''You okay love?'' Theo asks, his voice filled with concern.

''I don't know really,'' I can't stop fidgeting; the council is coming here now, what are they going to do with me? Will they take me away? Will they kill me in front of my friends and family, in front of Theo?

''Athena calm down, we'll talk to them first okay? This is not your fault; you didn't ask for this. You're not a threat to anyone, '' Ethan says as he tries to calm me down but I can sense his nervousness too.

We are all standing by the borders facing the clearing, waiting for the council to arrive. Olivia, Mila, Hazel, Rachel and Cathy are by my side too. We are all on edge, I could sense Theo's nervousness and fear over the bond; fear of losing me, fear of the turnout of this unexpected confrontation we were about to have with the council.

''Where is Aiden, Nadia and your mom?'' I ask Theo worriedly as I look around and don't see them. 

''I arranged for them to leave, they will be passing through Benjamin's pack. A car is waiting to take them to a safe place, '' he explains hastily as we hear multiple cars coming to a stop at the high way. They're here.

Soon enough we see 5 men making their way to us, all dressed in formal suits and I raised my eyebrows in surprise. I honestly expected them to be in robes; but suits,hmm; not bad. An impressive smile makes its way on my face.

''These people are here to possibly kill you, and you're smiling? What, are you high Athena?'' Charles rebukes. 

''Nah, I was just imagining them in robes,'' I reply casually and Charles looks ahead and then chuckles, ''oh I see it, now.'' 

''Would you two stop it;this is no time to make jokes,'' Mila scolds and we straighten ourselves up.

The men come to a stop in front of us and Theo immediately grabs my hand. One of them follows Theo's actions and a fierce scowl appears on his face as he glares at us. I'm assuming that is Jonathan Jensen; Caleb's father.

''Jonathan,'' Theo says in a flat tone and gives him a subtle nod. ''Theo, it's been a while, ''he sneers.

''How can we be of service to you gentlemen?'' Theo asks in his calm, full of authority voice.

''We understand that you have found your mate and that she is an alpha female,'' another man says; he is tall and has blond hair and bright green eyes. He looks like the leader of the council men.

''Yes, that is true, Alexander and here she is. You can talk to her, ''Theo says and gestures towards me. I take a step forward and see Jonathan visibly gulp and take a step back. He's scared of me. Good; he should be and I smirk at him.

''Hello, I'm Athena Robinson,'' I introduce myself and extend my hand towards Alexander, his face doesn't hide the look of surprise.

''Well aren't you a brave one, little girl,'' he says with a laugh. Little girl! Who is this guy? I'm a little girl to him, seriously!

''Ahemm, with all due respect sir but I'm not a little girl, '' I say in a confident voice and he laughs loud again. 

''of course, you're not. I'm just surprised how you lived this long without us knowing, '' he chides, all the laughter from his eyes now gone as he looks at me inquisitively.

The other council members exchange knowing looks. ''Tell me, Athena is it? Where are your parents? I'd like to have a word with them,'' he orders. 

Theo makes an attempt to come stand by me but Alexander stops him, ''ah ah ah Theo, stay right where you are boy, I'm talking to your mate, we don't need you at the moment, so just...'' and he shoos Theo away with his hands. I turn and give him a re-assuring smile which he returns.

''I'm right behind you love, you're doing well; I love you, '' he mind links me.

''I love you too, '' I reply back

''If you two are done mind-linking we'd very much like to know where your parents are Athena, we'd like to talk to them, '' another council man says sternly.

''I would reply faster Athena dear, see Howard here is not a patient man; he doesn't like waiting,'' Alexander says gesturing towards the tall guy with a bushy mustache.

''Our parents are on their way, they should be here soon, '' Ethan says behind me from the left.

''Well if it isn't the newly turned Alpha, Ethan isn't it? '' Alexander says as he eyes my brother from head to toe and licks his lips. I stare at him in shock and control my laughter. This guy is shamelessly checking out my brother.

Ethan shifts uncomfortably behind me as I hear him mumble a yes, when my mom's voice rings through the air. ''Where is she? Where is my Athena?''

