章 75: Chapter Seventy-Five
Eli approached the Riverwood Pack at full speed. Clouds of snow dusted the sky and the ground behind him as he kicked up the powder. The pure white snow clung to his fur in large matted patches, speckling his soft fur with white dots.
He knew the scouts heard or saw him coming for there was a short series of howls shortly after he entered their territory. And soon, there was a shape to the cries.
Two smaller wolves slid up along his flank. He wouldn't have noticed their approach if he hadn't looked out for their presence. They drew beside him silently. They blended in well with their surroundings. Their fur was coated in the fresh snow from the dark clouds dotting the sky above the ominous forest.
"What are you doing out this early?" The female wolf asked Eli as she reached his flank.
He huffed and clenched his teeth.
"I need to see Atlas. Where is he?" He demanded in one breath.
The two wolves glanced suspiciously at each other before turning back to Eli. The three rounded a bend, and through the treeline, the circle of pack houses could be seen.
"Where is Atlas? I won't repeat myself." Eli sprinted further from the scouts.
"His office last we knew. Link him when you get within reach." The male wolf slowed as did his partner. They split from Eli and disappeared into the white sheet.
Eli broke free from the captivity of the forest and breathed fresh open air. But his pace slowed as he drew close to the houses.
"Where are you Atlas?" He muttered aloud.
Immediately, he halted his pace and skidded through the slippery snow a few feet. His head snapped to the meadow beyond the house. A familiar scent flitted along the surface of the ground toward him. He turned toward the meadow and plowed his way to the frozen stream.
Atlas stood there. His black fur was an ugly blot against the pure white surrounding. As Eli drew near, Atlas' frail figure became clear.
Not frail in the sense of being easily physically broken. That was far from the truth. Atlas was still the strong steamroller he had always been. But when Serena left, something broke inside him that had never fully healed. Atlas would lock himself away in his office and spend most nights there. If he wasn't in the office, he was at the frozen stream, watching the ice stiffen above the slowly flowing current of the riverbed.
Once Eli was within a few feet, Atlas' massive body rose from the shoreline. He turned his head and gazed with dead eyes at his Delta.
Eli swallowed the lump in his throat as he skidded to a halt at the Alpha's feet. This was not the way an Alpha should be. The pack is before his emotional and physical health. That was how it used to be, but since he had brought Serena into Altas' life, things had been very different.
"What do you need?" Atlas grumbled, his eyes half closed and unfocused.
Eli glanced over Atlas, assessing the well-being of the wolf before him.
"I'm not sure I should tell you in your current condition-"
"Tell me what?" Atlas snapped, his eyes flashing red as he rose to his full height above Eli.
Eli cowered back slightly, an unwelcome instinct. He gritted his teeth and rose his gaze to meet Atlas' eyes.
"We lost her," Eli replied curtly.
"Lost who?" Atlas cocked his head slightly as he strode toward his Delta. His voice was strained and angry at the ambiguous statement. Eli stepped back with each of Atlas' steps forward.
"Serena." Eli flipped his head away from Atlas, bracing for the retribution to come. But none came. Slowly, he lifted his head to Atlas.
Soft tears settled on the fur beneath his large, red eyes. Tired eyes. Eli knelt into the snow, bowing to his Alpha, and began to explain all that he knew. Atlas sat back and took in every detail relayed to him in stoic silence.
As Eli finished, he raised his head to Atlas and sat back.
"How would you like to proceed?"
Atlas didn't speak, his face was blank, processing the information in the orderly fashion he knew how. He was separating himself from the situation. And it broke something in Eli as he watched Atlas remove his feelings from the problem as his father had taught him.
"Don't do that," Eli spoke up.
Atlas blinked at focused on Eli, confused.
"Don't do what your father taught you. When has that ever helped you?"
"What are you talking about?" Atlas scoffed, angry at the accusations.
Eli stood directly below Atlas. He shook in his fur but remained calm against the intense glare.
"When has listening to your dad ever helped you? Give me one time."
Atlas paused, ruminating over his life and his interactions with his father.
The seconds passed slowly as the silence drew out longer and longer.
"It has never helped you." Eli snipped. "You are where you are today because of yourself. The moments you talk about most and remember fondly are ones that your father had no influence over."
"What are you talking about?" Atlas rolled his eyes and turned his back on Eli.
Eli wandered around Atlas and plopped in front of him once more.
"I'm talking about the times you accepted Venus as a part of your family. Your father had no say over that." Atlas turned from Eli, but Eli followed. "I'm talking about the time that you saved that girl from the car wreck. Your father forbade you from interfering that night, but you ignored him and saved a girl." Grudgingly, Atlas shifted away again, only to groan as Eli sat before him. "And I'm talking about the times you healed the relationships of the neighboring packs and created the stable life we know now. That was all because of you and how you see the world. War and blood are not everything. They can be helpful, but not right now. So what are you going to do about the information I gave you?" Eli backed away and remained silent.
Atlas closed his eyes and after a few moments, opened them and rose from his pout in the snow.
"Bring me to Venus." He demanded.
Eli smirked and shot toward the stifling woods, followed closely by his Alpha.
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