ATLAS“Since when did you become this boring bloke?” William, a friend of mine, laughed from his chair. When I didn't offer a response, he turned to Andrew. “Is this how you deal with him every single day?”Andrew only laughed.William is a schoolmate of ours who came to visit. And he clearly missed the tension between Andrew and I.Though I’ve known the guy since I was eighteen. He didn’t really pay attention to things and unless you slapped him in the face with the obvious, he would miss it.“Come on, Montgomery. I know you’ve been somewhat cold since your wedding.” He snorted. “You’re totally one of those annoying married men we always laughed about.”“You laughed at them.” I felt the need to point it out. Of course, he only waved me off before going back to scrolling on his phone.“Well, I’m not taking no for an answer. So you can finish ignoring me and pack up.”“I have a job to do.”Although his father was an alpha and he went through all that alpha training. William is a second
JADAMy Atlas radar was going off. Or according to Jaiya, my ‘Atdar’. Good thing though because it has been a false alarm all evening.“Are you waiting for someone?” She asked, being the more perceptive one of the group. Or maybe, just the one that wasn’t drunk yet.I hadn’t even realised I was looking at the door for most of the time until she pointed it out..I was just feeling uncomfortable in my own skin. And I kept asking myself ‘what if he walked in through that door?’. For someone who said I wasn’t going to be thinking about him. I’ve been doing a shit job at keeping my word.“No.” I cleared my throat, reminding myself she was still waiting for my reply.“Then why are you looking at the door? Your eyes have been there since we arrived.”I cleared my throat, not having an answer that wouldn’t sound extremely pathetic. In the end, I gave up and told her I wasn’t really used to this.“I get all of that. What I don’t understand is why you’re so worried? No one is going to call you
ATLASAndrew gave me a subtle look and shook his head, but I was already on my feet and following her.“Where are you going?” I paid no heed to William, or even bothered to excuse myself.It was rude but he has been my friend for the longest years. He can deal with it.I paced outside the bathroom, wondering what was taking her so long. I don’t even know what the fuck I had to tell her. But here I am. Pacing outside a bathroom at a bar like some kind of pathetic creep.I had felt a huge weight be lifted off my shoulder when none of the women that were around her followed her. Though it later pissed me off that they were letting her be alone.It disgusted me more that women weren’t safe alone in a freaking bar during the day.The door opened and I stopped mid-step, my eyes locked on the woman that walked out shortly after.Jade has fixed her hair and washed her face. But there was a new coat of lipstick on her lips. Not the pink I was used to. It was a bit darker, making her look more
JADEI ran out of the club, not stopping to reply to Jaiya that was calling out for me and running after me. I flagged down a cap as soon as I got out. And I was just about to get in when she gripped my hand and forced me to stop.Tears were rolling down my face without me even realizing.“What happened? Who hurt you?” She asked, the words coming out of her in a rush.I shook my head, not sure what I was trying to convey. She didn’t understand me any more than I understood myself and she kept looking at me with a lost expression.I looked over her shoulder. Somehow feeling him close and sure enough, Atlas just came out the door.
ATLAS“You chased her out! What the fuck is wrong with you? What did you do to her?!”Andrew looked like he wanted to punch a hole in my fucking face and the thing is, I would probably let him do it.He was yelling in my face, paying no mind to the people moving about their day, shooting us weird looks as they passed by.“Why do you have to be so fucking miserable and then you make everyone else around you feel that same way?” He yells exasperated. “No one is forcing you to be this asshole but why do you subject—““That’s enough now,” William appeared out of nowhere. Handing Andrew his suit jacket that he must have take
JADEJaiya pretty much forced me to spend the night at her place. Though to be honest, I was happy to stay there. Just seeing more of her space confirmed my initial judgment of it. It really is every girl’s dream home.Not only do you have your space to make into whatever you want. It was so big and so private. It felt like she was existing in her own little world. Big world.“How do you come into work everyday?” I asked late that night as we lounged on the couch and ate the popcorn she insisted on making.“What do you mean?” She swallowed before replying.“If I lived in an apartment like this. I don’t think I’ll be motivated to step outside ever again.”She chuckled, shaking her head. And I noticed her cheeks darkened a little bit at my comment. She really was modest.All that chaotic energy she had at work was at rest here. It wasn’t like she was a different person. Not at all. She is the same person that had walked into my office and pretty much adopted me as one of her friends. Th
