Fated To Three, And I Broke Them All

Jaguar:

He watched the whole video while we headed back to his car.

Once we were inside, silence settled between us.

Ragnar had asked the driver to give us a moment.

I had no idea he had gone back until I noticed Verity had left her files behind, which was why Ragnar had gone all the way back.

”There’s something about her boyfriend,” Ragnar remarked in an unusually calm tone.

”He’s a criminal. He has a lot of abuse cases under his belt,” I replied, searching for the files on my phone.

My brother raised a hand, silently signalling that he believed me.

”And he’s still practising as a doctor?” he questioned.

”In fact, he’s allowed to practise in many hospitals of different packs,” I explained with a sigh, looking away as I shook my head.

”Either he’s truly exceptional at his job, or the people around him forget they can always replace a skilled, experienced doctor with a moral one,” Ragnar stated in a grumpy tone.

I understood what he meant.

I knew people, especially the hospital staff, were deliberately turning a blind eye because they had a highly experienced and capable doctor on their team.

They completely ignored the women who came forward and voiced their concerns about him.

”Verity was drugged a few days ago. Not with just any drug, but one commonly used to facilitate rape.”

Ragnar’s slow, measured tone and calm demeanour, even as his fingers gradually curled into a fist, sent goosebumps across my skin.

”Is she— okay.”

I don’t know why, but I couldn’t keep my shock to myself.

Immediate concern hit me, and I began asking my brother about her condition, hoping he would give me a positive response.

He nodded and adjusted his coat, giving me a brief moment of relief.

”We need to keep an eye on Dr. Roman. Gather every case against him, and we’ll start holding him accountable for every one of them,” my brother declared calmly.

And Ragnar would do exactly that.

There was one thing he didn’t tolerate, and that was men mistreating women.

He wouldn’t hesitate before punishing them.

”There is a bit of a problem,” I admitted, adjusting my own jacket.

”What is it?” Ragnar inquired, his eyes narrowing at me.

”All the women who had accused him eventually backed down. They withdrew their cases, claiming they were only bitter because such a great doctor had broken up with them, so they had lied about everything.”

Even saying those words made me feel stupid.

”So I wonder what made those women withdraw their cases. Women don’t simply come together as a group to accuse someone. They were either intimidated into backing down, or something else happened,” Ragnar muttered, looking deeply troubled.

Thankfully, he didn’t tell me to mind my own business.

I knew he wouldn’t.

When it came to abuse, he never looked the other way.

Especially domestic abuse.

A heavy silence settled between us for a few seconds before I adjusted my posture in my seat again.

”How was your journey?” I asked.

”Did you find out anything about the Lycan?” I continued.

The last time I had fought the Lycan, the rumours claimed I’d beaten the hell out of it.

That wasn’t the case.

I tried.

I fought with everything I had, but at the end of the day, it was a monster unlike any of us, a cursed creature.

I ended up with serious injuries.

I could only wonder how people below our rank would deal with it.

If they ever came across it, they were as good as dead.

”You know our driver, he was killed,” Ragnar revealed with a heavy sigh.

”I was attacked. I tried to fight it, but it threw me a great distance away. By the time I got back on my feet, I couldn’t pick up its scent anymore.”

He fell silent, and my heart pounded.

I knew Verity was fine now.

She looked fine.

But the thought that she might have come face-to-face with that monster, that it might have hurt her too–

Just the thought that she must have been so scared was enough to tear me apart.

”It attacked Verity.”

It was as if my brother knew my body would react differently, because the moment he said those words, he fell completely silent and watched me like a hawk.

”Did it —--it—it hurt her?” I asked.

The words came out with a stutter, something I never did, and I hated myself for it.

Ragnar immediately looked away and closed his eyes, taking a slow breath as though he had caught onto something.

”Somehow, it left her alive. She passed out from a concussion, but that was it. She didn’t sustain any major injuries either. Just scratches and small wounds here and there from running through the woods, brushing against trees and tangled vines,” Ragnar replied.

He flicked his tongue, looking away before meeting my eyes again, as though he wanted to ask the one question I had been dreading.

”What exactly is going on, Jaguar?” Ragnar finally asked.

”Nothing. I came over just to check on her, you know, due to that video,” I replied.

Once again, the words crumbled in my mouth, as though my tongue had tied itself into knots.

Ragnar let out a quiet laugh.

Then he picked up the file he was supposed to return to Verity and tossed it into my lap.

”Go ahead. Give her the file.”

The way he looked away stunned me.

I had never seen this side of Ragnar.

It was pretty clear that he knew what he was doing.

He was giving me a chance to go and speak with Verity because, well, he realised that was why I was here.

I was here to see her.

”But remember, Jaguar,” he cautioned, stopping me just as I was about to open the door, ”don’t get tangled up with Roman. We’ll deal with him in a way that makes him look like the abuser, not us. Especially not you. You know personal feelings can be used against you. People can claim it’s all because of jealousy.”

That was all he said, but I understood what he was trying to tell me.

There was no way I could tell him I wasn’t interested in Verity anymore.

And I didn’t want to.

I don’t know why, but at that point, after everything that was happening to Verity, I knew I couldn’t leave her to face it all on her own.