Chapter XV

My head was pounding when I awoke. The sun was going down, so it had to be late afternoon. Unfortunately, I remembered everything that had happened, and now I must face Chew- Atlas.

When I sat up, the pounding in my head got worse. I groaned out, opening my eyes again to see Artemis passed out on the foot of my bed and Atlas sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. He was staring at me with dangerous eyes. Instead of shirking back, I sent a gaze his way that would kill if it were possible.

Looking over at my side table, after he just huffed at my reaction, I reached over to grab the water bottle and pain tablets placed there. I took the right dosage and drank them down with the water.

His shoulders dropped as he exhaled and stood up. He did not say a word until he flicked Artemis on the forehead. "Wake up." He commanded.

She grunted and tried to roll away, but just ended up on the floor. Artemis whined out like a child crawling back onto the bed, scolding her brother. "Why can't a girl get some sleep around here?"

I breathed out a small laugh at her, then handed her two tablets and the bottle of water.

"Considering you are in my house, in my Mate's bed. I think I have a right to wake you." He shot with a growl.

We were in trouble.

"What the hell were you two doing getting drunk in a human town? Especially with a werewolf hunter on the loose?" He snapped, not waiting for a response from her to his last comment. He was starting to raise his voice, but it was not to the point of yelling yet.

I forgot about that...

Artemis gave him a deadpanned look and gulped the water down. After wiping her lips, she shrugged. "I wanted her to have fun. She was pissed at you, and I wanted her to forget about it for a while."

I turned to her in shock. She was trying to get me drunk so I would have a good time instead of brewing in anger? I did not know what to say, so I stayed silent when he looked at me with a flash of guilt slapped his facial expression.

"Plus," she broke us from our staring contest. She was looking down at her hands, twirling her thumbs around each other. Something was wrong.

It was a sixth sense hitting me. I felt the uneasiness radiating off of her, so I crawled over, wrapping my arms around her. "What happened?" My voice was soft and comforting.

She looked at me with tears threatening to spill. Atlas bent down in front of her like he did to me the night of the gala. The only difference is that he did not touch her.

Her bottom lip quivered when her eyes met his, and a sob racked her body. "Warren found his mate last night." Her body shook violently in my embrace as I held her tighter. I had no idea who Warren was or why this was a big deal, but I did not stop comforting her to ask questions.

"H-he," she struggled to get her words out, but finally took a big breath in and put them together. "He came to my room last night and told me. He wanted to reject her and be with me. I could not let him do that to her and me being the reason. I broke up with him."

Atlas hung his head and then grabbed her hands, looking at her. "It is okay, you will be able to attend the next Gala and you will find your mate, Mis." His voice was no longer powered by anger. It was filled with solace.

"I really didn't mean to put us in danger, Aly. I was hurting, and she was mad, so I just thought we both could use it." She trembled.

Atlas shushed her and pulled her from my arms into his. No matter how much he got annoyed with her, he still loved her. He reminded me of Josh when my pet bunny died. So careful with us and there when we needed it. True big brothers.

"Do you want to stay the night?" He mumbled, pulling away.

She nodded, swiping her tears away. "I need to go get clothes from the pack house." She turned to me with a questioning glance. "If that is okay with you?"

"Of course!" I smiled. "We can watch Disney movies and have a slumber party tonight."

"That is a wonderful idea, Everly!" Atlas said, a bit too excited. It was concerning.

I raised my eyebrows at him and his smile left his face, trying not to be suspicious. "Is it a wonderful idea because you would like me to be distracted with her when your alter ego makes an appearance?"

"On that note, I will be right back." Artemis jumped up and hurried out of my room.

"She knows how to make an unexpected exit." Atlas completely side steps my question, but I was not going to just let it go.

I pulled the covers off of me and stood on the cold floor with my arms crossed over my chest. "Well?"

He sighed, looking up at me before standing. "Okay, I am sorry for talking to you that way last night. I have to run for a couple of hours every night."

"So you cursed at me over a nightly routine?" I scoffed, walking past him to my closet to get clothes out for the night. "Unbelievable."

"It is not like that, Everly. I swear." He tried to defend himself.

Looking around the hanging clothes, I sucked in a breath, realizing that I had been sleeping in only an old embarrassing 5 Seconds of Summer t-shirt and my underwear while I was away from home. Getting more annoyed by the millisecond because of his sorry excuse and me lacking any comfortable clothes for a sleepover, I turned to him with a growl. "Then what is it like, Atlas?"

"I was just in a rush, and I really did not mean to." He had a terrible time trying to hide the fact he was withdrawing information from me, but I could see it in the way his eyes moved away from my face.

"Right." I shut the closet door and walked over to the open bedroom door. "Well, come back when you decide to tell me the full truth and have an acceptable apology." I ordered, swinging my arm showing him the way out.

"Ev-,"

"Out."

He looked like a kid who just got five dollars stolen from him as he exited my room, but I was not giving into it.

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