I am Sam
Chapter Twenty-Two

ATLAS

“What do you mean you can’t replace her?!” I snap at Circen, which instantly has her flinching; sighing, I scrub a hand over my face before giving her my most apologetic look, “Sorry, it’s just...”

“I know Atlas, we need to replace her; I got it; I’ll ask Noah to recheck the forest,” Nodding, I let out a heavy sigh as I stand staring down aimlessly at Sasha's bed, it’s unslept in, which instantly has a gnawing feeling eating away at me, she never slept here last night, so where did she sleep?

On top of it, Caleb’s missing; on the one hand, I hope she’s with him, but on the other... with how pissed off he was yesterday when he stormed out of this room, being anywhere near him right now could be fatal, I’ve seen that look in his eyes before, many, many times, and once he has that look you steer clear of him or else your the one who ends up at the end of his wrath. He always has that I hate you and everyone in this fucking place look, but there’s no one else I trust more by my side; I know with Caleb it’s straight up; it’s always been that way, and I respect him for it; the thing is he was right about me, about how I’ve been acting, let’s face it, every time Sasha is involved in anything all logic goes out the window for me, I want to make her happy, and all I wanted to do when opening that window was to fix things between us, I didn’t mean for things to have gotten so out of control.

Ronan called for a fucking meeting in the hall instead of his office. I have this shitty feeling that he knows something’s up and wants to make a spectacle of us in front of everyone else since we can’t replace Sasha, and Caleb being missing. I just have to play it cool; there’s got to be a rational explanation; where else would she fucking go by herself? She doesn’t know anything beyond Aeonian.

~

“So is someone going to tell me where she is, or are we all going to stand around like a couple of idiots expecting an old man to solve all your problems?” Ronan narrows his eyes at each of us until his dissatisfied stare lands on me, “Atlas, maybe you can help me understand; why is everyone in this Kingdom so goddam stupid?” Swallowing a sour taste forming in my mouth, I slowly look down,

“I don’t know my King,” And honestly, all I want to do is tell him to go fuck himself when he suddenly steps in front of me and backhands me across the face hard, I instantly taste blood in my mouth.

“She’s your twin; replace her, or else I will, and trust me, you don’t want me to replace her first.” He sneers in my face, and the only thing stopping me from lunging at him with all the hatred I feel toward him; is knowing what he’ll do to her if he replaces her first.

Turning around and gingerly walking back to his throne, he smirks before lazily lounging back into his seat.

“And when you replace Caleb, remind him what happened the last time he decided to go off on his own; maybe it’s about time he has a refresher lesson in obedience to his King; wouldn’t you say, Atlas?”

Narrowing my eyes on him, my dragon is surging inside me; he might be the man that fathered me, but he’s no father; he’s never been that for me. “I’ll pass on the message, my King.” I grit out the last two words through a clenched jaw as I give him a stiff nod. He merely smirks, that red shimmer in his eyes telling me all I need to know, he’s not going to let us replace Sasha first; the minute we leave here, he’s going to go after her, and I can’t let that happen, she’s my sister, she needs me and I'll be damned if I let him touch her.

We’re all dismissed from his sight like a couple of worthless dogs, his councilmen looking on with sneering grins the second we exit the hall; I hate them too, they'll be the first to go once I take over. Noah and Circen are right behind me when we get to the castle’s front doors, and I swear I want to punch something. I’m so pissed off when I swing around to face Noah; he’s got this strange distant look on his face like he’s deep in thought,

“Hey, what’s up?” Blinking twice, he looks at me as he frowns deeply,

“Huh, what do you mean?” He retorts,

“We’ve got to replace Sasha, man, I’ve tried linking her over and over again, but it’s like she’s completely cut me off.”

“We’ll replace her, Atlas.” Circen says sympathetically as she comes to rest a hand against my shoulder, “We’ll go up to Caleb’s room again, see if we can get in this time; there’s got to be a clue, something.” Nodding, I clench my jaw,

“And I’ll keep trying to link her while I look around her room again; like you said, there’s got to be a clue.” Noah suddenly clears his throat as he furrows his brows,

“Circe, you go ahead. There’s actually something I need to take care of first; I’ll meet you up there,” Giving him a questioning look, Circen raises a brow at Noah but then quickly lets it slide with a small smile,

“Sure, I’ll see you up there.”

I’m still kind of lost in thought when Eris suddenly pops up beside me,

“So, what was all that about back there?” She asks gingerly, folding her arms across her chest while faking deep concern. I can’t help but narrow my eyes as I stare at her because Eris doesn’t do concern for anyone else unless it benefits her, fuck, she’s better suited to marry Ronan than marry me; they both share the same power-hungry personalities.

