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“Scott.” I rest a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze, needing to comfort him. None of this is his fault. “There was nothing you could—”
“No, there was.” He pulls away from my touch. The rejection should hurt, but I can see how reluctant he was to break the contact, so I swallow back my pride.
“I’ve been a lone wolf for years, I know better,” he growls out between gritted teeth. “Always be on the alert. I didn’t even see the fucker.” He paces the small room, his hands balled into fists.
Joel shrugs, and when I glance up, I see him looking at the other male. “There’s not much that can be done against magic. Besides, they obviously brought us here for a reason.”
As if on cue, they both look to me for answers. Gulping, I take a deep breath and prepare to explain. Honestly, I don’t even know where to begin, but there’s a knock on the door, stopping me from having to cobble together an explanation. Short and perfunctory, it instantly gives away who it is—not that I needed the knock to tell, as I already know who’s on the other side of the door thanks to the humming in my chest. Without waiting for a response, Atlas steps into the room.
The two wolves immediately go on alert, and I stare at Joel’s back as he moves me behind him. His body seems to swell as he attempts to protect me, hiding me from view of the witch. Growls fill the room as both males face off against Atlas. They don’t know what I do, that not all witches are bad and most want peace, nor do they know who Atlas is to me. This isn’t going to go down well, but the sooner they know I’ve got some witches on my side, the better. If we can get to a point where they can work together, then things will be far easier.
Scott’s body seems to judder, and if I don’t step in soon, he’s going to shift, and someone could get hurt. Taking a deep breath, I try to step forward, being careful not to touch Scott while he’s riding the edge between human and wolf.
“Guys, it’s okay.” Moving around the two snarling, barely in control werewolves, I remind myself that the last time they saw Atlas, he was with my brother, and they kidnapped me. In their minds, he’s the enemy and the reason I’m here. This is going to take some careful explaining and a cool head. I glance over at Atlas, and our eyes lock. I take in his casual stance and the dark humour flashing in his eyes.Oh boy. He’s jealous and determined to cause trouble—not to mention he still has his own prejudices against werewolves.What a freaking mess, I groan internally.
A large arm comes up to stop me from advancing any closer to Atlas. I frown, wondering how best to handle this. I could snap and tell him to knock it off, or I could simply step around it, but when I look up at Joel and see how tightly he’s holding onto his control, I know that this is going to require me to keep my temper. Releasing a long breath, I place my hand on his arm to try and draw his attention back to me. “Joel, Scott, this is Atlas.”
Joel doesn’t take his eyes from Atlas, but Scott turns to look over at me. I keep my calm, letting him see I’m not afraid of the witch. If Atlas was truly bad, he would feel my tension and fear, and although I’m stressed, that’s not because of him, but because of the situation. Scott’s eyes flash with his wolf as he squeezes them tightly shut, grappling for control, and I watch as he takes a deep breath. After a few seconds, he steadily releases that breath and looks at me once more, showing me that he’s regained control.
Atlas has stayed quiet during this whole interaction, appearing calm and unbothered that he’s in a small room with two werewolves who could tear him apart. He may look that way to someone who doesn’t know him, but I see past that. He’s uncomfortable, not to mention I can feel that he’s fighting his own instincts right now.
“So,” he says, breaking the silence, “the whole gang is back together.” Of course, Atlas being Atlas, he says it with a smirk, knowing full well that this is only going to wind up the wolves.
“Back away, witch,” Joel snarls, looking fierce as a growl rumbles deep from his chest. “There’s nothing for you here. Return to your master.”
Even I can admit that Joel is intimidating when he goes into full alpha mode, especially when he’s protecting me, and I’m mated to him. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to be on the receiving end of that anger.
Atlas is never one to back down though. Raising a single slick brow, he looks from the two males to me. A low rumble fills the room at the action, a noise of protest from Joel and Scott, but he ignores it, his tongue flicking out and licking his lower lip.
“So you’ve not told them.” It’s not a question, but a statement. “I’m not sure if I should be offended or not.” Pressing his hand across his chest in mock pain, he grins, mirth shining in his eyes. He might pretend that none of this bothers him, but I can tell that it does. Does he think that I’ve not said anything because I’m ashamed of him? I’m saved from having to explain when Scott clears his throat.
