ATLAS“How do I look?” Annie’s voice pulls me from my distracted thoughts. She was looking at me expectantly as she re-applied her lipstick.A bold red color that almost made her look like she was doing too much. It was a total contrast to the soft pink lip gloss Jade always wore. The former seemed to be begging for attention. While the latter acted like she was doing her best to remain hidden.I couldn’t tell her all that of course, I was already late for the meeting and she would want to go and change. So I smiled and told her what I know will hurry her along.“You look perfect.”She grinned, her perfect teeth shining.She leaned into me from her chair and placed a hand on my chest. Her eyes softened when she spoke.“I want to give the right impression as your partner,” she inhaled slowly. “I know people think I can’t be half of the luna Jade was, but I want to try.”Something heavy settled in my heart at the mention of Jade. I told myself it was because of what she said and how she
JADEI was still in shock and disbelief when we left the restaurant. I couldn't believe Atlas acted that way.The man barely looked at me twice in the four years we were married. And now he was going crazy thinking I was with someone? What exactly did he want? What did it all mean?“Don’t worry yourself with thoughts about Atlas. He’ll stop once he realises it is for nothing.” Dad said, placing his hand in mine and giving it a comforting squeeze.I rolled my tongue over my bottom teeth. Thinking of the right thing to say. Was there even a right thing to say in this situation?What even is the situation?Ex husband realises his wife that he has ignored for four years is actually useful after trying it out with his not too bright mistress and seeing life isn’t really all that good?Not only was it a mouthful. It didn't make much sense.Atlas wasn’t regretting treating me the way he had all these years. I can just tell he is pissed that it seems like I’m moving on.He didn’t want me. But
ATLAS“Why are you here?” I ask my beta, rounding the car to get into the passenger side.He opens the door on the side and gets into the back beside me. Not the front like he did the other day when he was feeling petty. I wanted to call him out on it just so I wouldn’t be the only one in a shitty mood. But he already had the upper hand over me.“We always go to work together.” He replies with a nonchalant shrug that made me want to dislocate his shoulder.“We don’t.” I left no room for argument.“Well, since you became a bachelor like me and stopped riding with a wife. I thought it would be good to keep you company so you don’t, you know….” He slid his finger over his neck, in the universal slaughter sign and I rolled my eyes.He is really stupid.“Do yourself a favor and stop visiting me.” He chuckles.“No can do, brother. I’m your suicide prevention hotline.”“If you’re not careful. You’ll be calling the cops next and reporting me for murder hotline.”“How would I do that if I am d
JADEWhen I woke up, I told myself I was going to start afresh. With no thoughts of Atlas, or Annie, or anything and anyone related to my old pack.They may have been the only family I had apart from my grandmother, but if they didn’t want me. Then I’ll give them what they want and remove myself from anywhere they’ll probably be.It may be a little hard, seeing as Brandon is Atlas’s uncle. But oh well. I rarely saw him when I was in the pack. And Atlas sure as hell has never visited him.After my shower, I stood in front of the mirror. I couldn’t help but feel slightly different. I couldn’t pinpoint my finger on what exactly was different about me.Did my eyes seem lighter? Was my skin glowing?I almost laughed at the incredulous question. I’ve lost my mind.My eyes really were glowing though. It is weird that I was noticing something like that about myself. Probably because I rarely looked in the mirror on a normal day.Or maybe, it is the sign of a new start. You could pretend you w
JADEThe work day was going normal. I received compliments from the moment I stepped out of the car. And while I tried to downplay it when people asked if I did anything new to my hair or my makeup. It made me feel giddy inside.The best was Jaiya who walked into my office with a smile I couldn’t place on her lips.“I don’t think HR are supposed to be up here this often.” She chuckled at my comment as she settled into the chair in front of me.I cocked a brow but she ignored me.“Are you sending me out?” She teased right back. I laughed and shook my head.“Oh, no. You’re always welcome.”“Thank you.” She dipped down like she was bowing after a great performance on stage. “Did you do something to your hair? Your face maybe?”“Why?” I touched my hair and the side of my mouth, trying to hold myself back from grinning.“Don’t know. You just look like you came out of many men’s wet dreams.”“What?” I choked on my spit as I laughed. Completely shocked because out of all the things I thought
