Rejected By My Mate; Claimed By Lycan Quadruplets Chapter 231

Atlas's POV

The night stank of blood, smoke, and something fouler still—Malrik’s rot seeping into every crack of this cursed ground. My lungs burned as I cut through another wave of shadowed beasts, their screeches rattling in my ears. My claws sliced through flesh that wasn’t truly flesh, just dense clouds of malice bound into form. Each time they dissolved into mist, more surged forward, clawing, biting, screaming.

Enzo was beside me, his power radiating like a storm. His strikes were merciless, precise, tearing gaps in the tide where none should have existed. Every time my arms threatened to fail, I looked at him and found reason to keep going. Brothers not by blood, but by war and choice—we had bled too long together to falter now.

“Push them back!” Enzo’s roar shook the air. “We breach or we die here!”

I slammed my fist into the ground, sending a shockwave rippling outward. The monsters shrieked as bones cracked beneath them, bodies scattering like dry leaves in a gale. My vision blurred, but I steadied myself, panting. My muscles screamed for rest, but rest was a luxury I no longer understood.

The tunnel widened ahead of us. The ritual chamber’s stench grew stronger—Lisa’s scent laced through with burning herbs, blood, and the acrid tang of black magic. My gut twisted. She was inside, fighting, but her power felt wrong. Not fading. Not yet. But wild, unstable, on the brink of tearing free from her body.

Then Enzo’s voice thundered beside me, raw panic cutting through his rage. “Atlas! Her power—it’s slipping! If it breaks loose, none of us will survive!”

The words cut through me sharper than any blade. My steps faltered for half a breath as I felt it too—the wild, surging flood of her essence straining against the bonds of flesh and ritual. It lashed against the air like lightning untamed.

“The place must be sealed!” Enzo growled, eyes blazing. “Now, before she destroys herself and us with her!”

I looked at him. His claws dripped blood, his chest heaved, and still he fought like a god of war. But there was something else in his voice. Fear. Not of death. Not of Malrik. Fear of losing her.

And I knew what had to be done.

“No,” I rasped, shoving another beast backward, crushing its skull under my heel. “You can’t. You’re the alpha. They need you to keep fighting. The children need your protection, Enzo. If you fall sealing this, the pack has no shield. Lisa has no shield.”

His head whipped toward me, fury flashing in his gaze. “Atlas—”

“I’ll do it!” I roared over him, louder than his doubt. “You fight! You keep the wolves alive! That’s your role, brother. Mine is this.”

For a moment, we stared at one another, the battlefield chaos around us drowned out by the weight of the choice between us. Then Enzo’s jaw clenched, his gaze hardening. He knew I was right, though he hated it.

“You seal it,” he growled. “But you damn well come back alive, Atlas. Do you hear me?”

I gave a humorless laugh, blood dripping down my arm. “No promises.”

Before he could argue, I threw myself forward, deeper into the storm of dark forces. My chest burned, my veins screamed, but I drew every scrap of strength into focus.

The air trembled as Malrik’s wards surged—layers of barriers woven from hatred, fear, and death. They pressed against me like crushing mountains, suffocating, strangling. My knees buckled under the weight, but I forced my body to keep moving.

Behind me, Enzo’s roar shook the ground. He tore into the beasts, his fury buying me space. I didn’t look back. If I did, I’d falter.

I dug deep, calling every shred of power from the marrow of my bones. My body swelled, glowing with raw energy. The wolves cried out behind me, but I didn’t hear their words. My heartbeat drowned out everything.

Each beat pushed the spell closer to life. My hands carved sigils in the air, burning patterns into existence. The symbols floated, pulsing with light before stabbing into the ground, anchoring the seal. The earth cracked beneath me, veins of power spreading outward like molten rivers.

The backlash was immediate. My chest seized, a violent cough tearing through me. Blood sprayed from my lips, hot and thick, staining the glowing ground. My knees buckled, but I roared through the pain and forced myself upright.

“I am Atlas!” I bellowed, voice shaking the chamber. “By my blood, by my life, this darkness shall not pass!”

The shadows screamed as the seal ignited. They hurled themselves at me in desperation, claws and teeth raking across my skin. Pain exploded in my ribs as something pierced me, but I held fast. My blood poured into the seal, feeding it, strengthening it.

Behind me, Enzo’s howl cut through the din, feral and furious. “Hold on, Atlas!”

I couldn’t answer. My lungs were drowning in blood, every breath a war. My vision wavered, dark spots clouding my sight. But still I poured myself into the seal. Every memory of my pack, every oath I had sworn, every scrap of love I bore for Lisa, Enzo, the children—all of it fueled me.

The ground quaked violently as the final sigil locked into place. A dome of light burst upward, sealing the chamber in a blazing prison of power. The dark forces shrieked, clawing at it, but the seal held, their bodies dissolving into ash under its brilliance.

My own body, however, was breaking. My veins burned like fire, my chest convulsed with every ragged breath. I coughed again, blood pouring freely now, staining my fur and pooling at my knees. My claws dug into the dirt just to keep from collapsing.

Enzo was there suddenly, his hand gripping my shoulder, his other hand cutting down the last of the beasts that had dared lunge. His eyes blazed with fury and grief.

“Atlas, damn you, you’re killing yourself!” he roared.

I gave him a broken smile, blood trailing from my lips. “That’s the point, isn’t it? If it keeps her safe… if it keeps them all alive… then it’s worth it.”

His grip tightened painfully, but his voice cracked as he growled, “Don’t you dare die here. Don’t leave me to carry this war alone.”

The seal flared brighter, stabilizing, locking the raging energy inside. I felt Lisa’s power surge against it, raging like a storm, but the dome held her back, kept her from destroying herself and us all.

Finally, the pressure eased. My body gave out. I collapsed to my knees, coughing violently, blood gushing from my throat. Enzo caught me before I hit the ground, his arms steel around me.

My vision blurred, but I saw his face—fury, grief, and something softer, buried deep.

“Rest,” he growled, voice trembling. “I’ll carry it from here.”

I wanted to laugh, but only blood spilled from my lips. Still, I whispered, voice hoarse, “Then carry it well, brother. Carry her… for both of us.”

And with that, I let the darkness close in, the seal glowing behind me like the last promise of a dying man.