-Athena-

''Are you sure you have to go honey? Please stay for a few more days,'' my mom tells me as she wipes of her tears and sniffs.

''I really have to go mom. But I promise I'll come back,'' I kiss her softly on the cheek and hug her. I then walk up to Ethan who hugs me tightly. ''You know what you have to do. Don't fight it,'' he whispers, low enough for only me to hear.

After saying my goodbyes to everyone else, Ethan takes me through another route which does not involve me having to pass through Crescent. ''Okay, when did this happen and how comes no one uses it?''

''It, kinda has always been there,'' he shrugs. ''But, we rarely use it since it's a longer route. Actually that's the route the driver took, when you first came here last year.''

''Last year?? Oh, yeah right, of course. I was here a year ago,'' I smack my forehead.

Ethan and I sit in the SUV that was parked there. He motions the driver to start the vehicle. We speed along the rocky path, the trees becoming blurry by the second.

''So about that memory thing- '' Ethan starts, unsure of whether I would be okay talking about it.

''It's okay. I've accepted it,'' I chuckle half-heartedly, ''It's not like there is anything that can be done about it anyway.''

''We are all worried about you Ena. Everyone has been walking on eggshells around you. And trust me, we are doing everything in our power to track down the witch who did this to you,'' he says.

''I'm sorry, what now? Did you just say witch? A witch did this to me? What witch'' I look at him shocked.

''Yeah, umm...I thought, I thought you knew,'' he scratches the back of his neck nervously.

''Right! You know what? I'm not even going to blame anyone else. This is all my fault! I mean, with everything that has been going on, I didn't even once think about how my memory got wiped out.''

''Ena, it's okay. It's okay to not know. I mean, no one blames you. Theo, I and the others have been trying non-stop to track her down but she just disappeared,'' he says disappointingly.

''Ethan hey, hey look at me. It's fine. I can live with this. See I'm okay. I'm the same Athena I was. Well I'd like to think that I am,'' I snort a laugh. ''You guys have done everything you can. There isn't much we can do now. I might as well just live like this.''

''Ena no! don't say that! We are not giving up. At least not yet,'' he replies then hugs me.

I pull away from him and look outside the window, pushing away the tears that are threatening to fall.

We have arrived at the highway and its time for Ethan to return back to the pack. ''I'll miss you Ethan. Oh and yeah before I forget, you're welcome to pop in my apartment whenever you want,'' I wink at him

''Ohh great! You lifted the ban. Thank you,'' he laughs. ''I'll miss you too Ena. Be good and don't let that vampire intimidate you. If you ever need anything, I'm just a phone call away.''

I hug him one last time before he jumps out of the car. As soon as he is out the driver speeds off onto the road heading for the airport.

As soon as I land at Toronto airport I fish out my phone and call Nancy. ''Hey, how's your break. Having fun?''

''Actually, I'm back. I just landed a few minutes ago. Listen, I need you to do for me something. Get me the address to Kovar's office.''

''What? Why? Why do you want to go there Athena?!'' she cries out.

''I need to speak to Amunet. Her and I have somethings we need to clear,'' I reply, the anger starting to build in me. My wolf ready to take down the wretch that threatened our mate.

''Okay, you sound angry so I'm not going to question your intentions any further. Give me two minutes, I'm texting the address to you,'' she says and cuts the call.

I walk out of the arrivals gate and hail a cab. ''Where to ma'am?'' the driver turns to ask me.

''Just a second, I'll tell you.'' I look down at my phone. Thank god Nancy got the address in time. I show the driver the message. ''Okay got it. Fasten your seatbelt please.''

After about 20 minutes the driver informs me of the arrival. I quickly pay and get out of the cab. I walk towards the front door of her huge building and look up. A huge 'K' covering almost three storeys of her building. ''Ughhh so extra,''' I roll my eyes.

''I need to speak to Amunet. Now,'' I demand as I walk up to the receptionist. ''Sure ma'am this way please,'' she replies robotically. I squint my eyes, suddenly not trusting the receptionist's willingness. I was half expecting her to tell me that Amunet is busy or maybe, she's in a meeting or something.

