Fated To The Lycan Brothers
Chapter 77

Atlas Wolfe

I remember the first time I saw Emily Atkins. It was a few weeks after we had just arrived and I was just wandering around Los Altos, trying to get used to the place.

It was a weird time for all of us, my brothers and Keith. We had just lost the most important woman in our lives and we were all lost, too.

More so for me because there was so much guilt in my heart. The darkness had crept up into every crevice of my soul and it felt like I was no longer alive. Like I was just a vessel of nothingness and I lived my days just waiting for the sun to rise and set, repeating my ******e twenty-four hours a day.

And then there she was, the girl in the sunflower dress holding sunflowers by the shop.

Brown hair that glowed under the sun, eyes that twinkled almost as much as the smile on her face did. She radiated light and happiness, and I was instantly sucked in by her and I didn't even know who she was.

All I knew was that she reminded me of my mother, Eve Wolfe, and I clung to her like the air I needed to breathe. I clung to the hope that she was still here even in the form of another human. It was f*****g weird now that I think about it.

Hell, it was f*****g weird even then and I knew it, but that didn't stop me from thinking about it, from letting myself get lost in admiring her from afar.

She stopped by at the flower café very often. It was her favorite amongst the shops that her family owned on that street, and damn it, every day I couldn't help but imagine my mother doing the same thing.

She loved that place. She made that place, but she was never able to really be in it.

Sophomore year came, and I remained admiring her from afar. I couldn't bring myself to get to know her because I thought that if I did, my illusion of her would be shattered. I was scared that if I could no longer see her then I would forget my mother, too. I would die if that happened.

I know I sound like a stalker, but I wasn't purposely following her everywhere. Funnily enough, it was like she always ended up where I was, anyway.

Around the academy, she was of course, an honor student and was always into extracurriculars. She was the club organization president, so she was often visiting every single one, including boxing, so it meant I saw her a lot. Sometimes I wondered if she saw me, too, and she was trying to replace ways to see me while I'm boxing.

I learned I was right in the middle of Sophomore year and I was passing by the flower café when she almost dropped the stuff she was carrying and I helped her.

She confessed that she had always wanted to talk to me, but never did.

I didn't want to let her in, but she tried every single time. I would move away, but the next day she'd be there again. Always with that smile and that radiating attitude my mother had.

I knew that our relationship, whatever it was, was doomed before it could even begin.

When she had to leave in Junior year, she told me to keep in touch, but I had gone back to being closed off. It started with fewer and fewer replies, and eventually, there was nothing, and she stopped, too.

I figured it was for the best because I realized then that what I felt for her wasn't anything remotely close to affection. What I felt for her was desperation to cling on to somebody that reminded me of the woman I loved the most. When Suri came... I realized she was the person I had been waiting for before I even knew it, or before I could even truly accept it.

I denied her for so long, not knowing that the more I did, the more I fell for her. I fell for her so f*****g deeply that I don't know if I'll ever be able to get back up.

I don't think I even ever want to.

She is my breath, my soul, and my heart.

Now that I knew and accepted this, I couldn't have Emily taking that away from me. Taking her away from me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked Emily as I pulled her away from Suri's door and the arrow that pierced straight through my heart was f*****g painful when I saw the way Suri looked at me.

Fuck. I have to get Emily the hell out of here immediately.

"I needed to talk to you, and I figured you'd be with Suri and-"

"And what, Emily? What else is there to talk about? I told you last night what I felt. It hasn't changed, and I swear to you it never will." I told her as I managed to move her to the side.

I think she was expecting to go to my room because she kept glancing over it, but there was no f*****g way. Lord knows what Suri might think if she saw me bringing her into my room and I was not going to let that happen. Over my dead f*****g body. "Why are you being so mean to me? You're- you're not the same as before," Emily exclaimed as she turned to me, her usually doe-like eyes now looked at me with hardness.

I let out a deep exhale as I shook my head and tried to figure out how to break it to her without actually breaking her, because as much as I did not want anything to do with her any longer, I also couldn't just... hurt her.

In a lot of ways, I still saw my mother in her, but then I realized I'd grown out of it. I've... moved on. For the most part.

But Emily was still Emily, and she was the kind of girl that gave good to everyone and saw the good in everyone.

