Feral Obsession

Thirty-Three

Atlas Langdon was not a worrier. He was a type A, meticulous planner who often had back up plans stacked in a row in his mind. He had an answer for every situation. Had a plan for every moment that did not go his way.

This was not one of those times. He had been planning for Rodrick Bloom now for months. He had plans in place in case Rodrick tried to kill him. He had plans in place in case Rodrick brought his entire pack. He had plans in place in case Rodrick teamed up with Kierson.

Atlas however had not made plans in case Ruby Crowell was stolen out from under him. His plan had been to keep Ruby tucked away safely in his home where he could have his pack watch over her from afar, keeping any suspicious people away from his property.

He had made all the preparatory plans to keep her safe and away from Rodrick. Atlas had not planned on Rodrick arriving days earlier than planned, nor did he plan on Ruby being his daughter.

His heir. The one Rodrick had been hunting for. The supposed rogue wolf that was supposed to be running without a pack.

But, hadn't Ruby been doing just that? Traveling without a pack?

Atlas sat in his study, alcohol burning down his throat. He had not bothered with turning on the lights when it grew dark outside. He sat in his chair, body in a stiff sort of panic that would have thrown some into an anxiety attack. Atlas refused to accept what his accelerated heart rate meant.

He had no time for anxiety attacks. Not when Ruby was probably back in Bloom's house, hundreds of miles away from the safety of Atlas's house. He couldn't stop replaying the look in her eyes when she had begged him to let her stay in his house. She had been so scared that someone would attack her in the apartment.

And yet, she had been more vulnerable right next to Atlas.

"She would still be here if you'd doubled down on her staying at that apartment," Rufias reminded him. "You shouldn't have taken her to the fields."

"Shut up." Atlas tried to block Rufias out of his head. He had already had this conversation with himself hours prior. "We can't go get her in South Dakota. But we can't just wait here, either."

"We need to handle Kierson and the rabid rogues first." Rufias snarled in his head. "And then we'll get our mate."

Kierson and the rogues were topics Atlas could handle. Seeing Bloom break Ruby's ribs were not things that Atlas could think about, not without going feral. Her screams and cries echoed in his head, and it drove Atlas wild. Made him see red.

He would have one hundred percent murdered Bloom if Ruby had not been in his arms. His brain worked over and over again, thinking of openings. He should have told anyone to murder Rodrick from behind. He should have told Clarice to trail him.

He still could. But if Bloom knew Clarice was there, Atlas didn't want to think of the things he would do to Ruby in retaliation.

Atlas curled his hands. Thought of what his father would have done. "Stop. You know what he would have done," Rufias echoed in his head. "We're not thinking like him."

"We need to pay Kierson a visit."

Silence echoed back in his mind. It was not often that Rufias didn't answer, or have his own thoughts and opinions. Atlas wasn't sure how to take the silence from his wolf. Something dark twisted in his gut that he chose to ignore. He was out of options.

He initiated his pack link. "Clarice, Brody, I need you both at my house. Now." Atlas was wound tightly, pushing back from his chair and slamming the empty alcohol glass on his desk. He paced in his study, trying not to picture what was happening to Ruby, and failed.