CHAPTER FOURTEEN

ANAIS’S POV

The next few days were boring for Anais.

She felt increasingly restless and adrift.

Atlas had taken care of her that night after she had spent the afternoon on the street, but the next day ended up working from home a lot of the time.

He spent hours in his office and though he frequently came out to check on Anais and though he always touched her somehow, Anais still felt very alone.

She didn’t feel sick or rejected like she had that first day, thank goodness, but there wasn’t anything really to do and she felt like she wasn’t working on building a relationship with her alpha.

They slept in separate beds and made conversation about little things during the day. Sometimes they ate together but mostly, Atlas was in his office, leaving Anais to her own devices.

Eileen didn’t come the next day but Anais quickly understood that she was there several times a week to do the cleaning and the laundry.

Atlas had seemed distracted and though he had not gone out to get the cell phone he said he would, he did give Anais a tablet for her to use but she was bored of that too. She could only watch so many videos and scroll through the news and social media so often.

She did take the time to learn a little more about her mate from the public side. She found out that Atlas was a pretty decent alpha. He did a lot of charity work and paid his workers a good wage. He employed omegas in all levels of his company and had built it using integrity and honesty.

Anais saw many pictures of the alpha with different omegas and betas on his arm at functions and she wondered if one of them was important to the alpha. She wondered if she had ruined something for another omega like herself.

Atlas had not taken her to the grocery store and Anais didn’t want to leave the apartment by herself, so Atlas encouraged her to order food whenever she was hungry from the pile of take out menus in the kitchen drawer with the credit card he put beside it.

Anais did so, but soon grew tired of it.

Even though she had lived in New York for more than five years, she had eaten mostly homemade food and she wanted a real meal.

She didn’t have money of her own, even if she wanted to go out and do anything, so she stayed in the apartment.

Atlas had a large bookshelf of books that Anais scoured. She found a few that she was interested in and spent some time reading. Anais wasn’t used to having so much time to herself and she didn’t know what to do with it.

Eileen seemed nice and she was friendly, but Anais couldn’t help but feel like she was displaced. It wasn’t anything she had consciously thought about before but there was something in her that felt inferior while she watched another omega clean her house and do all the jobs that she should be doing.

She didn’t know what to do or how to talk to Atlas about it because she wasn’t even sure it was her place. She constantly waffled between wanting to assert herself and be the independent omega she had always been and worrying that Atlas would make her leave or take the pup.

It seemed like Anais’ whole world had changed in a moment and the alpha’s had gone on normally. There seemed to be little that had changed for him according to Eileen. She told Anais he worked a lot and was home sometimes working but mostly was at the office. He forgot to eat and take breaks and she had to remind him to do both of those things.

On the fourth day after Anais had arrived at her new home the alpha came out of the office to find her sitting in one of the chairs at the dining room table staring out of the window.

Anais could scent his surprise and he turned to see the alpha come into the room carefully.

He frowned at her. “What are you doing?” Atlas asked her.

Ana shrugged. “Nothing, Atlas,” She replied.

He smiled faintly at her. “I can see that, but why?”

“I don’t have anything to do,” She told the alpha honestly.

“Ana, there are any number of things you could do. What would you be doing if you weren’t here?” Atlas asked. He came over and pulled out the chair next to her to sit down.

Anais turned to him and looked at him.

She could tell that Atlas really didn’t understand what her life was like before.

“Right now, I’d probably be waking up,” She told the alpha. It was just after noon and she had finished lunch right before Atlas came in. She had returned to the table alone after she cleaned up her plate.

Atlas’ eyebrows raised. “Are you a late sleeper?” he asked.

Anais licked her lips and looked down at the table. She ran her finger along the smooth grain of the wood. “I would work until one or two in the morning, Atlas. Then I’d have to get cleaned up and upstairs, most of the time eat something because I didn’t get a chance to while working.”

Anais felt the alpha stiffen next to her and his scent became sharper. Anais pressed her lips together and ran her finger along the table harder.

“I’m sorry, Atlas,” She whispered. “My life isn’t glamorous or easy in any way. It was about trying to survive. It still is, I guess,” She said, thinking of how precarious she felt in this situation.

“And what would you do during the day?” Atlas asked her.

Anais could tell his voice was strained.

She didn’t look up from the table as she continued to talk but the alpha’s scent had turned. Anais could tell he was wary and unsure.

“We all had chores to do to keep the common areas upstairs clean. The bathrooms and things, along with our own rooms. Sometimes there were early clients but we mostly had to be on the floor by five every day.”

