CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Atlas didn’t seem to notice her and Anais watched his face as he clenched his jaw and shook his head.  Anais’s stomach churned at the sight of the alpha so upset. 

Anais’s omega instincts were to bare her neck and submit to the authority and anger of the alpha but she couldn’t make herself move.

Anais looked over to the table that was littered with several laptops and devices, coffee cups and paperwork.  It wasn’t that late but it looked like they, too, had been here and working for a while. 

She was confused and worried as she continued to take in the details of what was going on.

An unfamiliar red head was hunched over one of the laptops and there were two other female betas sitting with her at the table.  They each wore headphones and were completely absorbed in what they were doing. 

Anais couldn’t see any of the screens in front of them and didn’t know what she would be looking at anyway.

She turned when she heard something in the kitchen and Eileen came out carrying a pot of coffee and cinnamon rolls.  She saw her and gave him a sad smile which Anais tried to return. She watched as she sat the food in the middle of the table where the betas were and filled the mugs. 

She pointed to the food when she looked back at Anais with a raised brow.  She shook her head slightly, feeling sick even thinking about eating something in the current environment.  She nodded and headed back into the kitchen.

Anais didn’t know what to feel first.  Atlas was angry which made her uncomfortable.  There were strange people in a frenzy in her house that made it uncomfortable for her.  Another omega was feeding them, secure in the house in a way Atlas wasn’t yet. 

No one noticed her at first and she very suddenly felt like an unimportant outsider. 

All of this took no more than a few seconds to process before the TV Atlas was facing caught her attention.

The Today Show was broadcasting on the large screen and Anais could see that they were talking about something.  They flashed to a picture and his stomach dropped and her throat closed slightly. 

She and Atlas were there, on the screen. 

Atlas had his arm around Anais in the booth at the restaurant they were in last night. Another picture flashed up on top of the first with a good shot of their faces. 

Anais could see how happy she looked. 

Atlas seemed to mirror it and for a moment Anais thought everything might be okay.  She was just about to say something to Atlas when a third picture was put up on the screen.  It was a picture of just Anais.  She was wearing a modest outfit for the club, thank god, but there was no mistaking it was her. 

A clip of the front of Roman’s Omegas was shown and the news anchors began discussing if Atlas had really mated an omega with a questionable background.

The little bit of confidence and happiness Anais had woken up with drained out of her with all the blood that left her face. 

She grabbed on to the back of the couch to steady herself.  She’s must have made enough noise or her scent must have elevated enough for Atlas to smell her because the alpha turned around and looked at Anais.

“Someone recognized you,” Atlas said. 

Anais blinked at Atlas’ flat tone.  The soft, caring alpha of the previous night was gone.  “There are pictures and videos on every media outlet in the country.”

Anais tore her eyes away from Atlas to look over at the table where the betas were working.  Anais shuffled forward and could see that they had other websites up.  There were different pictures and videos but they all seemed to be saying the same thing and posting the same pictures.

“We will need to spend the day sorting this out,” Atlas told her brusquely.

Anais turned back began to nod her head mutely when the news report continued. 

On the screen was suddenly a 1967 Chevy Impala that was mangled beyond recognition. She grabbed the back of the couch to steady herself at the sight.  It had only been five years ago and seeing the pictures without warning was still shocking. 

Her dad and brother had died in that car and Anais still had trouble looking at the pictures and remembering.

“…Westwood was the only survivor in the crash that took her father and younger brother’s lives.  Sources say that Westwood barely survived the crash and spent a significant amount of time in the hospital with severe injuries.  She was just seventeen years old.  Once healed, she spent the remaining months in an omega house until she turned eighteen where it appears that she turned to sex work…”

She could barely process the fact that they had found out all about the crash and her family.  The grief and fear and pain hit her again suddenly and she wanted to sink down into the floor. 

She had barely got a hold of herself when a voice began speaking from one of the laptops. 

She turned her head slowly to see that the red headed beta had pulled her headphones off and had turned the screen so that she and Atlas could see what was going on.

“…cannot comment,” She heard Ivy Madeline’s voice say clearly.  The reporter picked right back up.  “The omega, Anais Westwood, lived here until just a few days ago, when, according to sources, left with Atlas Hawke, president of Hawke Networks.  Hawke is not known to frequent establishments such as Roman’s Omegas, but he was apparently there for a private show with another colleague.”

“How Westwood and Hawke ended up mated is a mystery.  Why hasn’t Hawke announced the mating?  Is there something he doesn’t want us to know?  Does Westwood have information on the alpha that she has used to blackmail him with?  We know our viewers want to know.  We’ll continue to follow-“

The video stopped and suddenly there was silence.  Atlas had turned off the TV and the redhead had stopped the video. 

No one said anything.  Anais stared at the laptop screen where the reporter was frozen mid-sentence.  She was standing outside of her former workplace and Anais could see, she could tell how bad this was for Atlas.

She swallowed hard and licked her lips. 

She turned slowly to face the alpha. Atlas was looking at her already. Anais clutched the fabric of the couch to steady herself and try and keep her fear in check.

“We’ll take care of this Anais.  It’s probably best if you find something else to do today,” Atlas told her. 

She could scent the controlled anger and frustration and underneath was a slight tinge of embarrassment.  She swallowed.

She knew that Atlas had a shit storm to deal with, but the clear dismissal stung.  A hollow feeling began to form in her chest and she swallowed again around a lump in her throat. 

She glanced back to the table where the three betas were watching carefully.  She wasn’t going to make a scene.  She tried to smile but she knew it came out more like a grimace.  The back of her eyes stung.

She tried to remember that Atlas had told her several times that he wasn’t embarrassed about Anais’s past.  She understood that this was not the way that the president of a company wanted to announce his mating.  It was hard to remember that when there were pictures of her life splashed on the news and her alpha was cold towards her.

“Of course, alpha.  I’ll just stay out of the way,” Anais murmured. 

She forced herself to release the back of the sofa and turn to go back the way she came.  It was hard to make her feet move and obey her but she managed to make it to the steps before she had to stop.

She grabbed onto the railing and let her shoulders sag.  It hit her suddenly that they had been mated for almost a week and though Atlas told her he wanted to announce the mating carefully, he hadn’t done it. 

In fact, Anais hadn’t heard him say anything about it other than the second day they were mated. 

Had Atlas not wanted to announce his mating to Anais? 

Anais scoffed at herself.  Of course not. 

Regardless of the nice words Atlas had spoken, it was clear that the alpha was ashamed of her and he didn’t want to publicly claim her even if he said he wouldn’t kick her out. 

Anais trembled at the memory of how furious Atlas seemed to be.  Maybe it wasn’t the way he wanted to announce his mating but maybe it was more that they were caught. 

Was that why Atlas had made appointments where he could?  So that they didn’t have to wait and they wouldn’t be recognized?  Was that why they had stayed in the house so much?

Disappointment and dread made her breathing shallow and irregular and she swiped at her eyes. She didn’t know what would happen next, but it wouldn’t be good. 

Maybe she should start packing her bags.

She started to slowly make her way up the stairs, a shaking hand on her belly.

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TBC

AUTHOR’S NOTE: so our favorite alpha is being dumb right now… Please leave gems or just one gem, if possible thank you <3