the days on a little calendar he kept pinned above his desk, crossing out each morning with a red marker like a child waiting for a holiday. Now that the day had finally arrived, he could hardly sit still. Their first stop was a sprawling botanical garden on the outskirts of the city, one of those sprawling green mazes with towering glass domes, winding stone paths, and flowerbeds arranged in colors so vivid they almost didn't look real.Silius and Mathew wandered through it together or at least, that was the polite way of putting it. In truth, it was more like Silius excitedly dragging Mathew from one exhibit to the next, tugging at his sleeve and pointing at every new bloom as though he'd never seen a flower in his life. Mathew followed a step behind, silent as always, his presence more felt than heard. He was the shadow that never strayed too far, the quiet weight at Silius's back.But it wasn't peace that kept Mathew quie

Silius did everything he could to pull Mathew away from Cyder, but Mathew was relentless. Blow after blow landed without hesitation, his fists moving with a mechanical, merciless rhythm, his fury boiling over simply because Cyder had dared to touch and speak to Silius. It should have shocked him more than it did. But this wasn't new. Everyone knew Silius belonged to Mathew. No one dared to cross that unspoken line, and everyone who had ever tested it had learned, one way or another, exactly why.He had already made an example out of someone before—a boy who had merely tried to talk to Silius, nothing more than a passing hello in a hallway. Mathew had beaten him so badly that he'd nearly killed him. That memory still haunted Silius, resurfacing at moments like this with a vividness that made his stomach twist. He had once thought he'd grown used to Mathew's obsessive grip, told himself that numbness was the same thing as peace. But the truth was, it still suffocated him. He couldn't ta

The evening had gone quiet by the time Silius finally let himself collapse onto the bed. His limbs felt like lead, weighted down by a day that had asked far too much of him, and for once he wanted nothing more than a few uninterrupted minutes of peace. He let his eyes fall shut, savoring the stillness, the softness of the mattress beneath him, the way the world seemed to fade at the edges when he stopped fighting it.But peace, as always, was a luxury he wasn't allowed to keep.The door creaked open. He didn't need to look to know who it was. Only one person in this house had the habit of announcing himself with that particular groan of old hinges, always at the worst possible moment.Groaning inwardly, Silius pushed himself upright, already prepared to snap at whoever had dared disturb him. But the irritation didn't survive the second he actually looked up.Mathew stood by the bed, disheveled and silent. A deep cut split his bottom lip, swollen and raw, as though someone had struck h