CHAPTER FIVE

Accidentally Mated To Alpha Atlas

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Chapter 5

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Once Anais had sorted everything in her mind she felt like she could think more clearly, even if there were no answers and she was still reeling from the events of the last hour or so. 

She had gotten good at putting things away to be able to push through in the moment. 

“Anais?” Atlas asked. She jerked up and realized that Atlas had probably called her name a few times.

“Yes, sorry,” She said, flushing. 

“It’s alright,” Atlas reassured her.  “I know you’re exhausted and you’ve had a long few days followed by a lot of new information to process.”

Anais nodded when it seemed like he was expecting a response. 

“I want to get you home so that I can get you settled and we can decide what we are going to do.  In order to do that, I need you to go with Ivy to your room and pack your things.  She’ll escort you so that no one will stop you.”

Anais nodded again and the alpha released his hold, allowing her to stand. 

She glanced up at Ivy’s face, but she wore a neutral look. Her scent matched it and Anais knew that she was purposefully concealing her feelings about what was going on. 

She glanced back to her new mate and the alpha smiled at her.

“I’m going to call for a car and it should be here about the time you get back,” Atlas told her. 

Anais nodded and moved towards the door, the dismissal clear. She walked silently with Ivy to the elevator that would take her upstairs to the omega’s private quarters. She wasn’t even sure what time it was.

They were quiet as they exited the elevator and Anais pressed the keys to the passcode lock on her door. It opened into a small room that was neat and tidy. 

Every omega had their own room with a lock on the door. There were several common spaces throughout the floor of rooms but everyone was set up on their own for privacy. 

It was one perk of working here.  

Anais went to her dresser first and pulled on a pair of panties and a leather skirt. 

She kept Atlas’ shirt on. She pulled on socks and her boots and she felt better. 

Like she was more in control.

Anais walked to the small closet and pulled out the large duffle bag she had when she arrived. She shook it out and put it on the neatly made bed. She began to pull out all her clothing from the closet and the dresser. 

It wasn’t much and what she had was not new by any stretch of the imagination, but everything was clean and folded neatly. 

She moved to her nightstand and began to tuck her things into the bag. She put the few books she owned in there along with her bathroom materials from the caddy on top. 

They didn’t have single bathrooms but shared a locker room together to shower and groom themselves.

She tossed in her slippers, her baseball cap, her sneakers and a few precious keepsakes from her family. She grabbed her wallet from the nightstand drawer and took another look around.

The walls were bare and nothing was left on the dresser or nightstand. She moved to pull open every drawer to make sure before she headed to the closet. There were very few things in there. 

She had one nice button-down shirt and a pair of dark slacks that she could wear with it. She pulled those out of the closet on the wire hanger and laid them gently down into the bag. 

She looked around and was satisfied that she hadn’t missed anything. 

Ivy had been silent the entire time Anais was packing. 

She looked up to her and nodded.

“I’ve gotten everything,” She told her.  She wasn’t surprised to hear how thin and shaky her voice sounded even to her.

“I’ll take you back downstairs,” Ivy told her.  She led the way out of the room and back to the elevator. On the way down, she turned to Anais and gave her a small smile.  “This could be a very good thing for you, Dean.  Alpha Atlas seems quite taken with you, and I assume there is a pup?”

“There is,” She told her.  She looked down at her boots.  “I’ll try and make the best of it,” She told her.  “I just don’t know what that means.”

“You’ll figure it out, Ana.  You’re a strong omega to have endured the things you have.  Maybe this is your reward.”

Anais huffed a laugh at that and exited from the elevator as it landed on the first floor.  Atlas was there waiting for her and she went straight over.

Atlas reached out and took the bag from her and frowned.  “Is this everything?” he asked.

“Yes,” Anais told him quietly. She didn’t need to be reminded of how little she owned or what her position was.

“Alright.  The car I called for has arrived and is waiting outside.  Are you ready?”

Anais shot him a look.  “Ready as I’ll ever be,” She mumbled. 

Atlas must have heard her because he bid Ivy good-bye and gently herded her forward with a hand on the small of her back.

Anais took measured steps to the doors. 

Things were moving too fast. Three days ago she had been heading to work on a normal Wednesday night.  Now apparently, it was very late on Saturday night and she was headed to a strange alpha’s house. 

An alpha that was her mate and father to a pup that had been conceived during the heat that she had shared with him.

Anais swallowed thickly and tried to focus on putting one foot in front of the other.

She took in the dark night sky, the bright glow of the lamps and the low hum of a city that was still awake. She wasn’t sure what time it was, but the sun was long gone and the deep dark of night had settled over the sky.

There was a car idling at the sidewalk that Atlas guided her towards. It was a sleek black town car, something Anais had never been in before. 

There was a driver who exited upon their arrival and took the bag from Atlas with a greeting.