ATLAS“Since when did you become this boring bloke?” William, a friend of mine, laughed from his chair. When I didn't offer a response, he turned to Andrew. “Is this how you deal with him every single day?”Andrew only laughed.William is a schoolmate of ours who came to visit. And he clearly missed the tension between Andrew and I.Though I’ve known the guy since I was eighteen. He didn’t really pay attention to things and unless you slapped him in the face with the obvious, he would miss it.“Come on, Montgomery. I know you’ve been somewhat cold since your wedding.” He snorted. “You’re totally one of those annoying married men we always laughed about.”“You laughed at them.” I felt the need to point it out. Of course, he only waved me off before going back to scrolling on his phone.“Well, I’m not taking no for an answer. So you can finish ignoring me and pack up.”“I have a job to do.”Although his father was an alpha and he went through all that alpha training. William is a second
JADAMy Atlas radar was going off. Or according to Jaiya, my ‘Atdar’. Good thing though because it has been a false alarm all evening.“Are you waiting for someone?” She asked, being the more perceptive one of the group. Or maybe, just the one that wasn’t drunk yet.I hadn’t even realised I was looking at the door for most of the time until she pointed it out..I was just feeling uncomfortable in my own skin. And I kept asking myself ‘what if he walked in through that door?’. For someone who said I wasn’t going to be thinking about him. I’ve been doing a shit job at keeping my word.“No.” I cleared my throat, reminding myself she was still waiting for my reply.“Then why are you looking at the door? Your eyes have been there since we arrived.”I cleared my throat, not having an answer that wouldn’t sound extremely pathetic. In the end, I gave up and told her I wasn’t really used to this.“I get all of that. What I don’t understand is why you’re so worried? No one is going to call you
ATLASAndrew gave me a subtle look and shook his head, but I was already on my feet and following her.“Where are you going?” I paid no heed to William, or even bothered to excuse myself.It was rude but he has been my friend for the longest years. He can deal with it.I paced outside the bathroom, wondering what was taking her so long. I don’t even know what the fuck I had to tell her. But here I am. Pacing outside a bathroom at a bar like some kind of pathetic creep.I had felt a huge weight be lifted off my shoulder when none of the women that were around her followed her. Though it later pissed me off that they were letting her be alone.It disgusted me more that women weren’t safe alone in a freaking bar during the day.The door opened and I stopped mid-step, my eyes locked on the woman that walked out shortly after.Jade has fixed her hair and washed her face. But there was a new coat of lipstick on her lips. Not the pink I was used to. It was a bit darker, making her look more
ATLAS“Atlas, lets go.” Feyre touched my arm lightly. I collected the bag from her. “Thank you. For your help. I'll never forget it.”I grabbed Feyre's hand and walked out of the room. Thankfully, there was no one outside and we tried not to make it look obvious that we were running away. “Keep your head down and just walk fast.”The car wasn't a far distance from the house. “What do you think is going on?” If I said I had any idea, it would be a lie. “I don't know.” I turned the engine. “But first we need to get out of here.” As soon as we're gone, then we can think of what the girl said. “Who’s Anika?” I asked Feyre. I thought she didn't hear me so I didn't repeat myself. When she blinked, I was very sure that she had heard me but refused to answer. So I let it go. Hopefully, by the time we get home, Jade will be awake and I'd be able to ask her what the hell is going on because I didn't understand why the young girl would be telling me that her mother was alive when all
ATLASThe girl looked at me like she didn't just scare the life out of me. I put the knife back in its sheath and looked around to make sure that no one was behind her and using her as bait. I heard Feyre's voice behind me. “Who is it?”I raised a hand to silence her, not talking my eyes off the girl. “Who are you and what do you want?” She didn't say anything and stared at me with a blank face. Letting my guard down, I opened the door a little more to let Feyre see who it was. She looked into the room and made contact with Feyre. Without answering me, she pushed into the room and I just watched her and then closed the door behind me. “What do you want?” I repeated. “You need to get out of here.” Her voice was quiet but we heard her. Feyre and I made eye contact, both sharing confusing looks. “What are you talking about? And who are you? You haven't answered my question.”My eyes swiftly moved to the door to see if I should be expecting any more surprises but it was clear.
