The War of Atlas

Shopping

Griffin

"Are you really not going to give my brother pups?" Khione asked from behind me after the men left the dining hall. "He has always wanted pups, and I think he would be a great father."

I sighed loudly and turned to her. "I don't want my entire life of achievements to be summed up by how many pups I push out of me. I want more to my life than motherhood." My tone was a little harsher than I intended. I felt guilty when Khione looked down at her infant.

"Is that what you think of me? My whole life is my pup?" She held Benjamin to her chest.

"The first things anyone has said to me here is about how many pups I want or when are we having pups. No one has asked anything about who I am as a person. No one has asked about my achievements or even my favorite color. Just 'when are you having pups?'" I turned away from her. "I am not the motherly type of woman. I guess because my mother died when I was six."

Khione sniffled. "I was six when my mother died, too. Atlas was sixteen, and Zephyr was ten. Atlas had to become the alpha while also raising Zephyr and me."

"I'm sorry." I sighed heavily. "Where is Zephyr?"

"He is away at college. He is going to business school so he can help Atlas run the pack businesses. Zephyr is brilliant about with things like that." She explained.

"And you Khione, what do you want to do with your life?" I asked her, and she looked confused. She looked at her pup and then at me.

"I am the Beta Female. It's my duty to give my beta mate an heir and to take care of his pups. And I also am supposed to help you with Luna duties." She explained.

I rolled my eyes. "If you weren't the Beta Female? Then what?"

She shrugged. "I never really thought about it. I was just taught that my role was to be a mother and a good mate. I mean I like to paint and sing. But Atlas and my Uncle Glenn told me that I need to focus on being a good mother and mate."

"Who is your Uncle Glenn?" I asked her.

"He is my mother's brother. He helped Atlas raised Zephyr and me. However, Atlas kicked him out of the pack about two years ago. Uncle Glenn tried to shame Zephyr for being gay, and Atlas wouldn't hear it. He said Zephyr is our brother no matter who he is in love with."

My eyebrows raised at that. At least my mate wasn't a homophobe. That was good to know. "Zephyr is gay?"

"I hope you are okay with that. Atlas gets angry if anyone says anything derogatory about it. He is kind of protective of him and me."

I shook my head. "No, I am cool with it."

"Well, I am going to go nurse Benji and then change my shirt. I'll meet you out in front in about twenty. Atlas will have a vehicle waiting for us." Khione explained

I nodded at her as she left the dining hall. I walked out and wandered around the bottom floor of the packhouse for a few minutes before deciding to sit in the TV room. There was a giant movie screen-sized TV on one side surrounded by huge couches. It had several video game systems with tons of games beside it. That made me miss my Call of Duty sessions with Aaron and Braedon. There were a couple of pool tables and an ice hockey table. I sat on one of the couches and turned on the TV. I wasn't much into TV. I ended up on SpongeBob Squarepants. It was one of my guilty pleasures. Aaron loved harping on me for watching the i***t sponge. But I loved him.

I watched for a few minutes in silence and then heard some snotty female voices enter the room. I spied three heavily made-up females wearing tight clothes. My olfactory senses told me they were probably the pack sluts. "Did you see the supposed female that is Alpha Atlas's mate?" One of the females said. She hadn't noticed me sitting in the room. She and the others sat at a table in the room.

"Oh, you mean the one who looks like a dyke?" A blonde said while checking herself out in a makeup mirror. She flipped her blonde hair. "My Atty will get tired of looking at that and come back to me."

I don't know why that made me angry. Eris growled in my head too. I wasn't that close to Atlas, but I felt possessive of him. 'Stupid mate bond.' My wolf laughed at me. Atlas made my blood boil and my skin tingle all at the same time.

"Maybe we should teach that b***h a lesson," One of the females brought me back to reality.

I decided I should put them in their place. I am the luna, after all. I stood up and looked over at the females. They all froze. "Good morning, ladies. What lesson is it you were going to teach me?" I said which popping my neck and flexing my fists.

"We were just joking, right, Tawny?" A redhead said to the blonde.

"Were you Tawny?" I asked the blonde. I could practically smell all of the d***s she has sucked as she opened her mouth.

"I don't see what Atty sees in you." Tawny sneered.

