The Four Beta Brothers
Chapter 44

AXEL

"What the hell did he do to her?" I snapped, pacing in Ethan's living room.

Ethan shook his head, heating up water for tea. "I don't know. He shut down our connections, so I can't link him."

"I shouldn't have let her go after him-not when he was in that mood." I didn't like watching Juniper leave the dance, but Ethan had insisted I let her go.

"You know as well as I do that she was going to go whether or not you let her. She would have only resented you if you tried to stop her," Ethan said. He poured hot water into a cup and then added his tea leaves.

I hated how calmly he was acting. I didn't understand how he wasn't going out of his mind. Juniper had passed out in his arms after we found her sobbing on the ground. She complained of pain, but there was no evidence that Asher had done anything to hurt her. Asher wasn't the type to hurt women. Even when he elbowed Juniper's face, the horror written all over him made it clear that he felt terrible.

I still couldn't forgive him for his actions. He was being irrational and attacking me for a reason I didn't understand, and Juniper was hurt in the process.

"Are you really just going to drink tea right now?" I snapped as Ethan sat at the table.

"What do you want me to do right now?" He looked at me, blinking expectantly. He knew as well as I did that there was nothing either of us could do. Juniper was resting in his bed, and Asher was missing.

I plopped into the chair across from Ethan and pulled my hair. "I don't know. I just want you to fix this."

"I'm not sure I can. If they broke up, only they can work through that, but based on what I overheard, I didn't think you'd want me to get them back together."

There was no point in lying to Ethan about my feelings. Even if he hadn't witnessed Asher's and my fight, he had always been able to read me like a book. "I don't know what I want for myself, but I know I want Juniper to be happy." "Even at your own expense?" Ethan pushed.

"Yes." There was no hesitation from me. Juniper's happiness came first. She had already lost James-even if she couldn't remember it. I kept telling myself that if she chose Asher, then I wouldn't do anything to stop it. After the way he treated her tonight, I wasn't sure if I could stand idly by anymore. "I thought Asher was the better choice. He's the one who has always followed what our father wanted. He has pristine grades and is a huge romantic. I thought that if Juniper wanted to be with him, he'd make her happier than I ever could." "But?" Ethan prompted.

I tapped my finger on the table, thinking about the best way to phrase my next thoughts. "But he didn't even give her the benefit of the doubt. He didn't give either of us the benefit of the doubt. His jealousy had him in a choke hold, and he assumed that we were having an affair behind his back. It was so easy for him to go there, and I thought he of all people understood I would never do something like that."

"Are you sure about that?" Ethan asked. His voice was calm and steady, and even though his words sounded like an accusation, it didn't feel that way.

He was pushing me to dig deeper. "I wanted to. I wanted her to choose me over him, but I fought against it. We didn't do anything." "Did she want to, too?"

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Why does that matter? We didn't do anything."

"Humor me." Ethan had more going on beneath the surface, but he was an expert at keeping a calm face. He had learned it from our father. He knew he had to keep his body language perfect if he wanted to keep his thoughts to himself. Our father was an expert at knowing if you disagreed with him, even if you said everything right.

It was why I gave up trying a long time ago. Luckily, I wasn't next in line for his position. Ethan's dedication was the only reason I was able to rebel against our family with minimal consequences.

"I know a part of her wanted me, too." I hated admitting this out loud. It made it feel even worse that she chose Asher. Even though she wanted both of us, in the end, she knew who the best choice was.

Ethan nodded, clearly expecting that answer. "That's what I thought."

"Why does it matter?" He wasn't the type to bring something up just to upset me. He had a reason for everything he did.

"I have a theory." He paused to stir his tea. When he looked back at me, he looked confident in what he was about to say. "I believe James was Juniper's mate. I know you sensed it, just like I did. She was a friend to us all, but she and James had a special bond. They were practically inseparable, and I knew-even back then-that they were meant to grow up and be mates once they were of age."

