The Four Beta Brothers – Chapter 89

AXEL

As Asher and I arrived at the house we grew up in, immediately something felt wrong. I ran to the house as soon as we were out of the taxi, even though it had been hours since Ethan had called us. It was unlikely that Nathan was still there, so running wouldn’t make much of a difference, but if there were any clues to what happened to my younger brother, I needed to know immediately.

As I reached for the door handle, I noticed the door was splintered at the side. I turned to Asher, who was only a few steps behind me. I pointed at the door and linked him.

ke into the ho

r didn’t have any of the weapons he normally carried when on a warrior mission, since we had to leave everything behind to come

but we needed to be extra cautious. We opened the door as quietly as possible, and once we were inside, we split up to cover more ground faster. The house was fairly large, since it was origin

s in it. None of the rooms looked unusual, but when I got to the bedroom at the end of the hallway, I paused. I had avoided this room

t the door, remembering my older brother. The day he died marked the day our family shattered. My mother insisted we keep his room in memory of him, and after she was gone, no one dared to c

ut of my room and forced to sit there, and I became the brother to hate.

ming loss of James, Juniper, and then my mother.

t I avoided all of them because I didn’t care. He never understood that I was too afraid of the grief, too afraid that being around my brothers would only remind me of the one who wasn’t with us.

know I was still the scared little boy who couldn’t face death.

ly. I couldn’t be. Not when Juniper was in my life. I wanted to be everything she needed and deserved.

otten as we all grew up and started living our own lives. The pain of his death faded into the background, hiding in the corners of our memories until Juniper came alo

nto the room and take in the memories I had tried so hard to suppress just to survive. I looked around at the soccer ball in the corner of the room and remembered all of the times James outran me to score goals and the one time Nathan outran all of us, despite the significant age gap. The old game controller to an outdated system reminded me of all of the late

was too old to sleep with stuffed toys. I reached for the rabbit, wanting to take it with me, but then I noticed something strange about the side table by his bed.

e recently.

Asher linked with an urgency that made my body go rigid.

d hurried out of his room. I took the stairs three at a time,

hink Nathan was attacked here,” Asher said, not bothering to

I looked at the shattered chair, and the smell of blood hit my nose. Blood covered one of the legs, but it had dried hours ag

t Nathan mentioned doesn’t appear to be here. Did you find anything?”

ld onto the hope that it was just a series of unfortunate accidents. I knew that there was no hope that was true now, and knowing I could lose another brother made the anger in my chest burn brighter than it had in a long, long time.

d up. “Do you think Nathan was the one to go into his room?”

cattle, grooming us for his own purposes in life. However, knowing who he truly was still felt like some sort of alternate reality, one where he had been the monster under my bed the entire time.

red.

unded unusually stressed.

on after the flight.”

ther of you have any messages

ng for my phone to boot up.

t’s going on?” Asher asked. “Isn’t Juniper with

t landed, but she wasn’t on it,” Ethan said. “I even called the airline, and they confirmed she never boarded her flight. I tried calling her, but she’s not answ

r us, and we were in a public place. She was supposed to be safe. I

thing, even though neither of us would say it out loud.

he’s on the next one, which is why she’s not answering,” Asher suggested,

d’ve messaged me,” Ethan said. “She would’ve messaged one of us.”

,” Asher said, his voice even tighter than before.

or my phone to load. When it finally did, a voi

went silent, waiting for

and Ethan, but you should land before my original flight was supposed to. I’m hoping you’ll get this message and pass it onto Ethan, so he’s not waiting for me or worrying.

off.”

w, I just need another s

phone away now, or we’ll have you removed.”

per’s voice was soothing, and I just wanted to hear her again.

immediately.

ugh my hair. I quickly summed up her message to them, and Asher looked relieved and then distressed.

like that?” Asher asked.

how dangerous that is?” Asher asked.

st how much that same thought nearly paralyz

. I’m going after her,” Ethan declared.

han was the one going after Juniper and not me.