Chapter 7
7
ATLAS
I grip the steering wheel a little tighter than necessary as we head to yet another crisis point.
The day has been non-stop.
First, the fire caused by the downed power line at the old Miller warehouse.
We contained it quickly, but not before it took out electricity to half the town.
Then, straight to the main intersection where the traffic lights went dark—directing angry drivers and keeping pedestrians from wandering into danger zones.
Now, dispatch is sending us to the other end of town, where some kind of crowd situation is developing during the festival.
The police are stretched thin with multiple incidents, so once again, we’re stepping in.
My shoulders ache from the tension of the day, but there’s no time to rest. Not yet.
“That woman in the red Subaru was about to run you over, Levi,” River declares from the passenger seat, still buzzing with the restless energy that never seems to leave him.
“I swear she gunned the engine when you turned your back.”
“I noticed,” Levi replies dryly from the back seat.
“That’s why I moved.”
“Should’ve written down her license plate,” River continues, drumming his fingers on his thigh.
“Could look her up, leave some flaming dog shit on her porch?—”
“We’re not doing that,” I cut in, though the corner of my mouth twitches despite myself.
“That’s called arson, and we’re supposed to prevent that, not cause it.”
“Spoilsport,” River grumbles, but I catch his grin in my peripheral vision.
“I was thinking of it more as a public service. A little warning to the community about a menace on the roads.”
“Your civic dedication is touching,” Levi deadpans.
“Speaking of touching,” River pivots, and I immediately tense, sensing where this is going, “I had an interesting moment with our guest before we left.”
“Is that what we’re calling the soap explosion?” I ask, trying to divert what I know is coming.
“A minor mishap,” River waves dismissively.
“But before that... Atlas, I’m telling you, she’s my scent match.”
I nearly miss the turn onto Main Street, my hands tightening on the wheel.
“River?—”
“Don’t,” he snaps, suddenly serious.
“You felt it too… I know you did. When you carried her out of that house last night? Your scent changed. You’re usually all to asted sugar, maple, and woodsmoke. She’s vanilla and honey. But together?” He exhales sharply.
“You smelled like the perfect toasted marshmallow. Like you blended. I noticed. Levi noticed. Hell, she noticed, too. She’s just too scared to admit it.”
“We barely know her,” I counter, but even to my own ears, it sounds weak.
“You don’t need to know someone to recognize a scent match,” River argues.
“That’s the whole point. It’s biological. Primal.” He turns to look at Levi in the back seat.
“Back me up here, Mr. Science.”
Levi shifts uncomfortably.
“Scent compatibility is a documented phenomenon. The research suggests it relates to genetic diversity and complementary immune systems.”
“See?” River points triumphantly.
“Levi agrees with me.”
“I didn’t say I do,” Levi corrects.
“I simply stated biological facts.”
“Your scent changed, too, when you shook her hand,” River counters.
“Don’t think I didn’t notice that little inhale you did, the way your pupils dilated. Classic Alpha response to a compatible Omega.”
“Are you done with your little biology lesson?” I interject, annoyed at how accurately River has pinpointed what I’ve been trying to ignore.
“Not even close,” River grins, undeterred.
“Because here’s my proposal… we ask her to move in with us at the cabin.”
I nearly swerve the truck.
“What? ”
“In the woods,” he clarifies, as if that was the part I found confusing.
“She should move in with us at the cabin. She’s my scent match, almost certainly yours too, and probably Levi’s by the way he’s been pretending not to stare at her all day.”
“I don’t stare,” Levi protests weakly.
“You absolutely do,” River shoots back.
“Like you’re trying to solve a particularly challenging equation, and she’s the answer.”
Levi falls silent, which is as good as an admission from him.
“You can’t be serious,” I say, though I know he is.
River doesn’t joke about pack matters, despite his generally lighthearted approach to life.
“Dead serious,” he confirms. “Look, the cops are swamped. You heard what the chief said tonight. They’ve got their hands full with three separate arson investigations plus that string of break-ins on the east side. They’re not going to resolve Emma’s case anytime soon.”
“So, she stays at the station a bit longer,” I counter.
“It’s secure, comfortable enough?—”
“For a few days, sure,” River interrupts.
“But we’re talking weeks, maybe months. You want her living in that spare room that long? With volunteers and shift workers coming and going at all hours? Especially when she’s a perfect match for us?”
Fuck, I hate that he has a point, but I’m not ready to concede it.
“She made it pretty clear she’s not interested in Alphas, River. Any Alphas. Inviting her to live with three of us is hardly going to make her feel safer.”
“She said the same to me,” River admits, surprising me with his honesty.
“But she’s afraid. Someone she trusted betrayed her. Of course, she’s wary.”
“All the more reason not to push,” Levi interjects, ever the voice of reason.
“I’m not saying we force her,” River argues, twisting in his seat to look at both of us.
“I’m saying we offer a safer alternative. Where is she going to go otherwise when there are no accommodations left in town? At least at the cabin, we’d know she’s protected. I sure as fuck don’t want her at the station unless one of us is there all the time,” he continues, passion bleeding into his voice.
