Fated To The Lycan Brothers
Chapter 103

Atlas Wolfe

"There was an accident." Four words nobody in this world would want to hear nor say, but I had no choice to tell Keith what had happened.

"What? What do you mean?!" He turned to me, widened eyes with fear and panic roaming around them.

"We have to go. Wes, he's- I don't know, gone. His mindlink got cut and I haven't gotten through him since five minutes ago." I said, trying my best to keep my composure calm but fuck, it was hard especially when I was also uneasy with the thought of Suri having gotten hurt.

"Okay, okay. Get your brother." He instructed and I quickly turned around just before rushing to Dev who was surrounded by girls and boys celebrating his win.

I hate that I have to take him away from this because I know how hard he's worked for all of it, but god damn it, we need to get to Suri right now. Each second that passes, the more I dread what we might replace out when we get there. There's too many people surrounding him and I can't get through, fu c k.

I'm getting ready to shove away the people when out of nowhere, I saw him passing through the crowd, his face riddled with nervousness.

"What the hell happened? Was that just me or did you feel that, too?"

I didn't think he would have felt it since he was so busy, but it seems I was wrong. Right after I got cut off with Wes, there was a sort of flip in my stomach and I was certain it was related to Suri. If only she had been able to mark us before then there was a way to communicate with her, but with just our mark, we still weren't fully connected with her wolf.

I am regretting it now, just as I am with a lot of things. Mainly letting her leave.

But now isn't the time to replace someone to blame because it's not like anybody of us would have known nor would it help the situation.

"We have to go. It's Suri."

As soon as I told Dev, he grabbed his things and didn't even bother to say goodbye to anybody else. We ran out to the parking lot, the feeling of trepidation getting stronger within us as we near where we believe Wes and Suri were last. Keith is on speaker phone while I drive, his car close behind while Dev is changing in the backseat. Usually I would get annoyed that he's getting my seats wet, but I don't care about anything else right now.

"I am not blaming you nor Wes, but god damn it, I told you not to let her out of your sight!" Keith expressed his exasperation over what happened, the restraint in his voice is still present but I know he is in his breaking point. Once again, we all were, just like that first time Suri disappeared, except... worse.

Because while that time was her own choice, this one she was taken against her will. Fuck.

I'm gripping on the steering wheel so tight I might almost break it.

"We thought it would be fine since Wes was following right behind her. We had no idea something like this could happen." I confessed, guilt encompassing me but I try not to let it take over because I would spiral out of control if I do. I need to keep it together for Suri.

"Atlas, I told you over and over we don't know who we're up against because of Suri's rarity. I was trying to keep us all safe!" Keith said infuriated, and I had never experienced him full of rage.

It only made me feel even guiltier.

"It's not Atlas' fault, dad. I shouldn't have forced Suri to come out to my competition. None of this would have happened if she had just stayed home." Dev adds as he moves to sit beside me on the front seat.

"It's nobody's fault. I am just saying we should have been more careful." Keith explained as I turned to Dev and gave him a thankful nod.

"Atlas? Dev?"

Holy shit, it's Wes. Getting a mindlink from him was a big fucking sigh of relief.

"Wes! Are you okay?" Dev asked as we were nearing that usually empty street where we believe they were ambushed.

"I think I broke a bunch of bones, fuck, but I'm fine. It hurts to breathe, but fuck it, I'll live. Are you guys near? I can't move."

Jesus, we've experienced our fair share of violence, but we've never been hurt as much because we only had humans to fight with, but now it's obvious we were dealing with more than just that, and that's what made me feel even more nervous. I hit the gas a little harder to go faster and thankfully, we finally arrived.

What greeted us was a complete disarray.

Fortunately, Maria's car was in one piece, but Maria stood at the side of the road, shaking and somehow barely processing what she had just experienced.

At the other end, Wes' car had been toppled over, branches tangled all over it.

As soon as I stopped the car, Dev and I ran to get to Wes while Keith went to Maria to assist her.

"Jesus fuck, you look like s h i t." Dev commented as he crawled down to the ground where Wes was lying upside down, his seatbelt still attached to him.

"Yeah, imagine how I feel, fucker." He croaked out and when he moved just a little, the car shook.

"Fuck, get me out of here!" Wes demanded and I've never seen him this shaken, but then again, if any one of us were in that situation, we would no doubt feel the same way.

