Beacon Hills 1983

Chapter 13: Atticus Hale

(Teen wolf)
1 November 1983, Saturday

Atticus slurps his coffee at the table, making everyone else uncomfortable.

Taylan shifts in his seat, Talia looks like her whole life is on pause, Emel is nowhere to be seen (of course) and I'm staring coldly at Atticus across me, contemplating whether to tell him off or not.

Eventually, the silence becomes too awkward, and the slurping too loud.
"Quit it!" I finally blurt out, and my cousin nearly spills his coffee.
Taylan looks at his cereal as if it had begun rotting every few seconds. He stands up and walks away shaking his head.

I shift my attention to Peter, picking at his breakfast. His expression is so fixed and unemotional, it's almost stone. I can't imagine what a kid his age must be thinking right now.
His mother, my aunt, who also happens to be the alpha, is gone.

Suddenly feeling useless, I get up and decide to do something.
We all need to stick together, and Emel isn't here.
Even though she's born human, she's still a part of our family. Our pack.
She wasn't home all night, and nobody even bothered to find her.
"I'm going out to find Emel." I say to Talia before leaving, and unexpectedly, Atticus joins in.

The walk is even more silent and awkward than when we were sitting at the table. It's weird that Atticus wanted to help me find Emel; he and I hardly ever talk.
Taylan and Att are the same age so they usually get along. I remember when we were younger, the two of them were inseparable. Now, however, they're not as close as they used to be.

I clear my throat. "So. Where do you think she might be?"
"Probably sleeping with some guy she just met." He shakes his head.

Well. He's not wrong.

"Or surprisingly she has a boyfriend." I reply.
Atticus chuckles. "Yeah right! Emel? With a boyfriend?"
"Maybe she's not as much of a slut as we thought she was, Att."
"Or maybe she's more of one than we thought. I mean think about it, she's literally never home."
"True. But what if she's just sleeping over at a friend's or..." I'm defending her for some reason.
"Stripping at a night club? Yeah, I'd bet on that one."
I laugh, but kinda feel bad for agreeing.
"No, c'mon Att, she's not that bad."
"Okay then. Let's see where we find her." He smirks.

I roll my eyes and change the topic, "Anyway, how's your dad?"
"He's okay. Still in Paris, of course. I haven't told him about Aunt Bev and Cordelia yet."

Atticus' father (my mother's brother) does marketing, and gets to travel a lot for his job.
Ever since his mom died, long ago, Atticus and his father have lived in the Hale house.

"I don't think you should. Not yet, at least."
"Well I don't plan to. I hope this whole 'missing thing' isn't a big deal and they're home soon. Then I wouldn't have to tell my dad at all. "
And then there's silence again, for a little while.

We follow small trails of Emel's scent and get lead to a small house near the high school.
"Maybe both of us were right." Atticus sighs as he rings the bell.
A few minutes later, a tall, shirtless brunette appears.
His ruffled hair and sleepy eyes show that he literally just woke up to answer the door.

He leans against the doorframe, and speaks in a groggy voice, "Yes?"
Besides his tiredness, he is quite handsome, with thick pink lips and soft hazel eyes.
"Where's Emel?" I ask, straight to the point.
The stranger, jolts upright, all tiredness suddenly erased, and starts to fumble words. His heart races.
"Who? Emel? I've never heard of anyone by that name- that's such a weird name-"
"Just cut the bullshit and tell us where she is. Is she upstairs? In your bedroom?" Atticus says flatly, ignoring the man's fumbling.
The stranger is about to speak again, with a very English accent, when Att pushes him aside with his wolf strength and walks in.
"Emel! We know you're here!" He shouts up the staircase.

When I enter, Emel's scent hits me strong, like she's been in every corner of the house. Unless... She's been in the house so often... It became her scent...

"She's not here." The man says, giving up his act.
"What?" I frown. Where else could she possibly be? Her scent is the strongest at this house.
"She didn't come home last night. Said she wanted to spend some time with her family- who I'm guessing is you guys." He points at us.
"Wait a minute- did you just say home? Referring to this place?" I ask in horror.
"Who the hell are you?" Att turns to the stranger.
"I'm Greg." He holds his hand out to Att.
But my cousin doesn't shake it. Instead he asks, "Who are you to Emel?"
"Her..." Greg frowns, as if he assumed it was obvious, "boyfriend."

Atticus turns to me and says, "Huh. Guess you were right." in a surprised tone.

"Soon to be husband, in fact." Greg adds. Atticus and I gape at him.

Greg stares at our expressions confused, until he realises, "Oh shit she didn't tell you guys yet!" and slaps his forehead.
"She's gonna marry you?" I raise my eyebrows.
"Emel Hale?" Atticus asks, just to be sure we're talking about the same person.
"Yes..." Greg says slowly, seeing how surprised we are.
"And... How long have you two been..." I start, but can't find the words.
"Dating?" Greg finishes for me and then continues to speak very fast, "Two months or so. We actually met at a disco about five years ago, both underage and reckless, so we became friends and we've always been kind of close- but as friends- so, of course, we used to hook up with other people but eventually we realised that-"
"We don't care about your love story," Atticus snaps out of it, reminding me why we're here. "We just want to know where she is right now."

Greg frowns again, shaking his head.
"If you guys are her family, and you don't know where she is..." as he trails off, the burning scent of fear rolls off him.

Atticus and I exchange confused looks.
"Yes we are. Don't worry, I'm sure she's on her way." I reply hastily, trying to calm Greg down. The last thing we need is a human getting in the way of us trying to find her.
What if the hunters found out she freed us and have kidnapped her? We can't let this poor guy get involved in that.

"You're Nes right?" Greg asks, now more relaxed, "And you must be Taylan." Greg smiles, impressed with himself for remembering the names. I'm glad to know that even after all these lies, Emel didn't forget us. She told this dingus who we were.

"Actually I'm Atticus, her cousin. Taylan is her brother."
Greg shakes his head, as if remembering. "Ohh yes, Atticus, her cousin."
Att rolls his eyes.

I suddenly realise that Taylan and I weren't home either last night. We were at the party. Where the 'omega' attacked.
An eery feeling wriths inside me.
Is Emel the omega?