I wasn't surprised by Ethan's conclusion. I had wondered the same thing when I was younger. I loved Juniper, and she loved us, but with James, it was different. However, what didn't make sense was why Ethan was bringing this up now. It didn't matter if James and Juniper were mates, because he was no longer here.

"I think all of us knew that to some extent," I said. I waited for Ethan to continue on.

"But what happens when a mate dies before they even know their mates?" Ethan asked.

I hadn't thought about that before. It was rare to find a mate these days in the first place. When a werewolf found their mate and they marked each other, it created an inseparable bond that could kill. I had never heard of a werewolf losing their mate before they had come of age, since there was no way of proving they were mates in the first place.

"I don't know," I admitted.

"No one really does, but I have a theory." Ethan paused, as if questioning whether or not he should say this theory. "The day James changed me, and I think it changed all of us. I think when he died, his bond with Juniper transferred to the rest of us in a way." My heart thumped, as if leaping towards this theory. "So you think Juniper is mated to all of us?"

"Not all of us. Nathan wasn't there that day. He didn't see what we saw. And I don't think we are her full mates. I think we are partial mates."

The words sounded ridiculous. There was no such thing as partial mates.

Yet... It made sense. It explained why Juniper was drawn to Asher and myself. She even questioned whether the bond she felt towards me was a mate bond, but I denied it. I thought, since James was her mate, it was impossible for her to be mine. But it explained why I couldn't stay away no matter how hard I tried.

"We have to tell her this. She deserves to know about everything. She deserves to remember what happened to her and James, too. We can't keep hiding this from her. I don't care what Father wants. Juniper deserves to know the truth." I had hesitated to tell Juniper about the past, because I thought all it would do was bring her heartache. But if what Ethan was saying was true, she deserved to know the whole truth.

“|

I agree," Ethan said, to my surprise. I had expected him to put up a fight. "But we have to be careful about when we tell her, because there's more at work here than what Father doesn't want us to do."

"What do you mean?"

"Juniper didn't just lose her memory. A witch put a spell on her to make her forget, and if she remembers, there will be consequences." JUNIPER

I knew I was dreaming because everything felt safe and warm. I stood in a meadow filled with flowers, and laughter surrounded me from every angle.

I looked down at my hands, and my skin was young. I tested my body, and it had the agility of a young child.

"Juniper! Come get me!" a young boy called out.

I ran to the voice without hesitation. It was as if I had been meant to run to this voice my entire life. I found the young boy standing on the edge of the forest. He had dark hair and turquoise eyes. He smiled when he saw me. "There you are! What took you so long?"

He knew who I was, and I knew him, but I couldn't remember his name. "Who are you?"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten me already! Don't you know me?"

"I know you, but it seems I've forgotten your name." I narrowed my eyes, searching for something I should've known, but it wasn't there.

"It's me! James! Now catch me if you can!" He turned and dashed into the forest. He shifted into his wolf form and bounded freely between the trees.

I tried to shift into my wolf form to follow him, but my body didn't want to work the way I wanted it to, forcing me to run normally. "James! Wait! Don't go!"

I pushed my legs faster and faster, but it wasn't fast enough. He disappeared from my sight, and I tripped over a hidden root, skinning my knee in the process.

"June!"

"J.J.! "Juniper!"

"Juny!"

Four other voices called to me at the same time. I looked around and four boys appeared from behind trees, all waving me over to them. I instantly recognized them as Asher, Axel, Ethan, and Nathan, even though they were children. Dreams were weird like that. "What are you guys doing here?"

Ethan stepped forward and smiled with the boyish charm life had taken away from them. "We're here for you. Come with me."

I glanced back to where James had run off to. There was a need to chase after him, filling my every cell. "I have to find James." "It's too late. He's gone," Axel said, stepping towards me.

"He's gone somewhere where you can't go," Asher said. "But it's okay. We're here for you."