I shrugged. "I don't know either. I mean, I'm not wearing some tight revealing dress or gobs of makeup on my face. What could he possibly see in me? I mean, all we have is the mate bond going for us."

Tawny's eyes narrowed at me. "Atty likes it when I dress like this."

"I honestly don't care. If you want to dress like that, that is your choice. I am, however, curious about what lesson you want to teach me. Back at my home pack, there were females like you who kept trying to sabotage my cousin's mate because they thought he was theirs.

Braedon slept with a couple of females, and they thought that meant they would be luna."

"Braedon?" The redhead asked me. "Braedon Lockhart?"

I nodded. "Do you know him?"

"Well, my cousin lives in his pack, and she-"

"Is your cousin Dawn? Red hair like yours, big t**s?" The redhead nodded. "Oh yes, she was one of the ones that tried to drive Laila away from Braedon. But fortunately, it didn't work. And you three trying to drive Atlas and I apart won't work. He is doing that just fine on his own. He doesn't need help from his hoes." I told them all, and their mouths fell open.

"Atty loves me," Tawny whined in a high-pitched tone.

"Atlas doesn't love you, Tawny," Khione said from the doorway. "And he also said to quit calling him Atty. Only I am allowed to call him that." She stalked towards the females. Her son was in a car carrier she had in her hands. "And maybe Griffin can call him that but not you."

"Oh, piss off, Khione. You aren't special." Tawny sneered at my mate's sister.

"Do you always disrespect ranked members?" I asked Tawny. "Khione is not only the alpha's sister but also the Beta Female. And you are what exactly?"

Khione leaned towards me. "She's just a regular pack member. He Dad is a mechanic, and her mom is a secretary."

"Oh, interesting. Would your parents be proud of seeing how you are speaking to Khione?" I asked Tawny.

Her friend promptly stood up and scrambled out of the room.

Tawny kept the sneer on her face. "Don't act like you are anything special, Griffin. You are just another quick screw. When Atlas is done with you, I'll be right back to be his number one."

"Hey, if you want to be piss, that's cool. I am nothing special either, so no acting. I may be yesterday's news in the not-so-distant future, but for now, I am the alpha's mate. And I will not tolerate disrespect. You want to have delusions of grandeur, oh well. I can't stop that. But any threats towards me or disrespect towards Khione will be taken seriously and punished. Do I make myself clear?" I asked in my royal alpha tone. Tawny's eyes bugged out of her head as she stiffened. "Oh right. I forgot to mention I am of royal alpha blood, so my tone holds more power than Atty's." I smirked.

Tawny tilted her head and showed me her neck. "You are clear," She mumbled.

"Good, now you may leave." I dismissed her. She quickly left the room, and Khione busted out laughing.

"You know, you are going to be a great luna," Khione said to me.

"I don't know about that, Khione. I never pictured myself as a luna." I told her, and she put her arm around me and began to lead me out of the TV room.

"Well, you know the Goddess paired you with my brother for a reason. At first, I wondered what that reason was, but I am starting to see it," She told me as we walked down the hall.

"What reason do you think it is?" I asked her. I was curious even though I knew the reason. My asshole father paired me with Atlas, not Selene.

"To show my brother that females aren't weak. That we can hold our own in a fight." She explained.

"I thought you were okay with the status quo of raising pups and being a good mate," I c****d my head.

She laughed. "I am. But not all of the females feel the same as me. Ask Tracy. That's Gamma Dalton's mate. Tracy was a warrior at her old pack, and she wanted to continue when she came here, but of course, Atlas wouldn't allow it. She was like you and had a hard time adjusting."

We walked outside, and there was a black hummer limo waiting in front of the house. A driver stepped towards us. "Luna, Miss Khione," The driver bowed and opened the door.

"This is Francis. He is Atlas's driver," Khione introduced the driver.

I held out a hand to Francis. "You can call me Griffin, Francis."

Francis chuckled dryly. "I'm afraid Alpha will have my head if I do that."

Khione slid into the limo first and buckled Benjamin's car seat in. I followed behind her, and Francis shut the door behind us. Francis got into his seat and looked back at us. "Mall, Francis."

He nodded. "Of course, Miss Khione," He started the limo, and Khione rolled up the partition.

"I think it's dumb that your brother doesn't allow females to train. Was your father like that?" I asked her.

