The Four Beta Brothers
Chapter 93

ASHER

"Have you had any luck finding clues on where Nathan could be?" Ethan asked over the phone.

"No. Axel and I searched every inch of the house, and there's nothing to indicate where he could've been taken. We followed the scent of his trail outside, but it stopped at the road. My best guess is Nathan was thrown into a car and taken with any evidence he found. Whoever took him was thorough. If Father was keeping any evidence that could incriminate him here, it's long gone."

My throat felt dry as I called him "Father." There was a time I looked up to him. He was the beta, in charge of the safety of all werewolves in this territory, and he always took his position seriously-or so I thought. As a child, I thought it was cool, because it felt like my father was the closest thing to a superhero a werewolf could get.

However, over the years, that feeling faded. The more he criticized every little thing I did wrong, the more he overlooked every achievement of mine, the less I looked up to him. He made me feel so small, and I never felt good enough for him. Even still, I sought his validation in any way I could. I attended every warrior training assigned to me. I made sure I always had perfect grades, even when he sent me off on missions to check on situations in the werewolf community.

No matter what he threw my way, I completed it to perfection, but nothing was ever enough. Ethan and Nathan were the only ones he seemed to care about. I was just a backup in case something happened to Ethan, and Axel was hardly acknowledged. For years, I wondered what I had done to deserve it. I suppressed my anger, holding it in, hoping one day my father would see me as who I truly was, and then the anger would disappear.

Now that I knew the truth of who my father was, I was disgusted that I ever worked so hard for his attention. He didn't deserve the effort I gave him. He didn't deserve his position. He didn't even deserve to keep his life. As far as I was concerned, he was no longer my father.

"My guess is Father sent someone to clean the house of any evidence, and Nathan was just unlucky enough to be there when they arrived," Ethan said. His voice was tight with regret. I knew he wished he had never sent Nathan here by himself. He wished he had gone himself, but he was trying to show Nathan he trusted him.

"It's not your fault," I said, even though it wasn't something Ethan would have admitted out loud.

"I'm his older brother. I'm supposed to protect him."

Neither of us said his name, but I knew Ethan was also referring to James. Ethan blamed himself for not being able to save James. Even our father once told him he failed as the eldest to protect his younger brother. Ethan had just stood there and taken our father's berating. I never understood how he managed to take the brunt of our father's criticism.

For the longest time, I thought it was because Ethan was heartless, like our father. Now, I knew the truth. He took the brunt of the criticism to protect us from it. Ethan scolded us when we did something wrong, but he also stayed up late to help me with school projects. He let Nathan climb into bed with him after having a nightmare.

Ethan was strict with us because he was trying to protect us, but he was also there for us because he loved us.

"We'll find him," I said more confidently than I actually felt. If there was a trail or a clue to Nathan's whereabouts, then we'd have a chance. As it stood, I had no idea where to even begin to look for my younger brother.

"Yeah," Ethan said, but he sounded much less confident. "Look, while you and Axel are at the house, I need you to do something for me. I need you to find evidence against our father that we can show Alpha Williams." My grimace deepened. "I already told you we searched everywhere and didn't find anything."

"There's one place you didn't look," Ethan said. "Juniper says she and James hid the evidence James found against our father. If it's still there, it might be exactly what we need. If we get it to Alpha Williams in time, maybe we'll be able to force Father to tell us where Nathan is."

"Where is it?"

"Here, I'll put Juniper on the phone."

There was a shuffling sound, and then the sweetest voice spoke through the phone. "Asher?"

"Hey, June," I said, barely able to breathe. The longer I was away from Juniper, the more desperate I felt to see her again. After we nearly kissed, I lost my mind, wondering what that meant. I decided that it was just a spur of the moment thing, and it didn't mean anything. Juniper's emotions were running high, and she was upset. It was only natural for her to find comfort that way.

It meant nothing-or so I kept telling myself. It was easier to believe there wasn't a chance with Juniper than to get my hopes up, only to be crushed later. I didn't deserve Juniper's love-not anymore.

"Do you remember the old tree house we used to play at?" she asked.

"Of course. Your father helped build that tree house for all of us," I said. It had been one of my favorite places to play when we were younger, but after James died, we didn't play there any more. It was filled with memories which hurt too much.

Juniper sucked in a breath and didn't speak for a moment. "He did, didn't he?" It was another memory she still hadn't remembered, but I must have triggered the memory. "Well," she continued, clearing her throat, "James and I buried a box near it. It should be ten paces from the tree trunk, going directly away from the house. I think we buried it a couple of feet under the ground and covered the area with leaves, so no one would find it."

A laugh escaped my lips, and I knew it sounded inappropriate, but I couldn't help myself. "You and James left buried treasure for us to find," I said, because Juniper would think I was crazy.

A single laugh escaped her lips, and I just wanted to make her laugh again. "I suppose we did. You and Axel always did want to pretend to be pirates."

"Yeah," I said, unable to say anything else. My throat was tight with the emotions of the memories flooding my brain.

"James left one last game for you behind," she said, but her voice was as heavy as I felt.

In some ways, it felt good to actually reminisce about James after years of burying the memories. It also was hard to feel all of the emotions that came with it.

"I guess he did. I should probably go, so we can look for that buried treasure." I wanted to stay on the phone with Juniper a little longer. I just wanted to keep listening to her voice and her laugh. "Okay. Stay safe, okay Asher?"

The way she said my name made me nearly drop the facade I was holding up. I almost spilled my guts to her, saying how much I missed her and how much I wished I could get her back. I wanted to tell her I would do anything to prove that I would never hurt her again.

Instead, I said, "You, too, June. See you soon."

"See you soon," she repeated, and then the phone line went dead.

It was better this way. My brothers would be able to make her happier than I was able to. They hadn't hurt her like I did, and I knew they never would.

***

"Are you sure she said ten paces away from the house?" Axel asked for the third time. We were digging our third hole since coming to the tree house.

"If you don't believe me, then just call her yourself," I said, dumping another shoveful of dirt away from the hole. We had done ten paces multiple times, changing the angle just slightly each time. Unfortunately, Juniper didn't have clear directions, because she was so young when they buried the box of documents. All we could do was keep digging in the general area until we hopefully found something.

"No, I believe you. I'm just tired of digging holes knowing Nathan is out there hurt," Axel said.

We worked in tandem to clear the hole, going three feet deep and wide with each hole to cover as much area as possible.

"I know," I said. I would've rather been looking for Nathan, but without a solid lead, it would be like wandering in the dark without a light. We'd be lucky to stumble upon our brother.

"Maybe we're not digging deep enough," Axel suggested.

"I can't imagine James and Juniper digging much deeper than this. They were just children after all," I said.

"That's it," Axel said. He rushed towards the tree trunk, and I watched him, waiting for him to explain himself. "What's it?" I asked.

"They were just children. Their paces were smaller than what we've probably been doing." Axel began walking, taking much smaller steps as he counted to ten. He was several feet closer to the tree than where we had been digging. He shoved the shovel into the ground and began digging another hole.

I quickly joined him, and it wasn't long until my shovel hit something that wasn't dirt. Axel dropped to his knees to uncover the box with his hands, and at the same moment, an arrow flew through the air, landing in the tree with a thunk.

Axel looked up at me with wide eyes. We both knew that if he had knelt down a second later, that arrow would've gone through his chest instead.

We were under attack.