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Taking a seat on the leather sofa, Atlas knew it was going to be a hell of a mission, but not a chance in hell he was coming back without Harlow. He was relieved the Hollow Grove gang hadn’t gone straight back to their territory, recalling Harlow telling him she’d stopped several times just for some rest when she stumbled upon his territory. At least with them close by they had a chance to bide their time.
“You okay, man?” Colt asked. “You look a little worried there.”
“What? And you’re not?” he snapped back. He ran a hand through his hair and then took a large swig of his drink, wanting to feel the burn on the back of his throat as he swallowed.
“Course I’m worried. But we’ve got a plan. Haven’t we?”
Atlas looked over at his friend. “Mmmm, let’s just hope it works.”
Colt sat forward, his head at a slight angle as he searched Atlas’s eyes deeply. “It will… It has to. Come on, man, we’ve gotta believe we got this. Right?”
“I do,” Atlas conceded. He’d never want to think he was even capable of failing at something like this, especially when it came to his beta. It was his role to be the leader, the strong one. But he just couldn’t let go of the repercussions of this not working out.
“Then what is it?”
Atlas took a deep breath, unused to being emotionally vulnerable, but he was talking to Colt, after all, and he knew if he could do it in front of anyone it would be him… as well as Harlow now. “Truth is I’m worried that even when we get to her, she might not want to come back with us. Maybe I screwed up, dude.”
Colt looked down and tongued his teeth. “I know. I wondered the same thing. Maybe we should have stuck with her from the start earlier. I mean, I should have known what Lauren was like more than anyone. Don’t think I’m not kicking my own ass about this too.”
“It’s not your fault. I’m the alpha here. If anything, it’s down to me.”
Colt shook his head. “But Lauren did this because she didn’t want to see me with Harlow! Like, who does that when they’ve cheated on someone?”
“Look, way I see it, even if Lauren hadn’t tipped Hollow Grove off, they would’ve turned up for her at some point. Seems like that prick doesn’t want to let her go, even if he chose someone else over her.”
“Yeah, that Vincent and Lauren are like two peas in a pod,” Colt agreed. “Man, if I could get my hands on him.”
“If you could, I’d make you hand him over to me,” Atlas agreed. “I’d sort it alpha to alpha. Prick wouldn’t know what hit him. Trust me.” The pair of them were scum as far as he was concerned. Cheating on people, casting them aside, and then not leaving them alone to move on when they didn’t even want them anymore. But something about a man who’d chase a woman down like that made him feral.
His blood boiled thinking about how Harlow had been treated, and he knew now that he’d do anything for her. It was something he’d probably been aware of since they’d first been together, but things were complicated and he’d tried his best to make sure she wasn’t overwhelmed by him, leaving any talk of commitment or being mates—just as Colt had advised.
Not now.
The thought of her out there, potentially in danger, brought everything into perspective with a clarity he hadn’t experienced before—certainly not when it came to matters like this. He wasn’t the emotional type, but right now he felt pure emotion. Worry, concern… love.
“I can’t screw this up, Colt. It just can’t happen.” The desperation in his voice surprised even him.
“It won’t,” Colt replied. “We’ll get there. We’ll bring her back.”
“I’m not used to this, dude. It’s not how I am.”
Colt nodded. “You care about her,” he said, saying the words so Atlas didn’t have to.
“More than anything,” Atlas said. “It’s real, Colt.”
“I know. You don’t have to tell me, bro.”
The clock ticked in the background as they both sat with this information, the words finally out there. Harlow was important to both of them, just as he’d always known. Him, Harlow, and Colt—it was how it was meant to be.
“Look, we know where we stand now, yeah? We get to Harlow and when we do, I’m sure she’ll listen to reason. We both know how she feels about us, too,” Colt reasoned.
“But you always said trust was such a big thing for her,” Atlas stated.
“I know that. But we didn’t break her trust. We did what any alpha and his beta would do in a situation like that. End of the day, you’re pack leader, and a situation came up in the pack. Lauren was also a pack member. It’s just how things go down.”
Atlas sank the rest of his drink. He knew what Colt said was true. He was alpha, and he was only doing his job. It was his duty to the pack and himself. He knew he loved Harlow now, but she wasn’t even a pack member yet.
“We can speak to her,” Colt continued. “I know we can sort this out. I hope she’ll understand, and I think she will. Yeah, she’s angry and she got into a fight. But she’ll come around. She’s not the hot-headed type.”