“Good evening, Alpha Atlas,” he said.

“Alfie,” Atlas greeted him back.  “Thank you for coming so late.”

“My pleasure sir,” The beta, Alfie, replied. 

Anais felt awkward and out of place. She wasn’t sure what to do and she was uncomfortable. She had been the one in the service position all her life. She didn’t know how to act on the other side.

“Alfie, this is Anais, my mate,” Atlas continued. 

Anais was surprised she was introduced and tried to smile at the beta.  The driver smiled back and Anais could see that he was about the same age as her.

“It’s nice to meet you, Omega Hawke,” Alfie told her and Anais was a little jarred by the title. 

She hadn’t considered that she was now a member of the Hawke Pack. Anais managed a smile to the beta and Atlas opened the door for her to slide in while Alfie put her bag into the trunk.

Anais slid across the soft leather bench seat and Atlas followed her inside. She realized her hands were shaking and she pressed them between her thighs to stop the trembling. 

The reality of the situation was now crashing around her as the shock wore off. 

She thought about where they were going. She tried to process that she was moving to a new place with a strange alpha.  Alfie returned to the front seat and they pulled away from the curb. 

Anais snuck a glance at the alpha next to her and found his eyes were already on her.

Anais appreciated the steady gaze and calm scent because she knew hers must be going in many different directions. She was scared. Every single thing in her life had been turned upside down and now she had no choices about what would happen. 

She was mated and pregnant and had no family or resources to help her outside of her alpha. She would be completely dependent on Atlas.

“We’re going to my apartment on the Upper West Side,” Atlas told her. 

She nodded slightly. 

“Okay,” She whispered. There wasn’t really anything else she could say. She was in the car, headed to the apartment where, presumably, she would live with the alpha.

Atlas laid his hand on the seat between them, palm up. It was an invitation and Anais didn’t hesitate to put her own on top. Atlas laced their fingers together and squeezed her hand. Anais was able to breathe a bit easier, the tight band across her chest easing.

She didn’t know this alpha, but her instincts had been honed pretty well the last few years, and she could tell that this one wasn’t dangerous. Atlas had given her nothing but kindness and respect, even if Anais was a whore.

She watched the city go by as they made their way to Atlas’ house. Anais thought about the places she had lived in her life and nothing compared to what she was about to enter. 

Atlas must have a nice apartment. There was nothing middle class about the Upper West Side and Anais knew that she was going to be in a place that was even nicer than the lounge at the club. 

That would be her new home for however long this alpha decided to keep her. Anais swallowed down her unease and held Cas' hand more tightly. She had wanted a mate and pups, but she didn’t think she would ever get them, let alone like this. 

Atlas would be her sole source of support and safety. While a part of her was grateful that someone else was looking out for her again, it also terrified her to be at the mercy of an alpha she didn’t know. 

She had never been bothered by the fact that her mate would be those things to Anais, but this was not what she had envisioned. She thought she would have at least known the alpha’s name before they mated.

The idea that Anais’s omega was so dependent on the alpha was also something that she worried about.  It wasn’t just the financial aspect or the fact that a mated omega was much safer than an unmated one. 

It was that she was bonded to this alpha. 

Her omega was chemically tied to him and Anais’s body and mind would seek him out and need him in ways that she wasn’t sure she was comfortable with when she didn’t know his mate.

Anais continued to turn over her thoughts in her mind while they journeyed on.

Atlas stayed silent but squeezed her hand every now and then. Anais was grateful that the alpha let her be alone with her thoughts and didn’t try to make small talk or press her with questions. 

There would be plenty of time for that later.

Maybe Atlas was trying to process too.  He seemed confident and in control on the outside, but maybe he wasn’t so calm inside.

Anais didn’t have time to speculate further because they slowed in front of a tall, well kept building. Alfie pulled to the curb in front of the impressive doors and a doorman immediately stepped out to open the door for Anais, who was curbside.

“Good evening, Alpha Atlas,” the door man greeted them softly.  Atlas shuffled Anais out of the car and took her hand again.

“Good evening Jesse,” Atlas greeted the beta. 

Anais stayed silent and let Atlas lead her by the hand into the luxurious building.

She immediately felt out of place. She looked around the quiet, open foyer and noticed a concierge desk and several common spaces.

Anais caught sight of a clock above the elevators that Atlas led her to and realized it was almost eleven o’clock. 

They had been in an unused hallway once they were moved and Ivy had them led out a side door for privacy, but Anais knew that normally she’d be working her way through the crowd in the lounge at this time. At her old work.

She risked darting another glance around as she waited silently with Atlas. She had never been in a place that was this nice before. 

She wasn’t sure if she should touch anything and watching Jesse bring in her tattered duffle made the contrast between her life and Atlas’ all the starker.

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TBC

AUTHOR’S NOTE: hi you guys, how’s the story so far?