Atlas tried to act innocent, but a smile split his lips. “No clue what you’re talking about. So, you ready?” He pulled his keys out, tossing them in the air, catching them before she could, knowing he was teasing her, something he’d missed doing.

​

“Oh, I see how it is. You three going to stick together then? Fine, but remember, I always get even, and when I do, you’ll be begging me for mercy.” She turned and flipped her hair over her shoulder with a huff, heading toward the huge entryway door.

​

“Ah shit, you two done pissed baby bear off,” Atika joked.

​

Their sister raised her right hand in the air, middle finger extended. “Sit and spin, asswipes, but just remember this when you need me to intervene on your behalf.”

​

Abyle shrugged. “Guess we’ll just have to be more—inventive ourselves.”

​

“You mean you’ll have to stop inviting every bitch in heat at the local bars to come back to your place, then when they want to stay the night, you call up sis here to come and tell them party is over in a sweet way?”

​

“Yep, now I’ll just tell them they can come back with me for a good time, but when we’re done, they gotta go. If they ain’t on board with it, then bye Felicia.” Abyle waved his hand at the end.

​

Atlas looked to the ceiling, then at his twin brothers. “Does he really get laid with that attitude?”

​

Atika lifted his right shoulder. “I think it’s ‘cause he looks like me.”

​

“Oh my gawd, you two are too much. Please, take me home before their heads inflate so much they won’t be able to fit in a vehicle. Oh wait, that might be good, then they’d have to shift and run home,” she said with glee.

​

In that very moment, he remembered why he’d die for the three people in the room with him. They were his family. Until Joni, they were the only people on Earth who mattered more than his own life. “Alright you three, party’s over, let’s get you home before you turn into mice or some shit.”

​

“Pretty sure that’s not how the fairytale goes.” Shauny linked her arm through his as they walked out the door. “You gonna lock that?”

​

He thought of all who could get in whether it was locked or not. “Nah, if someone wants in that badly, they’ll get in.”

​

His brothers stopped walking, turning back toward him. With the moon overhead, they were illuminated, looking almost as if they were in a spotlight. “We’ll be back after we grab a few things. You’ll need to call a clan meeting tomorrow and begin putting those you trust in places of power. You don’t have to put either of us in any certain place, but we will make sure you’re protected.” Abyle turned after his announcement, climbed into the back passenger seat, and slammed the door like he’d just told them the weather report.

​

“I second what he said,” Atika agreed, his eyes fierce. “Anyone tries to hurt you; they’ll have to go through the both of us first.”

​

Shauny sniffed. “They love you. They really love you,” she deadpanned.

​

“Did you just misquote Sally Fields?” Atlas asked as he held open the door for Shauny.

​

“I believe it was she who was misquoted in the first place, so whatevs. Home, James,” she laughed, buckling into the seat while Atlas stared down at her.

​

“You really are a strange female.” He was still smiling when he got behind the steering wheel. “Is Sonya going to give you a hard time?”

​

His question brought silence inside the SUV.

​

The lane to where his family lived loomed and still nobody spoke. His bear stirred, sensing danger. He pushed down on the brakes. “Anyone else feel something’s off?”

​

Atika rolled his window down, the smell of fire hitting them all. “Fuck! Go, Atlas,” he roared.

​

He’d already began driving, the SUV eating up the distance down the bumpy drive, smoke billowing up from the main house. Shauny cried out, her hand flying to the door handle. “Mama,” she cried.

​

Atlas had cut off his connection to the woman, severed the familial tie, so whatever Shauny and his brothers felt didn’t affect him, but their pain hit him like a fist to the heart.

​

He’d pulled to a rocking stop seconds before his three siblings leapt out their doors, shifting into their bears, running for the burning house. Atlas realizing what they’d planned, quickly followed, his white grizzly twice as big as any of their animals, and three times as powerful, landed with a thud in front of theirs, roaring a warning, his alpha power halting their movements.

​

“Stop. I sense no heartbeat inside there. She’s gone. I order you three to stand down, now,”he ordered through their link.

​

Atika shifted first, sweat, anger, and sadness poured off his naked form. “Motherfucker, don’t alpha order me from saving my mother,” he roared almost as loudly as Atlas, but he didn’t disobey.

​

Abyle staggered to his knees after shifting. “What the hell?” He shook his head.

Shauny was the last to shift, sobs making her words incoherent. “Why? Why did you stop us? I know you hate her, but she’s our mother. I’ll never forgive you, Atlas,” she cried.

​

Atlas roared, her words making his white bear angrier than he’d ever been. The mantle of alpha being forced on him, the power he’d been given, his first duty to save his brothers and sister, appearing like a…like a fucking betrayal. Fuck that.

Shifting faster than he’d ever done, he let them see what he looked like beneath the clothes, allowed them to see the scars he possessed. They thought he got off easy, since he was younger than them. They were fucking wrong. The day he’d killed their father was because the bastard had decided he’d kill Atlas after overhearing the Goddess speak to him. Only Atticus wasn’t content to do it the easy way. Oh no, he’d tried to eviscerate him first, offering up his entrails to the gods in exchange for power.

​

Shauny gasped. “What happened to you?” Her shaking hand reached for Atlas’s chest, the thick scar bisecting his abs hard to miss. He couldn’t count the number of white scars that striped across his chest, stomach, and lower. There literally wasn’t an inch of his front or back that hadn’t been laid open by a switch thanks to his father, many times while his mother watched, and even cheered. There had been something wrong with the both of them. They’d hated him yet loved all three of his siblings. He’d had to hide his injuries growing up, pretend all was fine, or else they’d do worse the next time. They’d even threatened to harm his siblings if he’d told anyone else, so he’d taken the beatings, the lashings without telling anyone.

​

“You want to know what happened to me? First of all, I saved all three of you just now. Open your senses. Do you hear her heart, or sense her? She’s not in there. Hell, she’s nowhere around here. Now, if you really want to know what happened to me, you better make for damn sure you really want the truth, because once you know, there’s no going back.” Atlas paced back and forth like a caged bear. His bear hadn’t been out long enough, the need to roam, to reclaim their land, ate at them both.

​

Abyle moved in closer yet stayed far enough away he wouldn’t be in danger of getting swiped with Atlas’s claws. “Tell us,” he said softly.

​

Atlas smiled, his alpha powers flowing through him. He knew his eyes were turning the light blue of his white bear, could see the fear in his siblings’ eyes. “No, I think I’ll show you instead.” He opened his mind, linking with the three of them, taking them back to the last day he’d been with their dad.