Page 22

GRAHAM

After storming away from Kaelin’s house, I’d needed some space as much as the rest of us.

I’d tried reaching out to Kaelin, but she said unless I was ready to talk to her about what was going on, I shouldn’t bother. So here I was, pulling up to Alpha One after texting Nyx. I’d only been here one other time and the impressive compound still left me in awe.

I pushed open the front door and was greeted by Atlas.

“Ah, both dogs home in the doghouse,”

he winked and then laughed as I scowled at him. “Come on, Nyx told me you were coming—let’s go shoot some shit—that always makes me feel better.”

We headed downstairs to the gun range.

“How is she?”

I asked as I loaded a few clips.

“Nyx said she’s still pretty pissed off,”

Atlas said. “And hurt.”

“Can’t you tell her what’s going on?”

Atlas finished loading an entire clip before he spoke again. “Don’t get me wrong, I think she should know, but I support North. This is something we’ve been planning for over a decade—you and Kaelin weren’t something we anticipated having to contend with.”

I loaded another clip.

“Even though we went through the same trauma as he did, it’s still not really my story to tell. We want this just as much as he does. Like he’s said before, we will do whatever we need to do in order to succeed in this.”

“Even at the cost of family?”

“The world will be a better place without Vetticus and Atrox in it and if that means we have to sacrifice ourselves to get our revenge and retribution for our families and the ones we’ve lost along the way—then yes. At the cost of everything—our morality, our love, even our lives—I know it doesn’t make sense—”

“No, that’s the problem,”

I sighed. “It does make sense. My brother was taken and I hunted down every single person responsible—then at the end of it all, I tried to take my own life because that’s the road of destruction I wrought. I just never expected to be on the other side of things.”

Atlas nodded, and we continued to load and prep a few guns.

“North wants to tell you,”

Atlas said, breaking the silence. “Including you lately means he trusts you and wants you to be a part of it all. The story is just daunting—I mean, there’s a lot that went down and it’s exhausting to tell it all. Most of us have been around since it all began and he hasn’t had to fill anyone in for a long time. It’s not an excuse, but I think it’s something that’s stopping him. He takes on a lot to protect us.”

“Which is just so at odds with who I thought he was,”

I sent a target out into the range and turned back to Atlas. “He fucking bought and raped Kaelin for fuck’s sake. And up until recently, that’s the kind of man I thought he was.”

“Oh, he still takes what he wants,”

Atlas chuckled. “But the Warren wasn’t what it looked like, I can tell you that much. There are other things going on besides the Vetticus thing—”

he shook his head. “But all of that is very much not my place to disclose.”

I wondered what horrors caused a man to willingly put himself into that type of situation but I had enough questions about North and I didn’t feel like adding more so I pushed it away for now.

Atlas sent his own target out then turned to me. “North is a complicated man who does things based on his own moral code. He’s arrogant, ruthless, violent and by all accounts a sociopath—but, he is a relentless and dedicated leader, loyal and protective to the ones he’s claimed as his own, and he’s saved my life so many times, even if I didn’t need this as much as him, I’d still be by his side.”

I nodded. “That’s what I’m starting to see. And I admire him for that. I just wished he’d be more forthcoming.”

“He will, in his own time,”

Atlas said.