''Ahhh, glad you could join us Victoria and Christopher. I was just asking your children about your whereabouts,'' Alexander says in a shrill voice.

''We are here now Alexander, you can talk to us, '' Dad says calmly and Alexander smirks evilly. A chill runs down my spine as he closes the distance and grabs dad by the throat.

''How has this girl lived all these years without us knowing,'' he sneers as dad attempts to get out of his hold. Theo and the others take a step forward to save dad but are stopped by the other councilmen. ''I wouldn't if I were you Theo, '' Jonathan snarls and he backs down.

''Your son-in-law is quite protective of you isn't he? '' Alexander chides as he lets go of dad.He stumbles to the ground as Mom and I rush to help him up.

 ''They're not married,'' dad replies in a raspy voice and Alexander claps his hand like a 5-year-old and giggles. ''Of course they're not, I didn't get an invite so it's obvious there was no wedding, '' he remarks and I resist the urge to roll my eyes at this guy. What a diva.

''Now where were we?'' He says. ''Ahh yes, so answer me Christopher,'' he continues and looks at dad.

''Athena ran away when she first turned and lived like a normal human,'' dad says and Alexander laughs again, ''You let a 16-year-old girl go live in the outside world on her own; well you're certainly not getting the 'dad of the year' award Christopher, ''he mocks and I have to ball my fists hard  to stop myself from smacking this guy.

''Calm down love, I can feel you anger. Take deep breaths; remember we don't want to be the ones to start a fight,'' Theo's voice resonates in my head and I do as he says.

''Alexander please, she is my daughter. I had to keep her safe. She is not a threat to anyone; you can see that, '' dad pleads and I have to close my eyes from seeing this.

 This is the first time I have seen my dad plead and it hurts me to see him like this. ''Dad, please don't do that, '' I whisper knowing he's heard me.

''Not a threat! Not a threat! Your daughter is an abomination! Did you see what she did to my son? She almost killed him, he had a black eye for weeks,'' Jonathan yells.

''Your son had it coming, that douche-bag challenged me. I might be an abomination as you so colorfully put it but I will not stand here watching my parents plead for my life. Your problem is with me isn't it? Let them go and why don't you come talk directly with me instead of hiding back there like the coward that you are! '' I shout as something in me snaps and I make my way towards Jonathan; my wolf threatening to come out.

''Athena No! Stop please, you'll make things worse, '' Theo calls but I ignore him and walk towards Jonathan who takes a few steps back from fear but stops suddenly and smiles like a maniac as he looks behind me.

''Careful Athena, this might cost your parents their lives, '' he hisses and I turn back to see the other two councilmen holding mom and dad in a choke-hold ready to snap their necks.

''You and I are far from done Jonathan,'' I whisper lowly to him so that only he can hear.

''I must say you've got balls Athena, going after a council member in front of all of us like that,'' Alexander says, ''as much as I loved our little soiree today, we have other businesses to attend to. So let's make this quick and simple. uhh yeah,so you can't live, '' He says casually and I stare at him wide eyed.

''Excuse me?'' I say and cross my arms as I look at him. 

''You heard me dear, I can't allow you to live, you have to die.''

''Alexander please, you cannot do that. You cannot kill Athena; she is my mate. She will not harm anyone,'' Theo says and Alexander raises his eyebrow gesturing towards Jonathan and me as an indication to my little stunt earlier.

 Theo sighs, ''Yes she is impulsive but only because he egged her and before that Caleb egged her, in fact Caleb practically asked for it.''

''She is an alpha female Theo, she poses a threat to everyone, a woman with that much power cannot be allowed to live, she will destroy us all,'' Alexander says and I scoff.

''What is wrong with you people, why are you so against us women huh? What is it that you fear so much?'' I snap at him. ''I'm so done with this;every single time, everywhere I go the men seem to have a problem with a woman in control. So now I'm asking you Alexander, what is it that you fear so much about me? Is it the power? Or is it that you think I'm so strong that my wolf and I can easily crush you,'' I hiss at him and I see the fear building up in his eyes.

