Page 10 of Those That Don't Exist
“Sorry, no,” I say, the sound garbled as I run my tongue over my lower lip, the corner is split and bleeding.
Adicious grabs me by my shirt and hauls me up so I’m sitting on my haunches. His fangs are extended. “You follow my orders, remember. You belong to me.”
“Yes, Adicious,” I force out. I can feel the shadows wanting to pull out of the corners of the room and protect me, but I force them to stay back.
“If you dare defy me again, I’ll have to start restricting your privileges,” he snarls in my face. “You keep breaking the curfews Ty, I won’t stand for it.” He shoves me and takes a step back. “On top of that, the male you found won’t join us until he’s seen you.”
Here we go, the real reason he’s angry with me.Fucking Atlas.
“Have I been too generous with you Ty? Do you need reminding who is in charge?” he demands.
“No, I’m bound to you,” I quickly reply, not missing a beat, “I serve this pack under you.” I still don't lift my eyes to meet his gaze as I speak, but I do slowly stand now. I force my arms to stay loose whilst the beast in me rages to retaliate. No one else in the room has made a single peep this whole exchange.
“Someone bring me the rogue,” Adicious barks over his shoulder and someone scrambles into action. I think it's Ronan but with how much time we all spend in this house it's hard to distinguish scents.
“And you, sit there and stay quiet.” He steps forward again to shove me onto the nearest couch before returning to the bar.
I sit, straightening my clothes and silently seething at being humiliated in front of the pack.
Ronan returns seconds later, and it is Atlas he brings in tow, his hands cuffed behind him. Iron and Silver cuffs, the only metals that can, when combined, outmatch our strength.
My gaze immediately roams over Atlas’s body. I’ve not seen him in just over forty years. He looks good, strong. His six-foot-three build is all bulk and muscle.
He’s wider than I remember, his shoulders and arms thick and stacked. The full sleeves of tattoos, which disappear under his shirt at the elbows, are also new. A pale shirt with blood spatter down the chest.
His boy next door face is the only aspect of him that gives away his more sensitive and buoyant side, everything else screams dangerous predator.
Ronan shoves him further into the room to where Adicious is standing, sipping his signature whiskey and blood cocktail.
“The nose healed quickly I see.” Adicious looks down at Atlas, even though they’re pretty much the same height. From my view I don’t see any injuries on him, but a broken nose would explain the blood on his shirt. He’s also part Fae so something as trivial as a nose break would heal in the hour or so it's been.
Atlas stays quiet, doing a scan of the room, his head stops when he clocks me. I see his surprise, and is that relief? He’s never been one to hide his emotions. I don’t react. I can’t. Suddenly I see my selfishness for what it is.
When it was Atlas’s death certificate that I noticed had some inaccuracies I all but broke down sobbing in my office. He and I had grown up together, he was a close friend before the war. He’d stayed here and I’d left to fight. I’m wishing now I had kept his survival a secret. It had been a moment of weakness, succumbing to my pack instincts to find him.
I drop my gaze to Adicious’s feet knowing he’s watching my reaction. If I look at Atlas too much right now Adicious will see it as a threat, as me bringing someone from my old pack here to challenge him. He might kill Atlas right now just because of the association.
Why hadn’t I had that forethought when I’d told Adicious of my discovery.
If Atlas sees me as any kind of authority figure here it’ll sign his death warrant. He needs to see I’ve given it all up.
There are a couple of others who belonged to my old pack here but they were outliers, and already bonded to Adicious before I returned. He knew their loyalty. Atlas is more questionable, especially as our parents were close, and mine were in charge. Especially as Atlas has already opened his big mouth about me.
“Ty, you’re really here,” Atlas says, causing my stomach to drop.No, don’t engage with me.
“Yes. As you can see Ty is a member of my pack,” Adicious cuts in before I can answer, not that I was going to.I do have some self-preservation.
“Ty, why don’t you tell your friend how much joining me has helped you out of the destructive hole you were in when I found you.”
I feel every pair of eyes on me, a couple of others have joined us back in the common room now too.
I raise my gaze, “Atlas, it's good to see you. As you can see I’m here, very much alive. I’m well now, thanks to Adicious accepting me into this pack.”
It's not a lie, even if I now hate it here.
“Tell him how you wished for him to join,” Adicious presses.
“I do, it’ll be good to be part of the same pack again.’”