"I think so. Or that's what Zephyr and Atlas tell me. I don't remember him. I do remember him being quite strict, especially with Atlas," She replied.

"Not letting the females train leaves half of the pack unprotected. At the Mars Ulta Pack, my uncle makes everyone learn self-defense at the very least, even the omegas. Atlas doesn't believe any hostiles would ever make it far enough into the pack to hurt anyone but warriors. But I think it's stupid." I explained to Khione.

She took a deep breath. "Rogue hybrids attacked my mother near the school while Zephyr watched. He was ten. He tried to protect our mother. She was nearly dead when our father finally reached them. I'm sure you are aware that if your mate gets seriously injured, then you will feel it," Khione explained. I nodded. "Anyways, my father was weakened by my mother's pain, and he was unable to fight off the hybrids. Zephyr thinks if my mother knew how to fight, then she and my father would still be alive."

"That may be true. Poor Zephyr. My mother was killed by hybrids also. She died trying to save a scout troop that had wandered too far from the trail they were hiking on,' I explained to her. "My mother was a warrior through and through. I think that's what attracted my father to her."

"Will you teach me self-defense, Griffin?" Khione asked.

I lifted an eyebrow. "Really?"

She looked at her son. "I want to be able to protect my son. I don't want what happened to my mother to happen to me. I may not be privy to battle details, but I hear my brother and Jed talking about the hybrids and how they are getting worse. I'm not stupid," She sighed.

"Maybe we'll figure something out," I replied to her.

"There is a big room on the third floor of the women's gym that no one ever uses.

We can use that."

I patted her arm. I found myself actually liking being around Khione. I didn't get along with many females. At first, I thought Khione and I wouldn't get along, but the more time I spent with her, the more I liked her. "Do you think they'll let us use it?"

Khione snorted and rolled her eyes. "Um, hello," She gestured to me. "Luna."

"Right," I chuckled. "I guess I'll teach you self-defense under the guise of you teaching me how to be a luna."

Khione laughed out loud at that. "Men are dumb, and they won't suspect a thing."

"Your mate won't notice you getting stronger?" I asked her.

The limo stopped in front of the mall, and Francis held the door for us to exit. About six warriors were surrounding the limo as we got out. "Isn't this overkill?" I mumbled.

Khione snorted while Francis helped her with a stroller for Benjamin. "Nah, my brother is just making sure we stay safe. We aren't in our territory anymore."

"Oh." I hadn't noticed that we had left the Titan Mountain territory.

"You ladies have fun," Francis held up a debit card and handed it to me. "Alpha asked me to give this to you."

I took the card from him, and it was some fancy platinum thing with my name engraved on it. "How did he get my name on it so fast?"

"We own most of the banks in this region," Khione chimed in as we walked into the mall.

"Oh."

Khione giggled. "Where should we start?"

"I don't know," I replied as I looked around.

"You don't like shopping, do you?" Khione asked me.

I shook my head vigorously. "No, I sure don't. Not that it doesn't stop my aunts from dragging me to malls, especially Aunt Syd."

"How many aunts do you have?" Khione asked as we started in the direction of a store.

"Well, technically only one. My Aunt Lynette is my Uncle Landon's mate and the Luna of Mars Ulta. Aunt Syd is my cousin. But she was close to my mother when they were pups," I explained. "Of course, you would know my Aunt Syd as Queen Sydney."

Khione's eyes widened. "You call the queen Aunt Syd?"

I nodded. "And the king, Uncle Roddy."

She giggled again. "I love it."

We walked into some fancy store full of dresses, and I groaned out loud. "Khione, I hate dresses."

"Yeah, but Atty wants you to wear a dress for tonight." She started rummaging through the dresses. "He said you wore a dress the other night at the palace."

"That was Aunt Syd's doing," I just stood awkwardly next to her. I felt utterly uncomfortable in this store. I wanted to leave.

A woman with black hair walked towards us dressed in a high fashion outfit. "Khione!" The woman greeted my mate's sister. She opened her arms, and Khione hugged her. "Oh my goodness. You brought the baby." The woman directed her eyes to a sleeping Benjamin and started cooing. "He is gorgeous."

"Thank you, Claudia. I named him Benjamin after my father," Khione replied to the woman.

"Your brother was okay with that? I remember that was what he wanted to name his first son," Claudia glanced at me and looked me up and down.

