Chapter XII

The room he set me up in was clearly a guest bedroom. It held a queen-sized bed with a white comforter and sheet set. I had my own bathroom and a walk-in closet, which I was grateful for. I could tell he was doing everything in his power to give me my own space and it just made me grow fonder of him.

I was touching up my makeup when there was a knock at the door. "One second." I called out and applied lip balm to my chapped lips. After being happy with my face, I walked to the door and opened it.

"Are you ready?" Atlas asked, buttoning the top of his shirt. We were both miserably late, but we were trying our best.

"Yeah," I sighed and put my best smile on. The nerves did not hit me until about fifteen minutes ago. I knew Atlas would not let anyone harm me in any way and I was perfectly capable of handling myself, but I wanted to make a good impression.

Atlas saw right through me and stopped fiddling with his watch. "Hey, we do not have to go tonight if you are not feeling up to it."

"No, I am fine. It is just a lot of pressure." I tried to brush it off and walk into the hallway where he was standing.

"We do not have to introduce you as my mate. You can just be a guest of mine until you are ready. They will not know any better because most of the pack house's rooms are filled." He said, trying to calm me.

I nodded at his suggestion, with the anxious feeling subsiding a bit. "That would be great. Thank you."

"Of course, I would never make you feel uncomfortable if I could help it." He then put his hand on the small of my back, gently guiding me down the steps and out the door.

My heels tapped along the wood of the pack house's porch when he made it to the front door. I inhaled deeply to catch his scent for comfort. It worked, thank the Moon Goddess.

As he opened the door, I could hear the loud voices and laughter of the pack members echo around the giant's house. "Are you alright?" Atlas looked at me and walked us inside.

I gave him a small laugh at his adorable concern. "I am okay. I will let you know the second I am not."

"No need. Helix is getting the full report from Celeste every five seconds."

So that is where that pain in my ass has gone. She was no longer annoying me. She has Helix's ear to talk off now.

She barked, then turned away to go back into my mind.

I audibly scoffed at her, and Atlas stared at me with a questioning look.

"I just got called a sock brain. What does that even mean?" I tell him with a sigh.

He chuckled a bit and shrugged before leading us to a massive dining room. It looked like a banquet hall on steroids.

Wolves sat at tables that were placed all over the room and they set food up on one long table on the side.

In the matter of seconds, all eyes were on me. I shrunk in size and tried to hide behind Atlas' massive arm that he had to his side.

"Hello everyone, I would like to introduce our guest." He turned a bit, so I was more visible to everyone in the room. "This is Everly. She is my personal guest from the Aurora Dawn pack. I expect that you all show her the same respect that you show me. Spread the word after dinner. Continue on." He addressed and then dismissed them.

"This way." He nudged me to walk behind him to the table that was occupied by Leo and Artemis. To my surprise, there was already a plate sitting there full of food and an empty seat. Atlas pulled out the chair for me and I sat with a smile.

"He had us grab you some food, so you did not have to awkwardly stand in front of everyone getting it yourself." Artemis informed me.

"Actually, I told you to grab both of us food." He huffed, still standing behind me.

She leaned forward on the table, staring up at him. "Well, I did not feel like being your personal slave. I like her. I tolerate you."

I could feel his presence diminish from the spot he previously stood, so I assumed he just left her comment to grab his own food.

"She did not know what you liked, so she got everything." Leo joined the conversation, pulling his glass of water to his lips.

I smiled at Artemis. "Thank you. I really appreciate both of you for being so kind."

"You are our guest, after all." Leo teased with an amused glint in his eyes.

"Oh, yes." Artemis raised her eyebrows and turned to me with the same look her father held. "Would our guest like to go shopping tomorrow?"

"I barely have any money left due to my coffee addiction," I answered her, picking up my fork and diving into the mashed potatoes. I could live off of any form of potatoes, they were my favorite food in general.

"Nonsense, we will spend all of Atlas' money." She dismissed my comment about my finances. "We can sneak off to the human mall if you like? They have way better stuff there anyway."

"I am not spending his money. I just met him." I sternly said, moving onto the ham on my plate.

She playfully rolled her eyes and threw up her hands. "Okay, okay. I will spend Atlas' money and you can just tag along."

"Atlas is not going to like you two going to the human town." Leo interjects, drawing circles on the table with his fingertips.

I look back at Artemis, agreeing with Leo. "Yeah, I rather not get off on the wrong foot."

"Oh shush, old man. He will be fine." She tried to reassure me, but it did not work.

"I am good. I will probably catch up on some sleep tomorrow."

She sighs in defeat and shakes her head. "Well, I will be over there tomorrow morning to drop off some files. If you change your mind, you can tag along."

"Tag along where?" Atlas sat down his plate next to me and took a seat.

"Nowhere." Leo, Artemis and I say at the same time, making each of us laugh.

Atlas looked at all of us suspiciously before eating his food.

Dinner went by in a flash as we all held small talk and conversations about the packs. I kept feeling Celeste circle uncomfortably in my mind, but tried my best to ignore her. Atlas became tense also, and he practically rushed us out the door after saying bye to his family.

We were walking back to the house, and he did not say a word to me. Underneath his button-down shirt, his chest was heaving like he ran a marathon. His long legs were making it hard to keep up with, especially in these heels.

"Can you not walk any faster?" He snapped at me.

What the hell is wrong with him?

I reached down and pulled my heels off, exposing my feet to the gravel. Once I stood back up, I knocked the heels into his chest for him to hold. "You try to walk in these things on gravel." I lowly said with a bit of a bite in my voice.

He growled at me as I walked in front of him.

Did this bipolar asshole just growl at me?

Celeste confirmed, and I whipped around to him with eyes hard as stone.

"Did you just seriously just growl at me?" I lift a brow.

His face was just as hard as mine and he scoffed, "Just get in the fucking house, Everly. I need to go on a run."

"I will. Not because you told me to, but because you are being an asshat!" I said, venom lacing my voice. I walked forward and snatched my shoes from him. I then turned, walking to the house.

He let out another growl at me, but instead of turning around, I just called over my shoulder, walking onto the porch. "Oh, go growl at some bunnies who might actually be scared of you."

Celeste said with a huff.

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