Chapter Two

Atlas

I have been fighting against this since I can remember but now it’s too late. There is nothing left to fight anymore. My father and hers have made the decision and we are both expected to fall into place.

“This is ridiculous. Do you realize how out of touch this makes you seem?” I demand of my father. He sits behind the large oak monstrosity he calls a desk continuing with paperwork, not even giving me the courtesy of eye contact while he fucks up my entire life.

“I didn’t ask for your opinion on the matter,” he replies with no inflection in his voice. “You will obey my order. Your Alpha’s order.”

He states it like a fact. This mating is nothing more than a means to an end for him and I will do as I am told. He doesn’t care what this situation is doing to me, what it will cost me. I wonder if the female he has chosen for me is going through this same bullshit, or if she is happy to have her life laid out for her.

“So, I am to be mated to some lowly bitch from the Clover pack. Against my will.” I am acting like a petulant child but I can’t seem to help myself.

“Her name is Cathy Jackson. She is the Alpha’s omega daughter, not a lowly bitch,” he replies with a glare, finally looking at me for the first time since this conversation started. “And you will be mated on Saturday, before both our packs, or there will be hell to pay.”

“And if I don’t fall in line? What then, Father?” I challenge, letting my anger take the lead.

He chuckles without humor. “Don’t test me, Atlas. I have other sons.”

He doesn’t say anything else or even look at me, instead returning to the paperwork on his table. Effectively dismissed, I leave his office. I can’t believe this is really happening. Since I can remember, I have been betrothed to a female I have never met. It’s not that she lives hundreds of miles away, just that I’ve never had any interest in getting to know her. My heart has always belonged to Jana. We have been a couple since our first year of high school, and I love her with everything I am. For a time, I even believed she would be my fated mate when the time came. But we turned eighteen and the bond just wasn’t there.

Not that it mattered to either of us. We would be mated by choice, if not by fate. Jana is my everything and I am hers.

But now I am tasked with finding her and breaking her heart—the one person I never wanted to hurt.

Walking through the compound, I wave at other pack members, smiling at the children running around, kicking a ball. Life in the Dagger pack is good and peaceful. We haven’t had any problems with outsiders or hunters for years. Our pack is strong and our Alpha—my father—rules with an iron fist, making sure it stays that way.

I’ve considered taking Jana and making a run for it, but she wouldn’t survive without a pack. Some of us are built to be one of many and she would fade away on her own. I couldn’t do that to her.

I find the only woman I have ever loved sitting under a large elm tree in front of her parents’ house. She may already be twenty-four years old but until she is mated, she will remain with them, unless she leaves the pack. Just something more to prove my point. I moved out of my parents’ place the moment I could, but not Jana.

I watch her deep chestnut hair shine in the fading rays of sunshine, her head bent over whatever book she is reading. Sitting beside her, I take in the beauty that has captured me since day one. Her creamy, pale skin, the jut of her chin, the elegant slope of her neck, and the curve of her full breasts barely contained in the pretty yellow sundress.

My cock awakens behind the zipper of my jeans and a bastard thought flashes through my mind. Should I fuck her one last time before telling her the truth?

No. This needs to end now. I don’t want to hurt her any more than necessary.

“Atlas.” She smiles brightly, closing her book before kissing me deeply.

I allow the moment to linger for longer than I should, but if this is my last time I get to feel her full lips against mine, I want to savor it.

Pulling away, I stare into her hazel eyes.

“My mating ceremony has been set,” I blurt out the truth, ripping off the proverbial Band-Aid instead of dragging this out. “On Saturday. My father has decided.”

Shock and pain flash across her face before she lowers her gaze, trying to hide the reaction from me and failing miserably. She couldn’t keep the truth from me if she tried. I know her better than she knows herself. I wait for long moments for her to say something.

“Isn’t there anything we can do?” she asks brokenly, tears spilling from her eyes when she faces me again.

“No. I will be fully mated to another woman.” I give her the truth, even though the words taste bitter. “My father needs me to mate with this omega to strengthen our pack.”

“An omega?”

“Yes. She is the only daughter of their Alpha,” I say. I know it hurts her to know this stranger will be able to take my knot when she can’t. “Out mating will bind both packs forever.”

“I don’t want to lose you,” she hiccups. “This is so unfair.”

“I’m sorry.” The words are hollow and meaningless, but they are all I have.

Standing, I turn to walk away but Jana wraps her arms around my middle, stopping me in place.

“Do you have to tell her about me?” she whispers in my ear.

Shock courses through me. “You still want to be with me even if I have a mate?”

I turn to face her. I need to see her every reaction to gauge if she is being serious. It won’t be ideal, but it would work. Except for the initial mating, after the damn ceremony on Saturday, the only time I will have to be with my mate intimately is when she goes into her heat. The only issue is I know in my heart Jana won’t be able to handle something like that. She is built to be loved, cherished, and protected. She isn’t built to be the “other woman,” no matter how badly she wants to be. She won’t be able to handle being left on her own for days on end while I tend to my mate.

“I can’t stand the thought of you with anyone but me,” she says earnestly. “But if this is the only way to be with you, I want to try. She isn’t your fated mate either and I am the one who holds your heart, Atlas.”

“Jana,” I say sadly. “Your heart wouldn’t be able to bear it.”

“It’s my choice, Atlas. And I want to try.” A spark of anger shows itself.

I should tell her no and walk away. But like the petulant, spoiled child my father constantly accuses me of being, I think this will help me get my way.

“Whatever you want, Love. As long as I can still have you.”