"Of course, he is okay with it." Khione smiled and gestured to me. "Claudia, I know you don't get into the packhouse often, so you probably haven't heard the big news."

Claudia sniffed the air and tilted her head.

"This is Griffin, Atlas's mate." Khione introduced me.

I held out a hand to Claudia, and she lightly clasped it. "Nice to meet you. I am Claudia. Atlas and I go way back. He and I used to- "She trailed off. "Well, hook up. But that stopped when I met my mate."

"Oh, well, I'm sure at his age Atlas has had his share of females. And I am not exactly chaste myself," I told Claudia.

"Claudia, Griffin needs a dress for tonight. Atty wants to make the official announcement for her, and well, he wants it to be in style." Khione explained. "Except Griffin hates dresses."

Claudia looked me up and down. "What do you think about jumpsuits? We have a bunch that look like dresses but aren't."

"Yes!" I blurted out, making both women jump and laugh.

"Follow me," Claudia smirked. I followed her deeper into the store. "What is your favorite color?" She asked while looking me up and down. "You were a warrior in your old pack, weren't you?"

I nodded. "Yeah, how can you tell?"

Claudia snorted. "You look like one. It's a shame we aren't allowed to train here. I always wanted to learn how to fight. But it's not allowed. My mate has taught me some moves. He is a border guard."

"Oh, that must be hard," I told her.

She shrugged. "Michael is really strong, but yeah. I worry about him constantly. We have a six-year-old daughter, and I would hate for her to lose her Daddy." She stopped at a rack and began going through it.

"My favorite color is red." I blurted out.

She stopped. "Huh?"

"You asked my favorite color. It's red.

Like blood."

Claudia and Khione both laughed. "Well, alright then." Claudia pulled a few jumpsuits from the rack and shoved them into my arms. "Try those on."

"But how do you know my size?"

"Claudia is gifted. She can guess anyone's size just by looking at them," Khione chimed in just a Benjamin began to cry. "Oh shoot. He's hungry."

Claudia shoved me towards the dressing rooms, and I closed the door. I looked at the jumpsuits she had given me and started to try them on. I walked out in the first one I put on. It was a little too low cut in the front for my taste. Khione was sitting on a chair nursing Benjamin and chatting with Claudia.

They both looked up and smiled.

"That looks great on you," Khione said to me.

"It's a little too low cut in the front for me," I said to them.

Claudia had her arms folded. "I agree. Atlas won't like you showing off your t**s like that."

I snorted and walked back into the dressing room. Like hell, I was going to let Atlas dictate what I wore. I put on another jumpsuit and immediately knew it was the one. It had a v-neck front that was a bit low cut, but my breasts weren't hanging out. It was a deep red color, and the legs flared only slightly. A silvery belt finished it off. I walked out, and the girls both clapped. "I love it."

"Then that's the one." Khione declared.

"So, does that mean we don't have to do any more shopping?" I asked, and Khione laughed her ass off.

"Oh, Griffin. I will make a shopaholic out of you yet." Khione walked over to me. Benjamin was back in the stroller, now sleeping.

"I doubt it. My aunts couldn't convince me," I laughed.

She put her arm around my waist. "I'm sure. Its different when you are shopping with older family members. But trust me, I'll wear you down." She laughed loudly and woke the baby. "Dammit."

I laughed at that and went back into the dressing room. I paid for my outfit when I came out, and then Khione dragged me to a few more stores. She bought a bunch of stuff for herself, stating she needed 'post-pregnancy outfits. She broke me down and got me to buy a pair of silver stilettos to wear with my jumpsuit. I was already 6'2". It made me laugh, thinking it would make me almost as tall as Atlas and taller than most of the guys.

We got home a few hours later, and Khione took me up to the room I shared with Atlas and gave me a tutorial on makeup and hair. "I know you hate makeup too, but I'll show you how to make it look natural and fresh."

I was pleased with her work in the end. She even helped me with my hair and then disappeared to get dressed. I sat in the room waiting for Atlas to come to get me. I hadn't seen him since breakfast, and for some reason, I missed him. I know Eris missed him also. The scent of tequila caught my senses right at the door opened. I stood up from the couch and faced my mate. He looked me up and down and smirked while stepping towards me.

He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me to him. "You look beautiful." He said and then pressed his lips to mine.