“What is he talking about, Laelia?”
“Yes, Laelia,” Atlas demands, tilting his head to one side as he stares at me with a mask of innocence. “Whatever could I be talking about?”
I narrow my eyes on him, silently telling him to shut the hell up. He’s purposely making this more difficult than it needs to be. Releasing a harried sigh, I turn to Joel and Scott, gesturing towards the witch. “Atlas is a pain in the ass, but he’s here to help us. He’s my… friend.” My words catch on the last word, and I know they caught it, Joel’s eye twitching.
A dark laugh fills the room, and I know what’s coming. I want a hole to open up in the earth and swallow me to get out of having this conversation. I would rather face that giant snake from the trials than be here right now. “Oh, sweetheart,” Atlas drawls, “I’m far more than that.”
Joel snarls loudly, but it’s clear the male isn’t lying, especially as I don’t deny anything. Frowning, he looks first at me, taking in my expression, and then over at Atlas. Slowly, with a look of clarity crossing his face, he turns back to me. “Laelia, what does he mean?”
Rolling my shoulders back, I pray to the goddess for strength. I’m not ashamed of Atlas, and I would never want him to think I am. This is a goddess blessed union, even if we’ve not completed the bond yet. Facing Joel and Scott, I smile. It’s tiny, the ghost of a smile really, but there’s no mistaking it as I break the news.
“Atlas is one of my mates.”
ChapterThirteen
For a moment, I think time has frozen. No one makes a single sound or moves a muscle, not even their chests seem to move as they breathe… or perhaps they aren’t breathing—at this point I can’t tell. My lungs burn, telling me this could be perfectly plausible as I realise I’ve been holding my breath. I release it in a rush, and it seems to break the momentary pause.
“Him?” Scott spins on me, and I swear I see disgust flash in his eyes. “Are you sure?”
I gape at Scott incredulously. Of the three of them, Scott would be the last one I’d expect to act like this. It’s not in his nature, nor is he one of my mates, so I don’t quite understand why he’s taking such offence at the fact that Atlas is my mate. He could be protesting because Atlas is a witch, but I get the feeling it’s more than that. Surprised, I shake my head in disbelief. “The mate bond can’t be mistaken for anything else, Scott. The goddess brought us together. I had nothing to do with it.”
They know this as well as I do, they have all seen the struggles I’ve gone through with my other mates, so for him to question me like this is an insult. I’m so caught up in my frustration over his comment that I almost miss his flinch. It takes me a second to process, and then I realise what caused this reaction. He gave up his chance of meeting his fated mate for a second chance with a female he loved, but she threw that away, and Scott has been alone ever since, knowing that the perfect woman for him is out there somewhere, but he’ll never be able to have her. I understand this is a touchy subject for him, and I want to apologise for my bluntness, but it’s too late now, and there are too many people watching.
Releasing a sigh that sounds thoughtful, Joel lowers his arm, having assessed that Atlas isn’t a danger to me. His hand slides down my arm and he scoops my hand into his, linking his fingers with mine. “You have four mates now, and they are all in one place. It seems like too much of a coincidence. Sure, the witches stole Scott, Nicolai, and me, but what are the chances that one of your captors would be one of your fated mates? Or the fact that Syn was able to track you down when it should have been impossible?” He sounds thoughtful as he lays out his reasoning and glances over at Scott for a moment as if to check his reaction. When the male says nothing, Joel continues. “It seems the goddess knew what she was doing when she chose your mates, even if it’s not always clear to us.” He looks at Atlas, making it obvious that he’s talking about the witch and implying that he doesn’t understand why the goddess chosehimto be my mate.
It doesn’t matter, though, because he doesn’t need to understand the goddess’s reasoning to trust in it. Joel has experienced the undeniable feeling of seeing your fated mate for the first time, and he seems to have gracefully accepted that Atlas is here to stay. He’s not happy about it, you don’t need a mate bond to know that much, but there’s nothing he can do about it, and anything hedidtry would only end up hurting me in the long run.