“And we can’t guarantee that with our schedules. The cabin is isolated, secure, and we’d always know who’s coming and going.
“Plus,” he adds with a mischievous grin.
“I could cook for her. You know my chili is better than whatever slop Hendricks is making tonight.”
“Your chili could be classified as a chemical weapon,” Levi mutters.
“You ate three bowls last time!” River exclaims, indignant.
“And regretted it for days afterward,” Levi replies.
“Lies and slander,” River sniffs.
I shake my head at their familiar bickering, but it doesn’t distract me from the real issue at hand.
“We’re getting off topic.”
“Right,” River agrees, sobering.
“Emma. Cabin. Protection. Scent match. All good reasons for her to stay with us instead of at the station. Plus, we were talking about taking a bit more time off… What better reason?”
A heavy silence falls in the truck as we consider his words.
I hate to admit it, but River’s making sense.
The thought of Emma alone at the station with just the volunteers for company unsettles something deep in my Alpha instincts.
The thought of her somewhere else, somewhere I can’t be certain of her safety, is even worse.
“He makes a good argument,” Levi says quietly, surprising me.
He’s usually the most cautious of us three.
“Hell, yeah, I do,” River says, satisfaction evident in his voice.
“This is the most sense I’ve made all year. Mark the date.”
“It’s not a high bar to clear,” Levi deadpans.
“Ouch,” River clutches his chest. “Mr. Precise lands a direct hit. But seriously, Atlas, you know I’m right about this.”
I grind my teeth, thinking through the complications.
“And what happens when she realizes we’re not just offering protection? That we’re all... reacting to her?”
“You don’t think she’s noticed already?” River scoffs.
“She’s observant. She’s just choosing to ignore it because she’s scared.”
Levi makes a scoffing sound.
“You don’t think an Omega was going to just be easy, do you?” River challenges.
“Omegas are all afraid of us Alphas to some degree, especially if they’ve been hurt before. So, we have to show her she’s safe with us. That we’re angels.”
Levi bursts out laughing, the sound echoing in the confined space of the truck.
“We are the farthest thing from angels, and you know it.”
“Then, for her, we try,” River states with such conviction that I find myself glancing over at him.
“I mean, what’s more angelic than saving a damsel in distress from her burning tower? You’ve already got that part down, Chief,” River continues.
“Levi can be the brainy angel with his calculations and safety protocols. I’ll be the charming, devastatingly handsome angel who makes her laugh and feeds her excellent food that definitely won’t cause intestinal distress, no matter what certain killjoys might claim.”
He shoots a pointed look at Levi, who rolls his eyes but doesn’t hide his smile.
“You’ve already named yourself the handsome one? That’s a bit presumptuous,” Levi remarks.
“I didn’t hear you volunteering for the position,” River shoots back.
“Besides, we all know you’re the brainy one with those intense eyes and that whole ‘I could dismantle and rebuild this entire truck while explaining fluid dynamics’ vibe you’ve got going on.”
“I don’t have a vibe,” Levi protests.
“You absolutely do,” River insists.
“A very specific, very strong vibe that some people find extremely appealing. Right, Atlas?”
“Leave me out of this,” I mutter, but I can’t help the amusement that creeps into my voice.
These two idiots are my pack, my family, and despite the seriousness of the situation, they still manage to make me feel lighter.
“The point,” I redirect, “is that we need to consider Emma’s feelings in all this. Not just our own instincts or preferences.”
“Absolutely,” River agrees, too quickly.
“Her comfort, her safety, her happiness… all priorities.”
I eye him suspiciously.
“You’re being very accommodating.”
“That’s me,” River murmurs innocently.
“Just ask that family we rescued from the mudslide last spring. I carried their Yorkie five miles while telling it bedtime stories.”
“You told that dog dirty jokes,” Levi corrects.
“I heard you.”
“It was an adult dog,” River shrugs.
“And it laughed.”
“It was whimpering in terror,” Levi sighs.
“Agree to disagree,” River waves dismissively.
“The point is, I can be sensitive to others’ needs. And Emma needs us, whether she’s ready to admit it or not.”
I’ve known River for years, seen him through countless fires, pack formation, the worst and best of times.
He’s always been passionate, but there’s something different in his voice now—a certainty, a determination I’ve rarely heard from him.
“You’re serious about this,” I say quietly, realization dawning.
“This isn’t just about protection for you.”
River meets my gaze steadily, no trace of his usual flippant manner.
“No, it’s not. There’s something about her, Atlas. Something that calls to me. To all of us, if you’d just admit it.”
I focus back on the road, unwilling to confirm or deny his assertion, but the truth is, he’s right.
From the moment I sat next to Emma on the plane, something clicked into place, a recognition that went beyond simple attraction or protective instinct.
I just hadn’t expected River to feel it so strongly, too.
Or to act on it so quickly.