"Yeah, we're doing it! Stop moving you shit head!" Dev shouted as he ran up to the other side so he could stop the car from moving any more while I pulled Wes out.

It was a goddamn struggle because of the branches protruding fucking everywhere, but after a few minutes, Wes is safely out and we let him rest against one of the trees.

"God damn, thank fuck for my healing abilities in times like these." He panted, breathing in and out, though it was more like wheezing.

"We need to get you two to the hospital," Keith said, appearing at the side as he gestured to his car where he had placed Maria in.

"No, we need to get to Suri. She was taken by... I don't know, by some fucking assholes, but they're fucking dead, that's what they are!" Wes tries to stand up, but he winces in pain and falls back down on the ground crouching his ribs. "Fuuuuuck," he groaned.

"You're not getting anywhere in that state, i di o t. Plus, where are we going if we don't know who took her? We need answers, and I'm hoping Maria has them. Let's go to the hospital and get to the bottom of this." I told them and was surprised at myself that I was able to somewhat keep composed even amidst the situation.

All I want is to tear apart whoever took Suri and burn everything to the fucking ground because I'm pissed. I'm so fucking pissed, but I guess maturing is realizing anger isn't going to solve anything and we needed to think this through properly first. Though reluctant, Wes agreed and minutes later, we were driving to the city hospital. Keith had already talked to the people he knew at the police station to take care of the car accident and soon it would be like nothing had happened. Nobody else but us would know that wasn't entirely the truth.

-

By the second hour that passed and we still hadn't gotten any information about Suri's whereabouts, we're all a bit too on edge. Dev has found an outlet to release his frustrations, of course, through entertaining kids in the hospital with coloring books and stories. Wes has been sleeping and recovering, and well, unfortunately for me, I've just been dealing-or drowning-with my own thoughts.

I'm on my seventh-or maybe tenth-cup of vending machine coffee when Maria walked up next to me, still a bit shaken, but she looked much more composed than earlier.

"Atlas," she said with a soft whisper.

We've only interacted a few times, but I knew her a lot from Suri's stories. She always seemed so kind and caring, somewhat like a second mother to Suri and I'm thankful for her. At least she had someone when she was taken.

"Maria, are you feeling better? Do you want to sit down? Anything to drink?"

She blinked at me for a few seconds before glancing down at the cup I was holding. Without hesitance, I passed it to her and we sat down on the chairs right outside Wes' room.

"I apologize it took me some time to approach you, but I needed to replace my thoughts for a moment." She confessed and I gave her an empathetic nod.

Though we were desperate to replace Suri, none of us wanted to pressure her. We knew that if there was anybody else aside from us who would want Suri to be safe, it would be her, so whatever she knew, we were sure she would tell us once she could. "You don't have to be sorry, Maria. We should be the ones apologizing for getting you involved in this."

She shook her head and placed her hand on my arm. "No. There are always bad people in this world, and Suri is fortunate to have somebody like the three of you fighting for her."

I couldn't help smiling at her heartfelt comment.

"Please tell us, where did they take her?"

Maria looked at me with a distressed expression before letting out a deep exhale.

"I believe... Suri is in Russia. Siberia, to be exact. When they pulled her away, one of the men kept me in the car, but I was able to catch pieces of their conversation. I'm not sure, but they talked about money, some kind of bounty. Prize bounty? I don't understand most of it. Why would they want Suri for money? Did they kidnap her so Mr. Whitford would pay for her ransom?" Maria turned to me with a perplexed face and Goddess knows how confused she is, but we can't let her know the entire truth.

I gave her answers, but tried my best to stick to the script Keith told me which was to say that it was a problem related to his company's rivals.

Fortunately, Maria doesn't seem suspicious and just accepts it.

"Thank you for being there for her."

She gave me a weary smile before gripping my arm. "She loves you a whole lot. Well, you and your brothers. We talked a bit in the car before, you know, that happened and I had never seen her glow like that before. That girl, she came into the café looking broken and lost and oh my goodness, now when she talked about you, your brothers, and Mr. Whitford, I had never seen anyone that happy. Ever. I know you will bring her back home, but please do take care. All of you and he deserve to see more, live more, and be together more. I will be praying for you and everyone, hijo. Dios lo bendiga."

A shuddery and nervous exhale escaped me.

May God and whatever other higher being is out there bless us indeed because damn it...

We're going to fucking Russia.