“Don’t pretend like you give a shit, Eris; you know exactly what’s going on, fuck, I wouldn’t be surprised if you had something to do with this.” Dropping her jaw as her eyes widen, she suddenly gasps, feigning complete innocence as she places a hand over her heart,

“Me, have something to do with Sasha’s disappearance? Atlas, I’m hurt that you would even accuse me of something like that.” Fluttering her eyelashes at me, a slight grin creeps up at the corners of her mouth, which instantly pushes me over the edge; stepping towards her, I suddenly grip her shoulders before shoving her against the wall, narrowing my eyes on her it takes every ounce of self-restraint not to fucking do something I’ll regret later,

“Don’t fucking play games with me, Eris,” My eyes are piercing hers, “Sasha is my sister, and I will move heaven and fucking earth for her, so if I replace out that you’ve had something to do with this, I swear on my elemental powers, I’ll kill you.” And I watch a sudden twitch in her eyes as she stares back at me, her blue eyes like ice,

“You wouldn’t kill me; it would hurt Liam,” Scoffing I nod slowly,

“He would gladly go through the pain of losing you; trust me, he’d get over it.” Narrowing her eyes, she suddenly rolls her eyes as a quick puff of air escapes her mouth,

“I had nothing to do with her disappearance, or... Caleb’s,” She says, breaking eye contact with me, her body tenses slightly as she swallows down hard, “But I’m glad she’s gone, she doesn’t belong here, and you know it,” Abruptly tightening my hold on her shoulders she instantly winces, my eyes are pinning hers,

“You know what, Eris, you’re going to help me replace her,” Scoffing, she rolls her eyes at me,

“Absolutely not. Didn’t you just hear what I said? I’m glad she’s gone, there’s no way that I’m helping you replace her, and you can’t make me,” She retorts in a challenging tone. Smirking, I slowly cock my head at her,

“And didn’t you just hear what I said? You’re going to help me replace her, no matter what it takes, or else the only crown going on this pretty little head,” I say with emphasis as I pat the top of her head, watching her wince in annoyance, “Will be a crown of thorns before I shove you in the dungeons below for treason,” Narrowing her eyes on me she scoffs,

“Treason, on what grounds, I haven’t done anything wrong?” She sneers. Smirking, I suddenly grin with a sigh,

“Eris, Eris, Eris... Always thinking you’re one step ahead of everyone, when you’re so far behind it’s actually laughable,” Clenching her jaw at me, she watches me intently with confusion in her eyes, “You think I don’t know that Caleb is your mate and that you are the reason the Ultima wolves got banished from our realm,” She suddenly swallows hard, the expression on her face is priceless like someone just emptied a bucket of ice water over her head, but it’s quickly replaced with rage and anger as she shoves against me,

“Sasha, that bitch!” She snaps, but I only shove her back against the wall, more demanding as I narrow my eyes on her,

“Sasha didn’t tell me, well, she didn’t mean to, I read her thoughts, and I saw the images in her head,” Clenching my jaw, I take a slow breath before letting it out equally as slow, “So you see, you’re going to help me replace her, or else, I’ll make sure that when I become King, you rot away in the dungeons for the rest of your miserable life.” Her entire body suddenly tenses as she stares hard at me, but whatever anger is behind those eyes is quickly deflated when she says,

“Fine,” through gritted teeth. I can’t help the little smirk of satisfaction I get knowing that I’ve got Eris right where I want her; I’ve learned about this since the moment we opened that window; I had to really connect with Sasha's thoughts for it to work, and well, Sasha’s pretty transparent, like an open book when it comes to her thoughts, she’s not very good at hiding them.

“Good choice,” I say, finally pulling away, turning around and heading for Sasha’s bedroom. I don’t even have to turn around to know that Eris is behind me, like an excellent little tail following its master. I’m not Ronan, and I would never really throw Eris in the dungeons, but she doesn’t need to know that; because right now, I have more significant problems, like replaceing Sasha before Ronan does.

NOAH

I’m standing beside Circe, a small distance behind Atlas, as Ronan continues his assault on Atlas. I’m looking down, and every jab he takes at Atlas feels like it’s only a matter of time before he takes a swing at me next; because that’s what Ronan does, he breaks us down, splintering us into tiny little pieces before sticking us back together in the knotted messes of our former selves he wants us to be. I hate him; I know I don’t and shouldn’t say that, but growing up with this monster has left me feeling like an empty shell of the person I could have been, hiding behind a wall of smiles like a fool just to cover up the truth. The truth is, I’ve been broken inside ever since that day he took my mother away from me. Yeah, I know everyone else’s moms got taken away as well, but, yeah, fuck, I’ve never been able to let it go; I still wonder about her, is she still alive, or is she... man, I can’t even bring myself to think it.