"That's because you never really knew me before, because trust me, you wouldn't have lasted if you did."

There was a flicker of hurt in her eyes before she blinked it away and pulled me by my shirt, taking me by complete surprise.

"I love you, stupid. I love you!" She exclaimed and I was startled by her sudden confession. "I would love every piece of you, good or bad!"

I didn't doubt that, but I also didn't want her to love me. I was Suri's and nobody else's.

I yanked her hand away from me and her eyes started to turn red and tears were forming in her eyes. F**k.

Fuck. I hated it when girls started crying. I hated people crying in general.

Then I thought It was different for Suri. I would hold her for hours if she cried. I'd comfort her until I could put that smile back on her face.

God damn it, I love that woman.

"I need to go, and you need to leave. I'm sorry, Emily, but... this is over." I gave her one last look and the pleading in her face was evident.

If I saw that two years ago, I would have faltered and stayed, but I was no longer that same Atlas compared to back then. The Atlas that destroyed everything in his wake. The Atlas that needed to feel pain to feel anything, to feel like I was still alive. I've changed.

And it was all because Suri saw me, and I wanted nothing more than for her to keep doing that. I wanted nothing more than to tell her that I was hers and hers alone. Forever.

I left Emily crying in the hallway as I rushed back to Suri's room. I don't give a f**k if she doesn't want to let me in. I'll tear that f*****g door down and let myself in.

I needed her. With every step I took to get to her, the need for her just grew stronger and stronger and I felt it then. I felt it before, too, but this... this was different.

I've never felt so f*****g alive.

Suri Nightingale has brought back the life in me that I thought had died with my mother.

That just proves it. She is my lifeline.

When I reach her door, it's locked, and after giving her the benefit of the doubt with three knocks, I'm halfway to bringing it down when it suddenly opens and she's standing there, looking at me with a straight face.

I was flustered for half a second since I wasn't totally expecting her to open it so easily.

"I didn't want Keith having to pay for a new door either," she said monotone and I had to stifle a chuckle.

Not the f*****g time, you idiot.

She stepped back and just as she was about to turn around, I grabbed her by her arm, kicked the door closed, and trapped her in between my arms against the door.

"Look at me, baby." I told her and she bit her lip as if she was trying to stop herself from crying.

"Don't you trust me, Suri? Don't you trust that I would never let anybody come in between us?" I asked her and after a few seconds, she finally looked up and Jesus f**k, my heart just about f*****g split when I saw her determination not to cry. God damn it, I don't want her to cry because of me.

"I trust you, but once upon a time, she did, too, and now you... you just left her..." She said, barely audible, but thank f**k for wolf ears.

I shook my head and looked at her bewildered. "I'm sorry, are you saying you're... like this because I... ended things with her?"

"No!" She said louder as she shook her head aggressively.

I looked at her with a raised brow.

"I don't-I- It's- Ah!" She got frustrated and as much as it hurt to see her like this, it was also f*****g hot and Jesus Christ, can my hormones chill the f**k out for a minute?

"I just... I just think that if you can leave someone so easily, then what about me? Will the time come that you will leave me, too?"

Her question derails me and I'm absolutely f*****g bewildered at her logic. Good god, whoever hurt Suri for her to think that way, I need to track them down and beat the living s**t out of them. This girl has been through so much she can't even have faith in herself even after what we've been through together.

Well, you know what? f**k it. Even more reasons for me to keep showing her that she wasn't just 'someone' to me.

She was the one.

Suri Nightingale

Atlas' eyes felt and burned like flames into my skin and I could feel the heat coming off of his body, too.

I had no idea if he was pissed, mad, or whatever it was.

"You really have no idea what you've done to me, have you, Suri? Have any f*****g clue of how much I love you?" He asked and his eyes weren't just flames now, they were a full on f*****g forest fire and let's just say I was the forest and I was in the middle of it all. I swallowed nervously before slowly shaking my head.

A grin curved up his lips and I almost melted into a puddle right on his feet.

"Then let me f*****g show you."

Oh my god.

"Wait, what are you-"

T

Atlas cuts me off as he slams his lips on mine and then I forget what the f**k we were even arguing about in the first place.