JADEI wàs hungry but then again, I couldn't exactly be bothered to eat anything. I was in pain, excruciating pain that I couldn't even get any sleep last night. The nurse had come in to give me something for the pain but it was like this baby wanted me to be in pain. Eventually, the pain went away and I just sat up on the bed, thinking about what the hell was going on. It felt like I passed out and all of a sudden, Atlas was in love with me, I couldn't find Annie hanging around him like a monkey from a banana tree and I was pregnant. Heavily pregnant and in pain. I needed answers and I needed them fast. I'd been asking for Andrew all day but I couldn't find him anywhere and then speaking of Atlas who could tell me where he was, I also couldn't find him. What was I expecting? That man that hated me with passion, how would he come in to check on me? I'm sure that he wouldn't care if I died. I was alone in this hospital room, with no clue what was going on. The door to my room
ATLASI was staring out of the window with an unclear mind and a raging headache. I'd thought about so much that I was tired of even thinking. This whole situation was getting to me and the fact Jade didn't even remember what happened in the last few months was killing me. What the hell happened?I felt a hand on my shoulder and I turned to see Zade behind me. “You look like you're a thousand miles away.” He brought me a glass of something and as I lifted it to my lips, I scrunched up my nose and pulled the glass away from me. “What the hell is that?”He had a smirk on his face.“Something that will wake you up and calm you down. You look like you haven't gotten any sleep in a while. You need to take it easy.”That was easy for him to say. It wasn't his wife and child who were at risk here. I felt like if I took a break, then it meant that I wasn't serious. Looking at the glass one more time and deciding that I could kill Zade if anything happened to me, I threw my head back and
JADEI knew I wasn’t alone in the room even before I fully woke up. So, when I open day eyes, I wasn’t surprised to find Atlas sitting on a chair beside the bed. My mood immediately plummeted.I really didn’t need him and his fairness right now. We both know he would much rather be with Annie than here. Why was he even here and how long has he been waiting? I’m sure he has work to do and watching me sleeps’t one of then.No, Jade. He is not your business anymore. He is having a child with the woman he loves and cheated on you with. This is the last time you’ll worry yourself with his affairs.I nodded to myself, agreeing with the voice in my head.“Jade.” He breathed my name out. He has never spoken to me like that, I couldn’t deny the butterflies that swarmed my stomach at hearing that. But I could pretend him speaking didn’t have any effect on me which is what I did.“Can you please leave?” I said, making sure my voice came out cold.I tried to sit up and a stiffness in my back remi
ATLASThis couldn’t be real. It couldn’t fucking be happening.I could feel my blood roaring in my ears, my body was shaking but then it all felt like it wasn’t even real. Like I was just imagining this and I really hoped this was a fucking nightmare.“Alpha,” I heard a hesitant voice. It pulled me from my train of thoughts and everything started becoming more real now.I didn’t know my mind had blanked out until she spoke and I was pulled out of my trace. I could hear the voices and all the commotions going on around me.The doctor was still standing above Jade. I didn’t know when my body had moved earlier when she was falling. But my body moved before my mind could register all that was happening.“Do you mind stepping out please, alpha?” The doctor spoke. When I gave her a look, she stepped back and cleared her throat. “You can stay if you want too.”She stepped back and then they started doing more tests.“You still can’t do the surgery now.” The healer spoke, looking to me to sup
JADEMy head was heavy when I first woke up. I looked around the place confused, wondering how I ended up here. The last thing I remembered was going to my grandma’s room and checking on her. Then…Oh no.The conversation played out in my head again.Atlas’s cool voice and Annie’s ecstatic own.“Look at that. Our baby.” She had said, her voice choking with tears. “He’ll be the most handsome baby with his father’s eyes.”“Well, we can’t tell the gender this early.” Another voice had said, it was a female, she sounded kind of familiar.One of the actors. I told myself. I couldn’t bring myself to move because the entire thing felt like a fever dream and I didn’t want to believe that it was really real. But it was.“Is she okay?” Atlas sounded worried. Concerned.I could see him looking at Annie with so much care. When he only looks at me with disdain.I couldn’t hear more, I ran in the opposite direction and neared the first door I saw. I ended up in the supply closet but I could barely
ATLASAs much as I wanted to rush through the process of dressing just so I could go back to where Jade was, I forced myself to do everything right. For her sake. I would not want my lack of prepping well because I couldn’t be patient cause harm to her or the baby.A nurse was waiting for me outside after I finished and she took me to the OR where I had to wash my hands again and then wear the full coverings.There were speaking in medical terms I didn’t understand. I just stood back with my hands in Jade’s own, never leaving her side just as I had promised. The doctor was kind enough to explain what they were going to do.“It is a simple procedure, alpha. Your wife and baby will be up and going in no time.” She said with a kind smile, the sides of her eyes crinkling.I nodded, exhaling a breath through my mouth.“Ten blade.” She had moved to Jade’s abdomen and I could feel my wolf moving in my head when I saw the blade she was talking about. His mind didn’t register that this was a p
ATLASThe reality that the baby was coming made by kind go blank for more than five minutes. It probably wasn’t up to that but it felt like my world had stopped so everything seemed longer than it is in reality. I was excited. Deep down below the worry and fear and everything in between. I couldn’t wait to meet my son. The baby that was half of me and half of Jade. But I wasn’t happy too. Because she wasn’t in the right state of mind right now. And I don’t know how she’ll be when she wakes up. She would be ecstatic. I knew she wanted to experience every part of this. But I guess you plan and then life happens. “We’ll have to get her to the hospital soon. So she isn’t under for too long. It might be bad for the baby and her.” Feyre stood close to me as she explained. Her voice was soft and eyes filled with worry. She hasn’t known Jade for a long time but she as already really protective of her.“Okay.” I swallowed as I said the words. Then gave Jade’s hand a little squeeze. Before