I take a step back and he breathes a sigh of relief. ''I have no intention of hurting anyone. I only have one request to you; let me be. Don't cross me and I won't cross you. Stay out of my business and I will stay out of yours. That's it. ''

''And at this point I'm not even talking about myself anymore; I'm saying this on behalf of all women. Let us be, stop making our choices for us; we can make them perfectly well ourselves and whatever the consequences; we shall face them too, '' I say as he looks at me knowing that I'm not yet done.

''You came here and announced that I must die. You think I will take that lightly? Yes I'm part of a pack and the council is like our government and we all have to abide by the laws, but no law allows you to take the life of an innocent. Am I right Alexander or am I right? '' I say with small smile on my face.

''You're right Athena, but these laws....an alpha female is dangerous. We cannot just remove that law or go against it,'' he responds.

''Yes, I agree a law cannot be removed but it can be changed can't it? Give us women a chance to prove ourselves. Theo had to fight you to get what he wanted last time but here I am talking to you, I could have started a fight if I wanted to and believe you me, we would have won. Yet here I am, '' I reply knowing that my words are hitting him right.

''Do you know how much the female guard has helped Crescent pack since then? Crimson pack also has female warriors now. We also want to fight and be there to protect our own. It's not a man's job to protect what's theirs; it's everyone's duty to. So what say Alexander, let's call it a truce shall we?' I ask as I extend my hand towards him.

He takes his time and answering me as he digests my words.He finally looks up to me; eye to eye.

''You are a strong and clever woman Athena Robinson,'' he chuckles as he shakes my hand, ''you've got a tough one here Theo; try to refrain from making her mad,'' he jokes and Theo laughs as he comes and put his arm around me.

''It's a work in progress Alexander, but I wouldn't want anyone other than her by my side, '' Theo says with a hint of pride in his voice.

''You're letting her live, she will kill everyone! She almost killed my son!'' Jonathan yells as Alexander and the others gather to leave when suddenly a guard comes running up to us.

''Alpha Theo, Alpha Athena; there has been an attack from the Shadow pack borders, rogues are pouring in like flies. Alpha Benjamin and his warriors are upfront but the rogues are too many, we need you and Alpha Ashton,'' he says hurriedly.

''Charles! Gather the warrior guard with Noah and Hazel and make your way to Shadow now,'' Theo Commands.

''Uhhh Alpha, there is one more thing. One of our own is leading the rogues, '' the guard says meekly.

''Who is it?'' I ask, ''uhh...its...its... Caleb Jensen,'' he states and we all turn to look at Jonathan who seems freezes in shock.

''Well this is an interesting turn of events, '' Alexander says gleefully and turns to him with a sadistic smile. Gosh this man manages to find joy in other people's sufferings.

''No no no.... that's impossible,'' Jonathan stutters as his voice cracks.

Theo grabs a hold of his collar and sneers at him, ''Listen to me Jonathan, your son picked the wrong side and we're going out there to protect our home and our people. So you best believe me when I say this; if push comes to shove, I'm putting Caleb down.''

''No...no...you can't do that! not to my son!!''

''Your son,Jonathan chose the wrong side and he will pay the price for aligning with the rogues.You now have two choices my friend; either you quietly walk away with us  and keep your seat as councilman or you go to your son; the traitor and lose everything that you've built for yourself over the years. Trust me when I tell you this;there is no shortage of people who can replace you,'' Alexander warns him.

In less than a minute Jonathan makes his decision, he sigh in defeat and walks to stand with the council.

 ''Very well then, we shall now take your leave; I believe you have matters to attend to,''Alexander remarks and the rest of the councilmen nod in respect as they proceed to leave, dragging Jonathan with them; who is still coming to terms with the fact that his son is a traitor.

''You guys don't seem to catch a break over here do you?'' Axel says as he comes up to us.

''Trust me when I say this; I'm asking myself the same thing right now, '' I sigh as we rush over to Shadow pack.

****

The council threat is gone and Athena lives!!!

of course she has to live,especially for what's coming next ;)

Your thoughts on the comment section as usual guys. Happy Reading :)

-Jessica.S