''This way please,'' she leads me to a private elevator and presses the button to the top floor. Of course, she has a private elevator too.

As soon as I get to the top I walk out, only to be met by her secretary, who of course is a vampire.

''Ugghh I smelt you from a mile way,'' she scrunches her nose up in disgust.

''Save it, rotten one. I have bigger fish to fry,'' I hold up my hand to shut her up. I walk towards what I'm guessing is Amunet's office and barge in only to find her speaking to someone.

''Well, that is very rude of you Athena. Didn't my secretary tell you I was busy?'' she asks, raising her eyebrow.

''Get out!'' I growl to the man who was sitted on the opposite side of her.

''B-but....'' He stammers.

''Get out!!!'' I shout. The man immediately gets up, gathers his stuff and scurries out of the office.

''Well, well, well. Look at what the wind blew in,'' she leans back on her chair and smirks. ''I knew you'd show up sooner rather than later.''

I stomp towards her table and bang my hands on it. ''You stay away from him!! Do you understand me?!''

''Oh darling, which one?'' she asks innocently, but I see through her facade. I'm taken aback by her response but recover quickly.

''You stay away from Theo. Do not involve him in this.''

''Why should I when it's fun? Haven't you heard of the saying, the more the merrier?''

''Your problem is with me. Your fight is with me. Leave him out of this, it does not concern him in any way,'' I tell her.

''Oh but it does. It concerns the both of you. At first I thought I'd just kill you and get it over with. But then, I found out that that you've lost your memory of the past year. So, I decide to prolong the game, keep you on edge, you know?'' she clicks her teeth. ''However, the cherry on top of all this was your mate! Hah!! I honestly thought he would never come. His presence changes the whole game Athena. Now, I get to kill the both you and I will enjoy doing it'' she claps in glee.

''I will rip out your throat and feed it to your clan before you even lay a hand on him. I'm warning you Amunet. Stay.Away.From.My.Mate!'' I growl out.

''Well, aren't you over protective of him? A little birdie told me that you and him were on the outs. In fact, you two don't even live together. Ahh shocker!! Now, you tell me Athena, how easy do you think it will be for me to kill you both? I mean, I'm no werewolf, thank god for that,'' she rolls her eyes. ''But every Tom Dick and Harry knows that mated wolves are stronger together and you two are far from that.''

''Listen to me and listen to me very clearly. Whether we are staying together or not is none of your concern, but if you so much as try to corner Theo again you will have to face me and trust me, I will show you no mercy,'' I snarl in her face, my eyes flashing bright red from the anger that's building up inside of me.

She wheels her chair backwards; a look of fear passes through her face but she immediately covers it with a witty smile. ''I've got to say, your sense of protectiveness for each other is the same. Your mate threatened me in a similar way. Sort of. So I'll tell you what I told him. You're both kids and you're no match against me. If I wanted to, I could've snapped his pretty little neck then and there. But where's the fun in that when I can make a spectacle of it. Right?'' she laughs menacingly.

I grit my teeth at her in anger, while trying to keep my wolf at bay. ''Mark my words Amunet, I will kill you,'' I say and make my way towards the door.

''Likewise, Athena, '' she calls back, ''May the best woman live.''

I walk out of the building and release the breath I was holding. Then walk towards the main road to hail a cab back home.

As soon as I walk out of the elevator Theo's scent hits me hard. I walk towards my apartment and see a hoard of people walking around. ''What in the name of the moon goddess is going on here?''

''Athena!! You're back!!'' I hear Charles' voice from somewhere inside the house.

''Where are you? I can't see you?'' I call back, standing on my tip toes trying to find him.

''Excuse me ma'am, could you please move?'' someone tells me. I turn to see two workers trying to carry a ladder from one corner of the house to another. ''Ohh okay, umm sorry,'' I mutter as I take a few steps back to give them space.

