by Lola Gabriel
“Relax,” Christian smiled. “For what it’s worth, you’re not in any trouble.”
Atlas flashed him a smile as relief flooded him. Christian nodded approvingly.
“That’s better,” he said. “Now, onto the reason why you are here. Does the name Noah Cressner mean anything to you?”
Atlas thought for a moment and then it came to him and he nodded his head.
“Yes. I mean, sort of. I don’t know him personally or anything, but he’s the bear alpha of our district, right?” Atlas said.
“Right,” Christian agreed, looking thoughtful for a moment. He smiled at Atlas. “I had half hoped you might know more about this than I do, but it seems I’m not the only one in the dark about it all.”
Atlas sat forward in his seat, momentarily forgetting his nerves as his intrigue at Christian’s comment got the better of him. Whatever this was, it was something big, and somehow, Atlas was at the center of it.
“I received a call from Noah earlier this morning, and it appears that he would like to use your services for a time,” Christian said.
“I don’t understand,” Atlas said truthfully. “How would he even have heard of me? Are you sure you’ve got the right person?”
“I’m sure,” Christian said with a smile. “He named you and described you perfectly. I don’t want to go into too many details about what the project would entail as I feel like Noah will be able to explain it all much better than I can, and to be honest, I only know the bare bones of what’s going on so I wouldn’t be able to shed much light on the situation anyway. But rest assured that from what I have been told, it’s a very important project and if you agree to complete it, you will be very highly regarded within the shifter community and in my eyes. As a reward, I would be more than happy to grant you permission to start your own pack right here in this district alongside mine.”
Atlas found himself speechless for a moment. Here it was, his lifelong dream being dangled in front of his eyes like a prize. As much as Atlas wanted to reach out and grab that dream with both hands, he hesitated. What if this was some sort of trap? Some way for Christian to get the truth about Atlas’ ambitions, only to crush them and perhaps crush him too? It seemed unlikely but Atlas couldn’t help but think the worst. It just seemed too good to be true that he was being given his chance at something more than he had ever had, at everything he had ever wanted.
Christian smiled indulgently, sensing Atlas’ reluctance to reply.
“Atlas, I know you have ambitions that you have always believed it wise to keep under wraps. And normally, I would agree with you that that was the most sensible course of action. And if you choose to remain silent now, then that is your right, and I will simply inform Noah that you have politely declined the request. But this is for real, so if you want your chance to be more than a dream, then take it,” Christian said, still smiling.
“Okay. I’ll do it,” Atlas said. He felt his confusion melt away, replaced by a sense of excitement as soon as the words were out of his mouth. He had been given a chance and he was going to damned well take it. “When do I have to go and see Noah?”
“He’s expecting you at your leisure, but I wouldn’t advise keeping him waiting,” Christian smiled.
“So I can go now?” Atlas asked.
Christian nodded his head.
“Yes, I think that would be for the best. Good luck, Atlas, and remember that you’re representing the pack and me when you’re gone, so go out there and do us all proud,” he said with the flash of a smile.
He stood up and Atlas realized that he was being dismissed. He stood up too and they shook hands once more, Atlas thanking Christian profusely. He left the office, excitement flooding through him. This was it, the chance that he had been waiting for. This, whatever it was, had always been his destiny all along, just like he had always sensed it had been.
Atlas took a deep breath to steady his nerves a little bit as he approached the front door of Noah’s house. He felt a bit nervous, but it was a sort of nervous excitement rather than nerves of fear. He had gotten the fear pretty much under control after his visit with Christian. There was no way Noah would care one way or the other about his goals and he didn’t think Christian would involve another pack alpha in his punishment, even if he thought one would be willing to play along. No, this was for real, and he was really going to be given some sort of task.
Atlas knew it wasn’t going to be an easy task. If it was, his reward for completing it wouldn’t be so big. In fact, he probably wouldn’t even be given a reward for a small or easy task. He wondered what it was, but he already knew whatever it was, he would do it or die trying to. He reached up and rang Noah’s doorbell, knowing the only way to satisfy his curiosity now would be to finally meet Noah and hear from him what it was that he wanted Atlas to do.
The door was opened quickly. Atlas had never met Noah, but he knew what he looked like, and the man standing before him wasn’t Noah. He gave him a cautious smile.
“I’m Atlas Drayburn. I think Noah is expecting me,” he said.
“Hey, Atlas. I’m Harvey. Come on in,” the man said, smiling and stepping back from the door.
Atlas relaxed a little bit. Straight away he sensed this man was friendly and it was already becoming clear to him that he was going to get a warmer welcome here than he could ever hope to get from Christian. The truth was, from what he had heard, Noah was a lot closer to the kind of alpha he wanted to be. Approachable. Firm but fair. Not cold and terrifying.
Atlas followed Harvey into the house and was shown to a light and airy lounge. Harvey nodded to the seating area.
“Take a seat. I’ll go and let them know you’re here,” Harvey said.
“Thanks,” Atlas said with a smile.
He sat down to wait for Noah and as Harvey left the room, Atlas realized he had said “them”, not just “him”. It sounded like he would be meeting Chessa as well as Noah. He was nervous and excited and wholly ready for this all at once.
