Chapter XVI

I had stayed in my room for the rest of the time Artemis was gone. I obviously would not be mad forever, but I was not allowing him to speak to me like that and think a lame excuse and a "sorry" would make me forget. Artemis was taking forever to get here, and I was starting to grow hungry when the clock strikes 8p.m.

The front door slammed closed, hopefully indicating Atlas had left. There was only one way to find out. I slid off my bed and tiptoed down the steps and, much to my pleasure, Atlas was nowhere to be seen. I grinned widely and skipped to the fridge. Swinging the door open, it met me with emptiness. "What the freak, man!" I hollered in frustration as Artemis walked in the house.

"Woah now, lower the claws!" She joked and held up a bag. "I have come prepared."

I exhaled in delight, going towards her to help her carry in the food. "You are my favorite Lycurgus, I swear."

"Oh, I am so telling my Dad." she teased, resulting in me lightly smacking her arm after putting the bag of food on the marble island. "Atlas leave already?"

"Yup." I said, popping the 'p' and pulled out a water bottle from the bag and a bag of Cheetos. "Why does he go on runs every night? Is it a patrol thing?"

Artemis stiffened for a moment, but smiled, taking a seat on a stool. She plopped a cheeto in her mouth and patted the seat next to her. I jumped up onto the stool assigned by her and waited for the explanation.

"He says that he just likes night runs, but Dad and I know better. Our Mother was killed when he was eight. A vampire slipped through our warriors and came to our house. It was during the time the vamps were trying to take over and they were taking out the pack's lunas. I was, luckily, staying with Declan and his sister that night. Atlas was not so lucky. Ever since then, Atlas has not been the same. When he gained Helix, he was never able to grasp control over him." She paused and rolled up the bag up of Cheetos before continuing. "So nightly runs are purely for our safety. For checking for intruders and there is no telling how Atlas would be if Helix did not get let out every night. That wolf is a nightmare, but he is not a complete monster. He cares, he is just an animal, so sometimes he is really harsh."

Once she was done with her story, I sat there, stunned. I whimpered out a bit at the pain I could only imagine he felt at such a young age. I felt like a total asshole.

Celeste mumbled, clearly upset about what our Mate had been through.

I tell her, returning my attention back to Artemis. "I am so sorry." I give her a side hug, trying not to get Cheeto dust on her.

She shook her head at me and pulled away with a smile. "It is okay. I barely remember any of it. I am just happy my Dad made it through the breaking of the mate bond when she passed."

When the mate bond severs, depending on how much the mates had bonded and the wolf's strength, the surviving mate can die. It was terrifying, but comforting at the same time.

"I am too. He is a really sweet guy." I agreed and licked the dust off my fingers.

"Is that what you are wearing tonight?" She asked me, now opening a can of Pringles.

I looked down at the outfit I had worn all day. "It is either this or that romper I got today." I told her, frowning.

"Wait here." She laughed and walked out of the room.

There was no telling what she was up to, so I just continued on eating the junk food she had taken from the pack house.

Footsteps traveled from the second floor down to the first and out came Artemis through the doorway into the kitchen. "I got something for you." She had her hands behind her back.

This made me a bit nervous, so I just held out my hands, expecting her to have an old pajama set of hers. Instead, she pushed a large pair of dark gray sweatpants and a huge t-shirt into them.

The surrounding air filled with Atlas' scent. It nearly consumed me, but Artemis' clapping and giggling roped me into reality again. "Go change!"

"Artemis.." I whined and pushed them back into her arms.

"Do not Artemis me. You will be so comfy and Atlas will be on his knees when he gets home, begging for forgiveness." She pushed them into my palms once more.

"I already forgave him. I should be the one apologizing." I mutter out, setting the clothing on the counter.

She made a disgusted face and gasped, "oh hell no. Trauma is not an excuse to treat people shitty, when they have done absolutely nothing wrong. You are owed an apology and an explanation from his own mouth. Go get changed."

She was right. I knew she was right, but I couldn't help but to feel slightly bad after she told me about his past. I stood anyway and went to my room to change.

After I was done and discarded my dirty clothes into the appropriate basket, I basked in his scent. It was warm and wrapped around me. I felt light and like I could sleep for a million years. The shirt fell about mid-thigh on me so I tucked the back into the sweatpants that were rolled at the waist and ankles.

I pulled out makeup wipes and proceeded to get rid of all of it on my face before throwing my hair into a bun.

"Everly!" a voice whispered from my bedroom doorway, startling me. I jumped and saw Artemis smirking.

"Yes?" I whispered back, mocking her.

She rolled her eyes and entered. "Atlas is outside talking to a warrior." She then brought up her hand revealing a container of playing cards. "Get on the bed and act like we are playing cards. Move it!" She whispered yelled, making me do what she said.

We placed ourselves on the bed, sitting right across from each other. Our sides were in front of my door that was left wide open. Artemis spread out the cards and handed me some, making it seem like we were in the middle of a game.

I can not believe I am going along with this.

Cel laughed.

I ignored her when the front door opened and closed. "Girls?" Atlas called from downstairs.

"Up here!" We both said at the same time, making us laugh.

I was nervous, but Cel was radiating confidence, so I just leaned on that for a crutch. I wish I could just poof some different clothes on.

He walked into view, and I nearly died on the spot. He had nothing but a pair of basketball shorts on. Full bare chest, arms, and abs on display. "What are you two doing?"

Artemis picked up that I was in a trance and lightly flicked my fingers that were gripping my cards. "Playing cards. What are you doing?"