My entire body tenses, and the moment I look up at Miera, my brows furrow in response; something’s up with her; she’s got that look on her face, it’s a nervous one, the one she always gets when she’s hiding something, narrowing my eyes on her I immediately link her,

“Miera?” She quickly looks up at me but then immediately looks back down again. My jaw clenches as I zero in on her, forcing twin power on her to the point where it physically pains her to block me out, “Miera, what are you hiding?” Her eyes instantly shoot up to me when she swallows down hard,

“Nothing,”

“You’re lying,” I link as I narrow my eyes at her,

“No, I’m not,”

“Miera?”

“Noah, get out of my head.” She links back as she narrows her eyes at me in response; I’m about to link back when Circe suddenly grabs my arm, pulling me with her,

“Come on, we need to go,” I realize that Ronan has dismissed us, and now we’re following behind Atlas. The moment we’re near the front doors to the castle, Atlas stops and turns to face us, but I’m still looking down,

“Hey, what’s up?” I’m suddenly blinking back when I look up at him,

“Huh? what do you mean?”

“We’ve got to replace Sasha, man, I’ve tried linking her over and over again, but it’s like she’s completely cut me off.” He says, and the panic is imminent on his face.

“We’ll replace her, Atlas.” Circe says as she comes to rest a hand against his shoulder, “We’ll go up to Caleb’s room again, see if we can get in this time; there’s got to be a clue, something.” She says with a sigh, nodding; Atlas runs a hand through his hair,

“And I’ll keep trying to link her while I look around her room again; like you said, there’s got to be a clue.” I suddenly clear my throat; I can’t shake this feeling with Miera; she’s definitely hiding something.

“Circe, you go ahead. There’s something I need to take care of first; I’ll meet you up there,” She gives me a questioning look as she raises a brow at me, but then quickly covers it up with a smile that tells me, we'll be having this conversation later.

“Sure, I’ll see you up there.” And I know I’m in for twenty-one questions later, which I’ll answer gladly. At the same time, I'll kiss every part of her body, starting with those sweet cherry tasting lips of hers, but right now, I need to go see my sister and get to the bottom of this gnawing feeling.

I’m right outside Miera’s bedroom within five minutes; instead of knocking, I swing the door wide open to replace her standing in front of her window; spinning around, she narrows her eyes at me,

“Get out, Noah, this is my room,” Smirking I shake my head at her,

“Miera, remember when we were kids?” Shutting the door with one hand, I’m slowly moving toward her, “And I cried for mom every night?” Rolling her eyes at me, she smirks,

“Seriously, Noah, not this again,” I’m still moving towards her until I’m standing right in front of her staring down at her,

“Answer my question, Miera,” I say in a calm yet stern voice; sighing, she shrugs,

“Yes, Noah, I remember; what about it?”

“What did you used to tell me to get me to stop crying?” And I watch her swallow down hard as she breaks eye contact with me, “What did you promise me, Miera?” Looking up at me, she narrows her eyes, but it quickly falters when her eyes soften with a sigh,

“I promised you that we would always be there for each other, always have each other’s backs, never do anything to hurt one another; and always be best friends,” Nodding, a small smile creeps up at the corners of my mouth as I stare at her,

“And?” Her brows furrow when she sighs,

“I promised you that we would never keep secrets,” Nodding my eyes suddenly become more intense as I look down at her,

“So what are you doing? Why are you breaking your promise?” Her eyes lift up to meet mine, and I suddenly see tears shimmering behind them; I can physically feel her pain, and it cuts me up inside to feel how much she misses Kris. Sniffing back her tears, she let's out a heavy sigh,

“I just thought if I didn’t say anything, that she would go away,” Narrowing my eyes at her, I swallow down a lump,

“Didn’t say anything about what, Miera?” Wrapping her arms around herself, she squeezes herself tightly when she shrugs,

“Sasha, I saw her leave last night, and instead of telling anyone, I decided not to,” I’m suddenly clenching my jaw in response, “I was going to say something this morning to Ronan, but I couldn’t, I guess I just really wanted her gone," Looking down I’m slowly nodding,

“You know she’s not the reason Kris died, right? And as much as you want to blame Atlas, it wasn’t his fault either,” Looking up at me, a stray tear falls from her eye, “Kris was the one who suggested Atlas rescue, Sasha,” Narrowing her eyes in confusion, she quickly wipes away another tear,

“What?”