2
Atlas stood up as the door to the room opened. He felt his jaw drop when instead of Noah and Chessa, he saw Raina Delaney and Logan Prince come into the room. Raina was a bit of a legend in Atlas’ pack—hell, Raina was a bit of a legend in pretty much every pack. Raina and Logan were known to travel the world, locating and eradicating Matchmakers. Was he going to be asked to join them? Atlas didn’t know, but if he was, then he was definitely going to say yes.
Raina and Logan came closer, smiling a greeting at Atlas. Raina reached him first and extended her hand. Atlas shook it.
“Hi, I’m Raina,” she said. “You must be Atlas.”
Atlas nodded, unable to find his voice for a moment. Logan took his hand next.
“Alright, mate. I’m Logan,” he said.
Atlas nodded to him and then the three of them sat down, Atlas back on the chair he had already chosen, and Raina and Logan side by side on the small couch opposite him.
“Are you okay?” Raina asked him gently after a moment.
“Y-yes,” Atlas managed to stutter out. “I’m sorry. I’m just a little bit taken aback, that’s all.”
“I told you he’d be disappointed to get us two when he was expecting Noah,” Logan said to Raina.
“What? No,” Atlas said quickly. “I’m not disappointed at all. Are you kidding me? You two are legends. I’m just still trying to work out if it’s all real or not.”
“It’s real,” Raina smiled. “Do you know why you’re here?”
Atlas slowly shook his head.
“No. Christian, my pack’s alpha, didn’t tell me much at all. All he really told me was that Noah had a project for me, but now something tells me he lied to me,” Atlas said.
“Not exactly,” Raina said. “It was Noah who called your alpha because we figured he wouldn’t know who we were and even if he did, he wouldn’t care to take a call from us.”
“He would have taken your call,” Atlas said quickly. “Everybody knows about the famous
mates that hunt Matchmakers.”
Raina laughed and shook her head slightly.
“Well, that’s not what I expected but good to know,” she said. Her face turned serious. “Now, what we have to ask of you is very important, but it’s going to be very dangerous too. Do you know about the curse that has blighted shifters everywhere for the last two centuries?”
“The witch’s curse that stops natural born shifters from having female children? Yes, of course,” Atlas said.
“Good,” Raina nodded. “Atlas, whenever a dark curse is cast, a prophecy is generated alongside it. The prophecy is kind of like a fail-safe. It’s a blueprint to breaking the curse. Logan and I have found the prophecy for that particular curse and we have spent the last decade looking for the person who can undo this curse.”
She paused and looked expectantly at Atlas. He nodded his head.
“Okay. And now you want me to take over the search for them or something?” he asked.
Raina laughed softly and shook her head.
“No. We’ve found the person the prophecy describes. It’s you, Atlas,” Logan put in.
Atlas shook his head.
“I think there must be some kind of a mistake,” he said. “I’m nothing special. I’m not even in my alpha’s inner circle.”
“And maybe that’s why you’re perfect for this. Who knows?” Raina shrugged. “But the prophecy wants what it wants, and it wants you. Don’t tell me you’ve never felt something inside of you, the part connected to this curse. Don’t tell me you’ve never felt as though you were somehow destined for greater things.”
Atlas opened his mouth to deny this, fearing that it would make him sound like his ego was far too big for him, but he closed his mouth and nodded his head sheepishly. What was the point in lying to them? They clearly knew this about him already.
“Okay, I admit it. You’re right. I have always felt like I have some sort of purpose and until now, I’ve never known what it is. Well, now that I do, count me in,” Atlas said. “What do I need to do?”
“I’m getting to that,” Raina said. “And you should hear this part before you agree to do this.”
“Okay,” Atlas said, nodding for her to go on, although he already knew that whatever she said, however dangerous this might be, he was going to do it.
“Esmerelda, the witch who cast the original curse? For years we’ve all assumed she was dead, but she isn’t,” Raina said.
Atlas raised an eyebrow as he contemplated this and then he nodded slowly.
“I suppose in hindsight we should have all worked that much out. If Esmerelda was dead, her curse would have died with her,” he said.
“Exactly,” Raina said. “And that’s where you come in, Atlas. The prophecy states that you have to be the one to kill Esmerelda and break the curse. Do you still think you can do this?”
Atlas paused for only a second before he nodded his head. The truth was, the thought of killing a woman turned his stomach, but Esmerelda was no normal woman. For her to stand by and watch the chaos her curse had caused the world and do nothing to break it, she must be evil to the core, and for that reason, Atlas thought he could get around his morals and do what needed to be done.
“Good,” Raina said.
Raina and Logan shared a look and Atlas thought he saw them visibly relaxing a little bit.
“Do we know where she is?” Atlas asked. “Or do I have to find her before I can…you know…kill her?”
“She’s in District 217. I’ll talk to Noah and have someone organize you a flight and everything. When you get there, you’ll be taken to the alpha of the local wolf pack,” Raina said.
Atlas’ eyes opened slightly wider and Raina hurried on, quick to reassure him.
