-Theo-

''Theo! Theo! Where are you?'' I hear loud banging noises from outside my home this early in the morning. I put down my whiskey glass and open the door.

''What took you so long man? And why do you reek of alcohol? Have you been drinking?'' Ethan questions as he rushes in.

''Whoaa there man, who died and made you an interrogation officer?'' I slur and Ethan scrunches his nose up in disgust.

''That's not the point Theo, I need to talk to you. Are you okay to listen to me?''

''what? Huh....uhhh, yeahh man...''

''Oh god, this is hopeless,'' I hear him whisper. ''Where is Charles? Theo!! Where is Charles?''

''How am I supposed to know Ethan, I don't carry him around in my pocket!''

Ethan drags me to the couch,'' sit here and don't move, I'm going to look for Charles.'' And with that he walks out the front door and runs to Charles' home on the opposite side.

-Ethan-

''Charles! Charles! come on man, open up!'' I bang on the front door.

The door flings open and I'm face to face with a sleepy Mila and a very very grumpy Charles. ''What!! Is the sky falling down or is it an apocalypse?!!'' he grunts.

''It's Athena. I need you to come with me to Theo's now!!''

All the sleep leaves their eyes as soon as I mention Athena. ''Well what are we waiting for then, let's go!!''

We walk inside the house only to find out Theo passed out on his couch. ''When did he resort to drinking Charles?''

''I'm thinking last night; he was fine yesterday. He is even looking to do business in Toronto,'' Charles replies and a sigh escapes him.

''You wanted to tell us something about Athena, Ethan?'' Mila asks.

''Yeah...I called her today and......'' I start to explain everything to the pair.

''Do you think she is in trouble?''

''I don't think so honey, knowing Athena; she must have looked at trouble right in the eye and scared it away,'' Charles replies but I'm not convinced.

''I won't believe it until I see it man, I'm going to Toronto tonight as soon as I wrap up my business here,'' I tell them.

''What about him?'' Mila gestures to Theo.

''We need him to be his old self, you two make sure this...'' I gesture to Theo and the empty whiskey bottles, ''never happens again. We can't have him being like this, he might go rogue,'' I conclude and leave.

-Athena -

''Ready for tonight Athena?'' Nancy asks from behind me as I stand facing a long rack of dresses in our storage area.

''Will I ever be?'' I reply and turn to face her. A gasp escapes her as she looks at my face.

''Athena, what happened, did you cry last night? Your eyes are swollen and dear god those eye bags,'' she cries out.

''Nothing I'm fine don't worry, just a small breakdown. I'm okay now really, '' I tell her and give her a small smile.

In reality; I'm not okay. Not okay because I failed, I failed to live up to the promise I had made to myself. I had never wanted to be alpha, how did this happen and why is Ethan okay with this? What was the whole point of me leaving eight years ago then?

So many questions run through my mind and a sudden pain shoots through my head. I clutch it and walk to the nearest chair. ''Athena.... Athena what is it?'' I hear Nancy's worried voice.

''Oh god it hurts!'' I almost scream.

''I don't know what to do Athena, oh my god. Athena what should I do?'' Nancy actually screams this time and the pain intensifies.

I hold my head between my hands and make an attempt to look up, I catch my reflection on one of the mirrors in the trial room and see my eyes flash red and then go back to their natural state and then flash red again. Damn wolf trying to get out.

''Leave me alone Nancy, '' I manage to say in between pants. ''Athena, I can't. You're not well.''

''I am fine, now leave me alone!'' I growl out and she backs away in fear. ''I'll be fine Nancy, just go please,'' I try to say it softly this time and she look at me with uncertainty but then leaves.

I rush to the nearest bathroom and lock myself inside. ''okay...okay I'm strong; I can do this, in...out...in....out'' I take deep breathes in an attempt to calm myself down. The headache recedes and I release the breath I was holding and slide down the bathroom wall. ''What is happening to me?''

I'm met with a worried Nancy as soon as I get to my cabin. ''Athena....'' she starts but I hold my hand up signaling her to stop. ''I'm taking the rest of the day off, cancel all my meetings and appointments. I will see you tomorrow, hopefully with a re-newed agreement with Scott's company,'' With that I grab my bag, keys, phone, a few folders and leave.