"Just went on a run-." He stopped his sentence and looked at me. His eyes widened and darkened a bit as he took in my form sitting on my bed. His lips parted like he was going to say something, but quickly clamped them together again until he regained his composure. "I- I'm going to go to take a shower, um." He ripped his eyes off of me and stared at the floor. "We can watch a movie afterwards."

"That sounds great, doesn't it Everly?" Artemis said, grinning like a chester cat.

"Yeah, sounds great." If I was not mistaken, it looked like he shivered when I spoke. This brought a smirk to my lips, knowing I had the same effect on him as he had on me in these moments. "We should be done with this game by then."

"Great. Um. Good." Atlas gives a thumbs up and scurries off.

His bedroom door closes, that was the room across the hall from mine, and we lose our shit. Artemis toppled over and tried her best to silently laugh while I bit my lip until it almost bled, trying not to burst out in a fit with her.

"That was so good," she whispers and high fives me.

"I know, right?" I sniffled a laugh and helped her clean up the cards.

When they were in their container, she pulled me close and whispered in my ear. "Do you want to see what I used to do to him when he would babysit me?"

"Absolutely." I grin and follow her out my door. She placed her finger on her lips and then to her ear, signaling me to use my hearing to make sure the shower was running.

I nodded my head, and we continued down the stairs. She waved me on when we hit an unfamiliar door. I raised a brow at her and she just pushed me through it.

It had more steps, so we went down them. She flipped on a light switch, revealing a basement filled with workout equipment. I looked at all of it in awe and did not see Artemis walk across the room to a water heater.

Oh, I get it now.

The shower was still running, judging by the sounds I was still hearing from upstairs. She twisted a knob, turning off the hot water. "Run! Get to the couch!"

We both shot off like bats out of hell, waiting for the remaining heated water to run out. She leaped over the couch and sat down like she had been there the whole time, scrolling through movies and I flew to the love seat, pulling out my phone.

We both acted casually, waiting for some kind of response, but none came and the shower was still running. We both looked at each other.

"Is he immune to the cold?" I dropped my face into a frown.

She shook her head 'no.' "Definitely not. This last winter he cried like a baby every day. He is probably already taking a cold shower. Bummer."

I sighed, agreeing with her until it hit us.

"EW!" she exclaimed, and I was blushing furiously. "I am never suggesting this again." She pointed to the clothing I wore.

I felt like dying at that exact moment. "I should change."

"No, no, no! You are not changing. This means it is working, so just sit and scroll on your phone. Look as innocent as possible. We are not admitting to anything!"

"Alrighty, partner." I snorted, picking my phone up from my lap.

The shower shut off a few moments later, and we were acting like we had been sitting here the entire time.

"So, what are we watching?" Atlas said hand drying his hair with a towel sitting down next to me on the loveseat.

This man was a God. A God, I tell you!

He wore basically exactly what I had on, only it fit him. He looked better than any other time I had seen him. His hair was messy and wet, falling on his forehead and he looked so relaxed now that he was out of the sophisticated suits he wears every day.

"I do not know. I haven't found anything yet." She smiled at my gawking "Everly, do you want to watch Star Wars?"

"Absolutely the fuck not." Atlas gruffed, leaning back into the couch with a scold.

"Awe, why not?" I poked fun at him, snickering.

His face held relief when he looked towards me. His face lifted up to a grin and rolled his eyes playfully. "Maybe because I did not enjoy being called Chewy for an hour and a half straight when you were drunkly talking in your sleep."

"I like the name." Artemis said, still scrolling through the movies. "It fits your personality. I mean, you are always yelling and you make about as much sense as he does."

Atlas rolled his eyes at her and chucked a throw pillow at her, which she dodged with a laugh.

"How about The Nun?" she suggested, switching from Disney Plus to some other streaming platform.

"How did you go from Star Wars to The Nun?" Atlas wondered.

She shrugged. "I feel like watching something violent and scary. Any protest, Everly?"

"I have never seen it, so I guess not?" I said it was more of a question than a statement.

"What?!" she exclaimed. "How have you not seen this movie?"

"It is not in the criteria of being a good beta's daughter, I guess."

"Well, it is to be a good sister-in-law. We are watching it!" She said clicking on the movie and it opens on the introduction.

"Goddess, I am going to have both of you on me by the time this thing is a quarter way through." Atlas poked at the both of us.

"Whatever, I know this movie like the back of my hand." Artemis dismissed him. "Just worry about your girl over there."

About an hour later, Atlas was passed out with his head tilted back on the love seat and I changed the movie when Artemis went to sleep as well. It was very nerve-wracking and there was no way I was watching it by myself. I turned on something just to take my mind off of that stupid nun.

I was starting to be consumed by the movie I randomly selected when Atlas twitched beside me. My eyes scanned him with concern when the twitching became small whimpers coming from his lips. Whatever he was dreaming about, it was not pleasant. I reached up my hand to wake him, but Celeste growled stiffly at me.

I hummed in understanding, but I had no idea what to do. Celeste groaned and nudged me out of control, and I let her. I trusted her not to do anything stupid.

She placed a pillow up against the arm of the couch and pulled her legs onto the couch. She faced him, then went to guide him to her as another set of whimpers.

Celeste gulped and reached forward again, grabbing him by the arms. He seemed to wake up a bit but just enough to follow her direction, which led him laying his head on my stomach. Within a second, he snuggled closer into me and pulled his legs onto the couch.

Soft breathing met my ears, alerting us that he was sound asleep. She gave me control again shortly after that. I felt the power to move my limbs come back. My eyelids felt so heavy with him laying on me. I was beyond cozy and warm, this was absolute heaven.

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