ATLASI camped outside Jade’s apartment last night. As much as I hated being anywhere that Brandon had anything to do with. I couldn’t sleep after all that happened and I thought she would be there.If you asked what I wanted to tell her. I wouldn’t know what to tell you. But it felt essential to my existence to see her and so I waited outside her apartment all night. Hoping she would show up.Like a creep, I peered inside hoping I would see her. Though to be honest, I knew she wasn’t there as soon as I arrived. There was no feel of her.She didn’t come back. I couldn’t help the multiple horrible thoughts I had. Thinking maybe something had happened to her. Or if she was off with that damned Harrison or that equally useless Damien.I’ll kill him if he lays even a finger on her.Just thinking about it right now is making me upset.Andrew was staring at me from across the table. His eyes were unreadable. But his annoyance was quite clear.After I waited all night for her, I found myself
JADEI thought I was ready to face him after the breakfast I had with Jaiya. The way she had been pushing me and cheering me on had me feeling like I could take on the world.But the sight of Atlas, even frozen as he was at the sight of me. It was enough to make my palms sweaty.God, why did the man need to have this much control over me?We stayed that way, staring at each other, in shock and trepidation, for what felt like hours. In reality, it was only a few minutes. Maybe three or even two. But a century was what it felt more like.We both snapped out of whatever trance held us that way and Atlas advanced into the office. He closed and locked the door first, then he pulled the blinds.My stomach knotted at the click telling me I was trapped in here with him.I wasn’t scared of what he would do to me. I’m more scared of how I was going to respond to him after everything. The sight of his lips was already making me think of how good they had felt against mine.The urge to bite mine
JADE“i needed to come see him.”“Why?” He collected the baby from me “I told you that there's no need to. Why do you feel the need to come here even after I told you not to?!”“Because it's not just your victory! It's not just your life that he was after! It's mine too! And it's Ray's too! So yes, I needed to come down here to get closure.”He needed to understand that this meant something to me too, just as it did him.“Closure? Is that why you put the baby at risk? How much more closure do you need?”What on earth was he talking about?“Risk? Incase you didn't notice, I was there with him! I was at risk too! I needed him to look me in the eye and tell me why he did what he did to my family.”“Or maybe it's because you're too hung up on the past and you just can't let go. Incase you havent noticed, you're so stuck in the past and you are obsessing over it. Move on!”Well, I'm glad he finally got to say what he wanted to. Now I know how he feels about me trying to find answers. I w
JADEI didn't think it was worth it at first. Going to see the man that had made me grow up without parents and without the concept of what a true family felt like.But after much thought, he needed to know that all his plans failed and I was going to rub it in his face..I'd gotten all three pieces of the stone together and wore it around my locket.It would hurt him so bad to see that in the end, I won.Iniko decided that that was the right moment to start crying and everytime I dropped him back in his cot, he cried even louder.“Young man, what is it that you want? You've been fed and burped and I just changed your diaper so there's no way you could have soiled it again -”I stopped and remembered what happened yesterday so I took a peak for myself. There was nothing im his diaper.“So what exactly do you want?”I wish babies could talk.I guess I didn't have any other choice than to take him with me then. Atlas would blow a fuse if he found out that I took his son to see Ford.Whe
ATLAS“By wasting any more time, we are not doing ourselves any good! Sixth Circle pack is vacant. We have their leader in our custody and I've taken down every opposition in our way, do you think it would be long before we get more interests?”Sometimes, having a cabinet infuriates me so much. It was like I was speaking to brick walls. I didn't see any reason why they couldn't just agree to me taking over the Sixth Circle.It would even be better for us because it would improve our army base, it would make our pack bigger and in general, it would be a plus for us.But they weren't seeing it that way. All they were seeing was the fact that Ford had committed something against the pack and they weren't going to take it.I mean, what better way to teach him a lesson by taking over his pack?“Alpha, we're not disputing the fact that you've gone a long way-”“But you're diminishing my efforts. What's the whole point of defeating him and taking him into custody when I can't even go ahead a
JADERay and I weren't speaking for now.How could she hide something like that from me?“Where is she?”“I have no idea. All I know is that she ran away when we were little. She knew that he would come after her and she didn't want to put you in danger. So she ran away and left your nanny to take care of you. I don't know where she is.”How could she do this?“Before I lost my memory, did I know?”“No, you never knew.”I couldn't believe this. I lost my appetite for the rest of that day and I just stayed in Iniko's room because I couldn't even speak to anyone right now.I'd spent my life thinking my mother was dead only to hear that she was alive and she ran away because of that beast.“It’s not her fault, you know. Your mother ran away to protect you and Ray didn't tell you because she wanted to keep you safe. You have to forgive her.”I didn't blame her. It wasn't her fault things turned out like this. I was just hurt that I didn't know.Later that day, I took Iniko on a walk so h