Anais heard Atlas’ swift intake of breath and knew he was thinking about how long she worked and how many alphas she must have serviced each night in that long of a shift and then ultimately how many…

Anais shook herself slightly.

She glanced up at Atlas, noting the sharp scent that was still in his scent. “So, not much time to do anything other than try and survive another day.” She saw Atlas’ clenched jaw and pinched forehead and she knew she had made the alpha mad.

Her stomach roiled and she suddenly couldn’t breathe. Tears pricked her eyes.

“I’m sorry, alpha,” he whispered. “I know you didn’t really want me.”

Anais wanted to leave but she was worried that Atlas would be angrier with her if she walked away. She was still so unsure.

The first few days Atlas had been attentive and wonderful, loving almost.

The last two days she had barely seen him and when she had, it was just a brief glimpse and a light touch. Enough to keep her from being sick, but not enough to keep her from being scared and sad.

“No, Ana, that’s not it at all,” Atlas told her. He gently touched her hand where it rested on the table. “I’m angry that your life has been so difficult. I’m angry that you had to sell yourself in order to survive. I’m sorry that I’ve not taken care of you well enough for you to know that I am not angry or resentful towards you. I don’t like to think of other alphas touching you, especially now that you’re my mate and pregnant with my pup, but I’m not judging you or looking down on you for it.”

Anais looked up at him shyly. Atlas’ scent was pure and Anais knew he spoke the truth. It was hard for her to understand how Atlas could feel that way.

“If you could do anything, what would you want to do?” he asked.

Anais was surprised. She hadn’t really ever thought about it.

“I like movies,” She said. “I wish I could have gone to see some of the movies in the theater.”

“You want to go to the movies?” Atlas asked him. His eyebrows were up and she ducked her head at the surprise.

“Not-not now alpha,” She stuttered, trying to back pedal.

“Dean,” Atlas’ tone was soft but commanding. She didn’t resist when Atlas tilted her chin so she could look him full in the face. “I’ll take you to any movie you want to see. I am just realizing how little you’ve had in your life. I wanted to know what big plans you might have had. What you would do if you didn’t have to work and had anything you wanted.”

It was Anais’s turn to be surprised. “Oh, well, I guess I don’t know Atlas. It’s not something that you think about while you’re trying to make enough money for the club so they don’t put you out.” She shrugged again and Atlas smoothed his hand around to the back of Anais’s neck.

“Oh, Ana,” he whispered sadly. Anais let him gather her into Atlas’ chest and she rested her head on the alpha’s chest. “I am so sorry your life has been that way.”

“It wasn’t all bad, Atlas,” She told the alpha. “But I don’t know what to do now.”

“But that’s my point, Ana. You could do anything you wanted. Now you have everything you could ever want and all the resources in the world to do with what you wanted.”

She shrugged again. “Just wanted a good mate and a few pups,” She whispered.

And it was the truth. She didn’t want much. She wanted to feel safe and not struggle to survive. She wanted pups and a loving mate. For a while she thought her dream might be fruitless, but not anymore.

She had Alpha Atlas Hawke now.

Atlas pulled away from her slightly and Anais swallowed a whine at the loss of the contact. Atlas knew though, Anais could see it in his eyes. He kept a hand on hers.

“Let me wrap up a few things and then we can go out. I want to get a few more things for you and we can have dinner.”

She lit up. “Really?” She asked excitedly.

She was more excited about spending time with Atlas than the shopping or the meal, but the idea of sitting across from the alpha at a nice restaurant was appealing to her.

Atlas gave her a gentle smile. “Really.” He pressed a kiss to Anais’s forehead and stood. “Give me a half hour and then we can go. I’ll call Alfie.”

***

Anais put on some of the nicer clothes that Atlas had bought for her.

It was summer, so he opted for a khaki skirt and a button down with the sleeves rolled up. She had seen a lot of women wearing something similar the first day she was at the apartment outside waiting for Atlas.

It was definitely not her style, but he thought Atlas would approve. The alpha had on black slacks and a button up that was undone at the top with the sleeves rolled up.

It also covered her mating bite for the most part, so they could hide it.

When they had gotten in the car Atlas had slid his hand across the seat, palm up, and Anais couldn’t help but feel a small thrill that her alpha wanted to hold her hand. Anais put her hand into Atlas’ and they rode through the city hand in hand.

Anais was surprised when they pulled up in front of the Apple store. She didn’t know where they were going and she could only imagine what Atlas needed.

“Let’s get you set up,” Atlas told her as they entered the building.

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TBC

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