Knotted By The Devilish Alpha Brothers

Chapter 53: Chapter 53: broken power

Enzo knew there was no point denying what they had all felt. The strange, amplifying current that had moved under the physical desire. ”Yes,” he said.

Reid and Dean gave short, reluctant nods of agreement.

Reid’s eyes narrowed. ”Did you put some kind of spell on us? Something to what? make us catch feelings?”

The Night Menace’s smile remained gentle. ”I don’t need to. What you felt is another ability of mine. I release a kind of aura that strengthens the people around me—boosts their power, their instincts, their endurance. I call it the buff aura.”

Dean’s expression flattened. ”That’s a stupid name.”

She didn’t look offended. Instead she whispered. ”You were the one who named it that, after all.”

”What did you just say?”

She straightened and waved the question away with a light motion of her hand. ”Nothing important. I’m simply glad the three of you are following the path I suggested—getting closer to me. It’s convenient for everyone now. You receive the boost. I slowly recover the memories of my past lives.”

Enzo remarked. ”Your less-freakshow self has no interest in walking into chaos like today’s attack. She can’t defend herself. An aura that only works when she’s near you is useless in a real fight.”

The Night Menace tilted her head, closed eyes somehow still managing to feel piercing. ”I know her better than anyone. She is me afterall. One day she will choose to become stronger. She will put herself in dangerous places on purpose. Until then, the three of you only need to keep doing your part.”

Reid hesitated, then slowly raised one hand like a student waiting to be called on. The gesture was so out of character that the corner of her mouth curved. ”You may speak.”

”We still don’t understand...how all of these are happening,” Reid said. ”The sleepwalking. How you kept the memories when every other reincarnated soul loses them. None of this should be possible.”

The playful smile faded from her face. She didn’t frown, but the lightness drained away. She looked up toward the ceiling as if searching for words she wasn’t allowed to use.

”I wish I could tell you everything.” Her voice had lost its earlier teasing lilt. ”You have no idea how hard I’m holding the rest of it back.”

Even with her eyes closed, the expression she wore was so openly, quietly pained that something unexpected tightened in all three men’s chests—an ache that felt too much like empathy.

She drew a slow breath and pressed a hand lightly to her sternum. ”My body is starting to feel strange. I need to go.”

Enzo watched her carefully. ”You don’t want to stay the night with us?”

”Another time.” A faint, almost wistful smile returned. ”My less-freakshow self still needs the night hours more than I do right now.”

She turned, opened the office door. Only when she was about to step out did her voice reach them again.

”You’ll find the rest of your answers soon...”

She whispered the rest

”...my beloveds.”

**

Back in the quiet of Amelia’s room, the Night Menace moved with the same unhurried certainty. She propped the phone against the same stack of books, checked the angle, and pressed record.

For a second she simply looked at her own closed-eyed reflection on the screen as she sat down on the chair. Then a smile curved her lips.

”Hello, non-menace me. Try not to scream when you watch this—I’d rather not give the bird a heart attack.”

A soft chuckle escaped her. ”I don’t have much time, so I’ll keep this short. I saw your video. It’s time you knew a few things.”

She settled more comfortably and spoke in a clearer voice.

”Your first question was...why did your powers stayed hidden from birth? I placed a power-block spell on myself. On you that is. I didn’t want to be found while i was young. The only thing strong enough to break that seal was a heart broken past its limit.”

Her expression softened with something close to quiet understanding.

”I know us. I know how completely we love, how far we’re willing to go for the people we choose. I understood exactly how much it would hurt if that kind of love was betrayed. So I left it to fate to decide who would be the one to break the seal. Fate, in its infinite sense of humor, handed us Dylan and that backstabbing bitch.”

She leaned a fraction closer to the camera.

”If you want the rest of the memories back, you have to stay in this house. I know what the first weeks here felt like. I know how much you still hate them on the surface. But deeper than the anger, you’re already drawn to them. Stop pretending you don’t feel it.”

A brief pause.

”As for the Underworld Territory—start looking at your college. That entire territory used to be one of their headquarters a century ago... before I tore it apart. That’s a story for another night.”

She pressed a hand to her chest. A faint tremor ran through her fingers.

”I’m already slipping. This is all I can give you for now. I’ll answer what I can whenever I surface. And I know you better than anyone—you don’t give up. You never have.”

Her head tilted suddenly, as if a forgotten detail had just surfaced.

”Oh. One more thing. Tell the brothers I forgot to mention this earlier: if they want to avoid ending up under someone else’s spell again, they need to follow the instructions I already gave them. We’ve discussed it. They’ll know what I mean.”

She looked straight into the lens, the last of the borrowed strength thinning in her voice.

”And Amelia... let your real personality out. Stop keeping it locked up. You’re going to need it.”

Swifty hopped into the frame. The Night Menace’s closed-eyed smile warmed as she reached out and brushed two fingers gently over the bird’s head.

”I should thank you for taking care of Swifty. It’s been our companion across most of our past lives. Keep looking after it.” Her voice softened the more. ”And if he ever gives you that judgmental little stare that clearly says ’this is a stupid idea’... do it anyway. It won’t make sense in the moment. Just trust it. Unless, of course, it’s a different flavor of stupid—then I take no responsibility. I don’t support every kind of stupid.”

She gave the camera one last faint, crooked smile.

”Goodnight, non-menace me. I really wish I was already tangled up in those three instead of sitting here. But if you woke up in their bed right now you’d probably panic, blush yourself stupid, get soaking wet the second one of them touched you, and then spend the next ten minutes arguing with your own thighs about how much you definitely don’t want it. So... another time.”

The last of the Night Menace’s presence slipped away.

Amelia’s body went slack. She tipped sideways off the chair and landed on the floor in an ungraceful heap, the phone still recording a few extra seconds of silence. Swifty hopped down after her and settled close against her arm, silver feathers rising and falling with the steady rhythm of her ordinary, dreamless sleep.