“It’s okay. The alpha’s mate is a good friend of ours. Archer and Brianna know where the castle is that Esmerelda once inhabited and apparently still does. They’ll send you on the right path and from there, you must simply follow your instincts,” Raina said.
“Okay,” Atlas nodded.
She made it sound so easy. Much easier than Atlas thought it actually would be. But this was his chance to prove himself to his pack alpha and to shifters everywhere. And it was his one and no doubt only chance to be granted his own pack and allowed to run it his way. He would do this or he would be killed trying to finish the job.
3
When Atlas stepped out of the airport, he checked the time. It was almost three o’clock in the afternoon. He stifled a yawn and looked around him, hoping to spot whoever Archer had sent to the airport to collect him. No one seemed to be in a hurry to claim him and he began to wonder if he should call someone, but who? It wasn’t like he had the cell phone number of anyone involved in this, even if he would be willing to call them for something so mundane.
He figured he would make his way into the center of the city and ask around. Hopefully someone would know where to send him. He started to walk when he heard someone behind him shouting his name. He turned around and saw a woman waving to him. She ran toward him and Atlas stopped to wait for her.
“I’m so sorry. The traffic was way heavier than I anticipated,” she panted. “I’m Brianna, by the way.”
“It’s fine,” Atlas smiled. “And as you know, I’m Atlas.”
Atlas was surprised to hear that this woman was Brianna, the alpha’s mate. He kept looking at her out of the corner of his eye as she led him back across the way he had come and around the back of the airport to the larger parking lot where her car was parked.
“What?” she asked in amusement the fourth time she caught Atlas watching her.
“I’m sorry,” Atlas said. “I guess I just keep waiting for you to laugh and tell me you’re not really Brianna.”
“Why?” Brianna asked, looking confused.
“I just can’t imagine Christian, that’s my pack’s alpha, or his mate doing something trivial as picking me up from the airport,” Atlas admitted.
Brianna waved her hand, waving away his words.
“Christian isn’t like most of the alphas. He’s old-school, thinks the pack alpha should be treated like royalty. We’re not really like that here,” she said. “Archer would have come for you himself, but he’s out of town on business.”
“I think the word you’re looking for is uptight rather than old-school,” Atlas said with a smile, sensing Brianna wouldn’t take offence at this.
He was right. She just laughed, a musical sound that soon had Atlas laughing along with her. They reached Brianna’s car and got in. Brianna started the engine and headed out of the parking lot.
“So,” she said as she drove. “Am I taking you back to our place for refreshments first or do you want to go straight to Esmerelda’s castle? They’re both about the same distance, so either way we’re about ten minutes away.”
Atlas thought about it and quickly decided he just wanted to get this done and over with.
“It would be ideal if you would take me straight to the castle,” he said.
“Got it,” Brianna said. “My hospitality isn’t good enough for you.”
Atlas opened his mouth to protest, mortified that he had offended Brianna, when he saw the grin on her face and the sparkle in her eyes.
“Your face there,” she laughed.
“You’re cruel. Has anyone ever told you that?” Atlas asked with a relieved laugh.
“All the time,” Brianna smiled.
They fell quiet for a moment and then Atlas glanced at Brianna.
“So, tell me about this Esmerelda chick. Why hasn’t any of your pack gone after her if you’re so close?” he asked.
“Until a couple of days ago when Raina called up asking questions about the castle, we had no idea that was Esmerelda. We all thought she was dead, remember? And once Raina made contact, naturally Archer offered to send a team up, but Raina was afraid that if someone interfered with the prophecy, it would ruin everything,” Brianna explained.
“Makes sense, I guess,” Atlas said
. He grinned at Brianna. “Apparently I’m some special witch killer, which I had no idea about.”
“It’s a crazy world,” Brianna agreed. “I remember when the thought of being anything other than a human terrified me. Now I can’t imagine going back to being so weak, so vulnerable.”
“I feel kind of like that myself now,” Atlas admitted. “It’s funny because I’ve always wanted more, like to achieve something real, and now that I’ve been given my chance, I am more than a little bit nervous. Like I have no idea what to do to take down a witch. Especially not one powerful enough to cast the sort of curse Esmerelda cast.”
“You’ll be fine,” Brianna said. “Just remember that while witches are immortal in the sense that they don’t age and they can’t catch human diseases, they can be killed a lot easier than you or I can be. You don’t have to decapitate them or use Ure to kill them. Just a standard knife through the heart will do it.”
Atlas shuddered slightly at the casual way Brianna said that and she laughed.
“You’re going to have to stop being this squeamish if you’re going to pull this off,” Brianna said.
“Yeah, I know. I’ll be okay when it comes down to it. I’ll have to be, because if I don’t kill her, she’s going to use her magic to disarm me and then she’ll kill me. Right?” Atlas said.
“Right,” Brianna confirmed.
“Do you know what she looks like?” Atlas asked.
“She’s a bit of a recluse and I haven’t seen her myself, but some of the pack claim to have seen her outside of the castle grounds once or twice. If their descriptions are accurate, she’s short—about the same height as me—with jet-black hair and a long scar down her left cheek,” Brianna told Atlas.