I dropped to my knees beside him, heart hammering like thunder in my chest. He was gasping for air, his body trembling uncontrollably, every muscle seized with a terror I could feel radiating off him in waves.
The sight of him—so broken, so lost—did something to me I couldn't explain. Something that went beyond concern for a pack member, beyond simple compassion.
"Atlas, look at me," I urged, my voice rough with a panic I couldn't hide. "Breathe. You're safe. You're okay—"
But my words didn't reach him. He stared past me, those blue eyes wide with terror, tears streaming down his flushed cheeks.
His fingers clawed at my shirt, desperate for something to hold onto, something to ground himself against the storm raging inside him. The fabric tore slightly under his grip, but I didn't care. All I cared about was the raw fear etched across his face.
"Please— Please make it stop," he sobbed, his voice broken and raw in a way that made my chest ache. "I can't— I can't—"
Each plea he uttered was a knife twisting inside me, carving my insides with a helplessness I'd never known before.
My mind raced, frantically searching for something—anything—that would help him. I'd led armies into battle. I'd faced down rival Alphas without flinching. But this? Watching him fall apart in my arms?
I had no idea what to do. Inside my head, Sirius howled in anguish, wild and furious and utterly desperate. "Help him!" he growled, pacing and snarling in my mind. "Save him— Do something!"
"I'm trying!" I snarled aloud, feeling the frustration and fear claw at me from the inside out.
I wrapped my arms tighter around Atlas, pulling him close against my chest, hoping my touch alone might calm him. His body was burning hot, radiating heat like a fever, but I knew instinctively this wasn't illness. This was something else entirely. "Listen to me, Atlas. Focus on my voice. It's just you and me out here. You're safe now. I've got you."
But he couldn't hear me. He buried his face deeper against my chest, his cries growing louder, his body convulsing harder with each ragged breath he took. His hands fisted in my shirt like I was the only thing keeping him from drowning.
"Please…" he whispered brokenly, the word barely more than a gasp. "I can't breathe… It hurts…"
I'd faced countless battles in my life. Blood. Pain. Death. I'd held dying soldiers in my arms and watched the light fade from their eyes.
None of that had ever shaken me like this—holding his trembling form against me, feeling the violent shudders wracking through his lean body, utterly unable to shield him from his own fear. From whatever was tearing him apart from the inside.
"Atlas—look at me." I cupped his face firmly in my hands, forcing his eyes toward mine. Those piercing blue eyes were glazed, wild, drowning in panic so deep I wasn't sure he even recognized me.
My pulse quickened. Panic rose sharply inside me, echoing his, growing stronger every second I failed to calm him. Sirius was going insane, throwing himself against the walls of my mind, desperate to do something, anything.
I couldn't let this go on any longer. I couldn't watch him suffer—not like this. Not for another second. Without thinking further, I made a split-second decision.
Closing my eyes, I summoned the power buried deep within—the rare gift every Alpha in our bloodline possessed but rarely dared to use. Mental control. The ability to impose calm, to quiet a panicked mind. It was dangerous. Invasive. Draining for both parties. But it was my only hope now.
I pushed that power gently toward his mind, a whisper of command wrapped in as much care as I could muster: Calm. Be still. You're safe. I'm here.
Immediately, the effect washed over him like a wave breaking on the shore. His sobbing halted abruptly, cut off mid-breath. His violent trembling ceased, the tension draining from his muscles all at once.
Atlas sagged forward, collapsing into my arms completely limp and exhausted, like a puppet with its strings cut. The sudden stillness was almost as jarring as the panic had been.
I exhaled sharply, relief flooding through me as I gathered him close, holding him tenderly against my chest. His face rested against my heart, his breathing still rapid but calmer now, evening out with each passing moment.
I could feel his heartbeat gradually slowing from its frantic pace, syncing almost unconsciously with my own. Some of the terrible tension drained from my shoulders. He was okay. He was going to be okay.
Slowly, carefully, I eased the mental hold on him, not wanting to drain him further. He'd been through enough. I brushed the tears gently from his flushed cheeks, my thumb grazing his heated skin with a tenderness that surprised even me.
Under my touch, he burned—not with illness or fever, but with something else. Untamed energy surged just beneath the surface of his skin, pushing desperately for release like a caged animal throwing itself against the bars.
What the hell was happening to him? What was this? "Atlas…" I murmured softly, my fingers tracing gently along his jawline, tilting his face up toward mine. "What's wrong? Talk to me."
For a moment, he didn't answer. Instead, he weakly pressed his cheek into my palm, almost unconsciously nuzzling into my touch as though seeking comfort.
The gesture was so vulnerable, so achingly trusting, that it hit something deep and buried in my chest. My breath caught sharply. Sirius went utterly still inside me, watching, waiting. Finally, in a voice trembling with exhaustion, Atlas spoke.
"I… I don't know what happened. I just had another nightmare. Like always. But this time it felt worse. So much worse. Like something snapped inside me." He swallowed hard, his throat working visibly. "Like my wolf—Hyde—he just… panicked. Bolted. Like there was a fire in my mind and he had to run from it."
He paused, his voice cracking as he continued. "But I didn't get far. My body couldn't take it. Everything was spinning, suffocating… I couldn't breathe. It felt like my chest was caving in, like something was trying to claw its way out of me but couldn't find the exit.”
He took a deep, trembling breath, his hands finding purchase in my shirt once again. “Then I just… dropped. I couldn't control it. I couldn't control anything. I've never felt anything like that before."
My body went rigid, every muscle locking into place. His words—panic, inability to breathe, the wild surge of uncontrolled energy, the desperate flight of his wolf—everything suddenly made sense, yet seemed utterly impossible at the same time.
The pieces clicked together in my mind with a horrible clarity, forming a picture I could barely bring myself to accept.
I pulled back slightly, just enough to stare into his wide, haunted eyes. The blue was so vivid, even glazed with exhaustion and fear. My heart pounded against my ribs, blood roaring in my ears as I forced out the question that had been forming since the moment I found him.
"Atlas…" My voice emerged low, rough—more growl than words, barely human. "Are you telling me… you've never shifted before?"