JADEI was just realizing that this baby has Atlas's eyes and hair and everything!“This baby is rigged.”He turned around in shock.“What are you talking about?”“You did something to make the baby look like you.”He laughed and shook his head.“No, I didn't. It's just a coincidence.”“Coincidence? Look at this baby and look at you. It seems like I didn't even have anything to do with his birth.”“Don’t worry, you can have the second baby.”I scoffed.“You think I'm going to let you have another chance to have photocopies? Big joke.”Iniko was so small and he seemed so fragile.Ray brought my food and she took him while I ate.“I wish my grandmother was here to see him.”She gave me a sad smile.“Me too. She would be so proud of you.I'm proud of you.”I'm so happy my sister was here with me. She was the one who had been by my side throughout and if the child had been a girl, I would have named her after Raya.“Thank you for everything you did. If not for you, I don't know how I would
JADE“I'm going to need your blood as well. Atlas, I promise it won't hurt her. Just a little nick.”He nodded and she dragged the knife across my finger.“Place your finger over the stone and let the blood cover it entirely. Do not take your hand away from the fire.”It was a simple instruction but it seemed so intense.It was almost over. My legs were beginning to feel well and it was getting harder to quiet my screams.“What do we have here?”That voice. He was here.“What are you doing here?”All I had to do was keep my hand over the fire until the stone bled.Ray helped me stand up straight while Atlas and Andrew faced my uncle.“So this was why I came here. How did you do that? How did you call the other stones?”I eventually removed my hand from the fire since we had found them.“I always knew it was with one of you. That stupid old hag told me she couldn't find the other piece but I guess she gave it to you. “Why were all the worst things happening tonight?I was in labor and
JADEAtlas returned later that evening.I was right with what I'd thought.“What have you been up to?”I knew he knew I'd been eating because of the smirk on his face.“You know you don't have to hide from me when you eat right?”Oh, I did.“If you see how much I eat and the way I eat, I don't think you'd want to be married to me anymore.”He burst out laughing.“What makes you think I care about the way you eat? As long as you're healthy and our baby is fine, I don't care.”“But then, what if I get fat? I'll be so big that I won't be able to eat. I don't know why I eat so much.”This was actually a worry of mine. Normally, I ate but my appetite was not this big.“Blame it on the baby. I figure when you give birth, the cravings will stop and even though you do get fat, you're still my wife. It doesn't change anything.”I was really married to the best man ever, wasn't I?“You’re the best.”“I know. Ray says that we have to get there before midnight so that she can prepare everything.
JADEAt this point, I was realizing that the earlier we did things, the better.“I’ll arrange for the sacrifice to happen tomorrow. We need to move as fast as we can before he gets Intel that were here.”I didn't want to have to run with this big belly of mine.“What are you going to need?”“Don’t worry, I'll take care of it. Just bring the stone.”We went to bed that night because we were all completely exhausted.“Hey, are you okay?” Atlas asked when we were in bed.“Yes, I am. Why do you ask?”“You didn't cry when you found out that he killed your father. You didn't cry when you found out that she was not your grandmother. I'm worried.”Now that I think about it, it's true. But it was because I didn't feel like crying.“I don't know. Maybe my body just hasn't proceses it yet. Maybe its because I hate him so I'm not bothered that he's not my father and I never really knew my father so i can't cry for him. I've already mourned for my grandmother.”I just didn't feel the need to cry b
JADE“Jade, step away from that.”I walked back towards them and stared at the pile.“What kind of animal would do this?”I had no idea but I think I was beginning to understand why she wanted us to find this place.This place held secrets.I went back to the wall to look at the drawings and try to understand them.I used my fingers to trace them again and this time around, I heard the voice clearer.“Look at the bigger picture.”I stepped away from the wall so I could see the entire thing. There were more drawings to the side and when I walked up, I noticed that there was a sign at the bottom of it.That sign…looked all too familiar but I couldn't just place my finger.“Ray, come see this. I've seen this before but I don't know where it's from.”She crouched beside me and stared at it for a moment.“I know it's familiar but I don't know where it's from, either.”Andrew and Atlas joined us and just within seconds, they knew.“We know.”They shared a look and it made me scared.“Jade,