''Athena, watch out!!'' Someone shouts and a strong pair of arms pulls me towards them. I watch in horror as a pail of beige paint falls right before a large chunk of wood follows it and splatters on the floor right where I was standing.

''It's okay, I got you love,'' his husky voice rings in my ear making me look up right into his light brown eyes.

''Hi,'' I whisper, trying to take a mental picture of his face.

''Hii yourself,'' he smiles at me, eyes twinkling and all I could think was, 'oh shit.'

Before I could embarrass myself further. I let go of my hold on his arms and create some space between us.

''You're back?'' he clears his throat and asks.

''Why do you sound surprised? Would you rather I stay there for long?'' I tease him.

''No.No.No. It's great to have you back. It really is.''

''Right so, care to explain this?'' I gesture to the ongoing work. He is about to reply when Charles comes out of nowhere. ''Phew, you have no idea what I had to go through just to get to you,'' he says and pulls me into a hug.

''Missed you too Charles,'' I pat his back.

''So what did you get me from Vancouver?'' he asks getting giddy with excitement.

''What? I was there for like a day and half. What do you expect me to bring?''

''Well would you look at that! When I went, I got you a whole plate of cookies and you didn't get me anything. Talk about ungrateful friends!'' he scoffs.

''Seriously Charles. Like seriously?!?!

''Okay you two, come on let's go. Athena, come with me, I have something to show you,'' Theo interrupts us. He leads me out of the apartment. I notice Charles talking a guy who looks like the supervisor.

''Is she the one? How did she recover so soon? I thought they don't release mental patients until a week,'' I hear him ask.

''Sshhh. Quiet. She doesn't like to be called that.'' Charles shushes him.

My eyes widen as I put two and two together. ''Charles Morgan how dare you!!!'' I shout.

I turn back towards the apartment, shouting profanities. ''I will kill you!'' I yell, ready to seriously murder him, when Theo grabs me by the waist and pulls me back. I wiggle trying to get out but his hold on me is tight.

''You see sir, I told you not to say a word. She gets aggressive,'' he tells the man. ''Anyway, you carry on with your work. I shall see you soon.'' He then walks towards us and winks at me while I glare daggers at him. ''As soon he puts me down, I'm ripping your tongue out, you son of a....'' I fail to finish the sentence as Theo puts his hand over my mouth causing me to shut up.

We all walk into the elevator and Theo puts me down but quickly wedges himself between us before I could get a chance to harm Charles. ''You'll just be proving him right, love. Calm down.''

''How can I? he called me mental!'' I yell and try to reach for Charles but he stops me.

''Well, your current behavior certainly proves it, doesn't it?'' Charles speaks up from behind my mate.

I'm about to reply with another threat but then stop as his words bore into my mind. ''Ugghhh damn it. You're right,'' I sigh and give up. ''Why did you tell him I was crazy in the first place?''

''Well, how do you expect we explain the whole murder house to him? Theo and I managed to clean out the blood, but the stains are still there. So, I literally told him the first thing that came to my mind,'' he shrugs.

I purse my lips in annoyance, trying to come up with a response but fail in doing so. ''You know what? Just.....i can't....I'm done.'' I say and slump against the elevator wall. ''Wait, why are we going up?''

''You'll see,'' Theo smirks in my direction. In about a minute the elevator door dings open and the three of us walk out.

''Umm, what's going on?'' I ask them both, really confused about everything.

''Welcome home,'' Theo says from my right as Charles walks ahead of us and opens the door to the penthouse. We both walk in together. I'm awed at the size of this place, it's twice as big as my apartment downstairs. A small gasp escapes me as I look around it. ''It's uhh beautiful,'' I blurt out.

''And, it's yours,'' Theo says looking down at me, a smile playing on his lips.

''What? No. No it's not,'' I refute and take a few steps back.

''Yes. Athena it is. This is where you will live from now on,'' he explains calmly.

''Uh huh and who decided that?'' I cross my arms and question him.