“Kris encouraged Atlas to rescue Sasha because he knew how important the mate bond was; I was standing right beside him, in that gridlock with Lisbon before he got attacked; it was a freak accident, Miera, even if Atlas wasn’t distracted with Sasha by his side, that rogue wolf came out of nowhere. We had secured the perimeter, we thought we had caught all the rogues and locked them up,” More tears are suddenly falling from her eyes as she looks up at me, her bottom lip quivering, “It could have been either one of us, Kris was meant to stand on the right side of Atlas, like he always did, except this time, he chose the left side, he told Caleb to stand in his place instead.” Gulping down a hard lump, her jaw goes slack as she gasps, “Kris was in the wrong place, at the wrong time Miera, that's it, but he chose to be there; if he hadn’t insisted on swopping places with Caleb, then he would have been the one who got attacked by that rogue.” The moment she begins sobbing, I suddenly grab her and pull her tightly against my chest; the tighter I hold her, the more she cries into me,

“You never told me this,” She whimpers against my chest, nodding. I swallow down hard,

“Yeah, I know,” I whisper,

“You broke your promise,” She sobs into my chest, sighing. I place a soft kiss against the top of her head,

“Yeah, well, I didn’t want to hurt you, and that was one of the other promises we made, so it was a conflicting situation for me,” Pulling away slowly, she looks up at me, a small smile present there in between the tears,

“But you let me think it was all Atlas’s fault?” Shaking my head, I sigh,

“No, Atlas let you think it was all his fault; before he headed back to the castle that day, while I waited for Sasha, he said that he would tell you the truth about what really happened and that it wasn’t anyone else place but his,” Shaking her head she wiped away more tears,

“He never told me; it’s been two months, Noah,” Swallowing hard, I shrug in response,

“He chose to carry that burden; he would rather have you hate him than know...”

“The truth,” She says with disbelief; smirking, she wipes away the wetness against her cheeks, “That’s just stupid, having me think that it was his fault that Kris...” Shaking her head, she sighs, “That’s just stupid,” She repeats again,

“I know, I’m sorry, Miera,” Nodding she suddenly hugs me tighter,

“I know; I’m sorry too,” Pulling back, she looks back up at me through her puffy red eyes, “I saw Sasha leave on a small boat last night,” Furrowing my brows, I cock a brow at her,

“A small boat?” Nodding, she suddenly stands up a bit taller as she pulls away and makes her way towards the window; looking down, she points to just below the waterfall,

“She got in a small boat, it must have been around eight or so, and she wasn’t alone,”

“What do you mean, was Caleb with her?” Shaking her head, she turns to look up at me,

“No, she was with an Unseelie creature, the same one that’s been lurking around here,” Widening my eyes, my jaw suddenly drops in horror,

“You mean he kidnapped her?” My voice comes out with a higher pitch than intended. Shaking her head, she furrows her brows,

“No, she wasn’t tied up or anything,”

“What are you saying, Miera?” I’m suddenly looking at her in confusion,

“I think she went with him willingly,” And all I can do is stand there like a statue for a few seconds as I stare at her until I suddenly hear the door swing wide open and Atlas’s voice grumble deeply from behind us,

“What do you mean she went with an Unseelie creature willingly?” Swinging around, I’m just staring at him for a few seconds, the shock on his face matching my own.

“What do we do now?” I mumble; swallowing down hard; Atlas suddenly has this wild look in his eyes,

“If he lays one hand on my sister, he’s already dead.”

~

We’re all standing below the waterfall, Miera on my right and Circe on my left; Atlas’s whole body is tense as he watches me intently. Stretching my hands out over the water, I close my eyes when I speak,

“Water has memory like a heartbeat has a pulse; if Sasha is still in the water, I’ll track her down and slow her down.” I’m focusing on the water, feeling it moving, breathing, and flowing as each molecule speaks to the other like a network, “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...” Raising a brow at me, Atlas smirked,

“Dory from Nemo, seriously?”

“What?” I shrug apologetically, “It relaxes me while I’m working.”

“As long as you replace her, you can imitate Bruce for all I care,” Atlas smirks, and I can’t help the grin creeping up at the corners of my mouth when I turn my head to look at him,

“And you said you never watched Finding Nemo,” Scoffing he rolls his eyes at me as he fights back a smile forming,

“Whatever, man, just replace her already.”