“Even if I agreed,” I say carefully.
“How would we approach this? We can’t just say, ‘Hey, come live with three Alphas you barely know in an isolated cabin in the woods’. That sounds like the setup for a horror movie, not a safety plan.”
“Or the beginning of a very different kind of movie,” River suggests with a waggle of his eyebrows.
“River,” I warn.
“Sorry, sorry,” he backpedals, though he doesn’t look sorry at all.
“It doesn’t have to be creepy. We just present it as a practical solution. Better security, more comfortable living arrangements, home-cooked meals… who could resist?”
“We tell her it’s a temporary situation,” Levi suggests, always thinking three steps ahead.
“Until we can find her alternative accommodation that’s secure. Frame it as practical, not personal. ”
“Exactly!” River points at Levi triumphantly.
“We’d need to set boundaries,” I continue, finding myself oddly engaged with the logistics now that we’re discussing it as a real possibility.
“Clear rules. Her own space that’s completely private.”
“The east bedroom has that small sitting area attached. It would be perfect, like a mini-suite. We could clear our stuff out of there in an hour.”
I shoot him a suspicious look.
“You’ve thought about this in detail already, haven’t you?”
“Maybe,” he admits with a shameless grin.
“What can I say? I’m a planner.”
“Since when?” Levi snorts.
“Since about six hours ago,” River replies cheerfully.
“I think fast. Especially when beautiful Omegas with book scents and honey eyes are involved.”
“Hazel eyes,” Levi corrects automatically.
“Hazel with gold flecks when the light hits them just right,” River counters.
“I was paying very close attention.”
“We noticed,” I say dryly.
“Like you weren’t,” River challenges.
“I saw how you looked at her when you thought no one was watching, Chief. That protective Alpha stance whenever anyone else came near her.”
I don’t bother denying it.
River knows me too well.
“Let’s say, hypothetically, we offer her this arrangement,” I say instead.
“What if she says no?”
“Then she says no.” River shrugs, though the tightness around his eyes says otherwise.
“We don’t force it. We figure out something else. But we have to at least offer her the option.”
“He’s right,” Levi says, surprising me again.
“Security-wise, it makes the most sense. And she’d be more comfortable in a real home than at the station long term.”
I consider their words as we turn onto the road that leads back to the station.
Part of me, the cautious, responsible part that’s kept us all alive through countless dangerous situations, is screaming that this is a mistake.
That bringing an unknown Omega into our space, especially one that triggers such intense responses in all of us, is asking for trouble.
But another part, the Alpha, the protector, can’t stand the thought of Emma vulnerable, alone, at risk from whoever burned her house down.
“Fine,” I relent finally.
“We can broach it with her gently. As a temporary solution only until we find her a more permanent safe situation.”
“Yes!” River pumps his fist in triumph.
“You won’t regret this, Chief.”
“I already regret it,” I mutter, but there’s no real conviction behind the words.
“And you’re not going to be the one to ask her. You have all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.”
“Hey!” River protests.
“I can be subtle.”
“You once tried to announce a surprise birthday party for Levi by setting off the station alarm,” I remind him dryly.
“It got everyone’s attention, didn’t it?” he grins unrepentantly.
“And the look on his face was priceless. Total shock.”
“That was horror, not surprise,” Levi clarifies.
“I thought the station was on fire while I was in the shower.”
“Details,” River waves dismissively.
“The point is, it was memorable.”
“My point exactly,” I say.
“I’ll talk to her. Calmly and rationally, with no pressure.”
“Fine, but I get to help set up her room,” River negotiates.
“We’ll all help,” Levi interjects.
“If she agrees.”
“She will,” River says with that same strange certainty.
“She belongs with us, even if she doesn’t know it yet.”
The intensity of his conviction makes me glance at him again.
“Don’t push her, River. I mean it. She’s been through enough.”
“I wouldn’t,” he admits, suddenly serious.
“I know what it’s like to be pushed into something against your will. I’d never do that to her. But I also know what it’s like to find where you belong after thinking you never would. She deserves that chance.”
The reference to his past, to the correction facilities his parents sent him to, makes me soften.
For all his bravado, River knows pain intimately.
It’s easy to forget that sometimes, behind his perpetual good humor.
“Okay,” I nod. “I’ll talk to her tonight, but we’re presenting this as a practical, temporary solution, not some pack-bonding opportunity. Clear?”
“Crystal,” River agrees, a little too quickly for my comfort.
“Though I can’t promise I won’t charm her with my culinary skills and winning personality in the process.”
“I mean it,” I insist, pinning him with my gaze at a stop sign.
“No pressuring, no... whatever it was you were doing in the laundry room earlier.”
River has the grace to look slightly abashed.
“That was... unplanned. But noted. I’ll be on my best behavior.”
“For what it’s worth,” Levi offers quietly, “I think this could be good. For all of us.”
His unexpected support makes me pause.
Levi isn’t given to impulse decisions.
If he sees merit in this plan, perhaps I should trust it more than I do.