''Look, it's for the best okay. The renovations will take almost three weeks. And it's not safe for you to live there anymore.''

''Ohh and it's safe for me to live three floors above it? Theo I cannot afford this penthouse,'' I tell him.

''You don't have to. The house is yours. The lease is in your name,'' he replies. ''Why? What? When did that happen?!'' I yell.

''This morning before you came. Athena, I need you to trust me okay? I'm doing this for your safety. I can't afford an episode like the other night again, okay?''

''No. No, no this is not right. How do you think a bigger house is going to help? This-'' I point around the house,'' – is just more playing ground for the vampires that she will send. Look, just because you're basically a zillionaire, doesn't mean you can buy me presents to gain my trust.''

''This isn't a present love, it's a house,'' he replies in a serious tone.

''That's my POINT!!'' I glare at him. '' I don't want you buying things for me. I'm sorry but I can't live here.''

''Athena, stop!'' Theo shouts as I make my way towards the front door. I stop in my tracks and turn to face him.

''Look, I have had it up to here with everything that is going on. I was worried sick when I found out that you'd left yesterday. It was like when you walked out from the hospital room seven months ago all over again. Ever since I've come here I have listened and given in to everything you've asked me to do. Hell, I agreed to block the mate bond between us even though it breaks my heart every single day. But I'm putting my foot down on this one. You will live here and there will be security with you 24/7 and that's it!''

''Security!! You're assigning me a security team. Are you out of your freaking mind?!?! I don't need security!''

Charles snorts from somewhere inside the house, but I ignore him for now.

''No. I'm hopelessly in love with you, and I will do everything in my power to keep you safe from that vampire wretch,'' he replies calmly, standing there in the middle of the foyer with his hands in his pockets.

''I......I.... I don't believe this,'' I hold my head in between my hands. ''Theo I – please don't. Don't force me into staying here.''

''I'm sorry love, but you're giving me no choice. You're staying here and that's my final decision. There is a team downstairs already packing your stuff to be brought up here.''

I walk up to him and grab him by the collar, trying to look intimidating but it doesn't work since he is already taller than me and towers over me. ''I will not stay here and I do not want the 24-hour security, get it?''

He grabs my wrist and softly places a kiss on my hand. ''You're staying here love and thats final. As for the security I'll give you another option. Me,'' he says. ''It's either the pack warriors or me. Those are your choices.''

''You...you cannot do this Theo! I will find my way out of this. I thought you knew this. I do not like being caged.''

''I'm not caging you Athena. You're free to do everything. The only difference is that you will be protected at all times,'' he replies.

''I can protect myself,'' I grit my teeth in annoyance. I hear another snort from the house and this time I had to call him out, ''Charles! you do that one more time, I dare you.''

''I know; I know you can love. But the next time Amunet attacks it's going to be big scale and I can't risk anything happening to you. Please Athena, for the sake of my sanity don't fight me on this, '' He tells me softly.

I look away from his piercing gaze, my heart beating fast as I process everything he just told me. Amunet's words from this morning ring in my head. After a long silence I look up at him and nod. ''Okay. I will live here, but on one condition. You and Charles are moving in with me too.''

''Athena that's crazy. I bought this house for you. For your protection,'' Theo refutes.

''That's the deal Theo. Either we all live here or neither of us does. Take it or leave it.''

I look at him. His eyes are glazed and distant in concentration as he mind-links Charles. If he could go to these lengths to protect me, the least I can do is this. He is also under threat now and all he is worried about, is me.

''Agreed. Charles is also okay with this. Our stuff will be here by evening. You can have the master bedroom. Charles and I will take the guest rooms each. The pack warriors will be here tonight and will be on duty starting tomorrow morning,'' he finally replies then walks out of the house leaving me standing in the house alone.

''So much for protection,'' I snort as I take in my surroundings.

***

Athena, Theo and Charles in one house? what do you think is going to happen next?

Also,  can we take a moment and appreciate Amunet. I mean, she's got style😉

Let me know your thoughts in the comment section below. 

-Jessica.S