I stop by the nearest cafe to my apartment and get myself something to eat. I change into comfy clothes as soon as I get home, I eat the pie I bought and decide to sleep the whole afternoon.

I will be meeting Scott at 07:00 pm so I set the alarm to 05:30 and drift off to sleep.

''Ugghhh seriously......enough already!! I'm wake now aren't I?'' I shout to my bedside alarm. I get up and look at the time; 05:55 pm. Holy shit I overslept!

I rush to the bathroom for a quick shower and cleansing. Once I'm done I do a soft make up look and walk to my closet. ''Now what should I wear?'' I tap my chin in thought. It would have been easier to get something from the display room at work, but damn migraine had to ruin everything.

I must have spent a good 25 minutes deciding what to wear when I finally inky...pinky...ponkied my way between the 2 dresses I had narrowed down to.

''And we have a winner,'' I announce to no one in particular and pick the strapless grey knee length dress.

I check the time once I'm done and it's already 07:00. It's as good thing the restaurant that Scott selected is not too far from my apartment.

I put on my black heels and grab my coat, handbag and the documents. I do one last sweep of the house and leave.

By the time I reach the restaurant it's already 07:15, I walk up to the attendant who takes my coat and leads me to our table. From a distance I see Scott talking to someone; I couldn't make out who the person was from their back. All I could see was a mop of jet black hair when a strong scent hits me. My wolf senses go on alert. There is another wolf present here.

As I make my way towards the men, I see Scott's eyes light up when he notices me. ''My precious! You're fashionably late, but now I see why,'' he says happily and gets up from his seat as he eyes me from head to toe.

''Scott, nice to see you too,'' I hug him lightly. ''You look dapper.'' He smiles widely at my compliment and my gaze instinctively goes to where his missing tooth is supposed to be.

''Ohh Athena, you flatter me; come come, sit please,'' he offers to pull out my chair but his friend gets it for me, ''allow me,'' he says in a rugged deep voice. The scent hits me once again.

I look up and I'm met with deep blue eyes staring deep into my green ones. ''Thank you,'' I whisper softly and tilt my head to the side in a questioning glance. He gives me a subtle nod, confirming my suspicions and I take a seat. He is the other wolf.

''You're welcome Athena,'' he gives me a crooked smile. I look at him again. Those eyes. Blue eyes, why am I getting a feeling of familiarity.

Before I could zone out, Scott clears his throat bringing me back to reality. ''Athena, my precious; I'm so glad you called me, we have much to discuss, but first I'd like to introduce you to my successor, Mr Leonard Grey,'' he gestures to the blue eyed gent on my right. ''Leo, this is....'' He continues but Mr Grey cuts him off.

''Athena Robinson, nice to see you again, it's a small world, don't you think?'' he smirks and I furrow my brows.

Okay so this guy knows me...umm...weird, because I cannot for the life of me remember meeting him and trust me that is a face one never forgets.

''Uhh... I'm sorry but I don't remember you?'' I tell him and his eyes widen in surprise.

''You don't? that's weird because we just met a few months ago and I was the only one who dared to talk to you at the party.''

''I...ummm...well I... this is embarrassing, I'm sorry but I do not re-call,'' I reply and I see his shoulders slump.

''Oh well it doesn't really matter whether you knew each other in the past does it? What matters is the future,'' Scott says clapping his hands in glee as the appetizer is served.

I eye the dish in front of me as the waiter puts the plate down. Man! I hope the main course is bigger than this. Of all the places in Toronto why did Scott have to pick a fancy gourmet restaurant.

I dig into my starter and in two bites my plate is clean. Leo eyes me then chuckles, ''hungry are we?''

''You have no idea, I just had a slice of pie for lunch,'' I whisper in response.

The two of us make small talk and sip on wine, when Scott speaks up, '' Athena, precious; you told me you wanted to discuss business with me?''

''Ahh yes, I'd like to get into business with you again Scott, I'll be launching my fourth line of clothes and I'd very much like if you would manufacture them?''

''Well...I didn't like the way you ended things with my company the last time but as I have always said; you are my favorite Athena and it would give me great pleasure to manufacture for you again,'' Scott says.

''okay.... although I'm sensing a but here....'' I reply with a raised brow.

Scott chuckles at this and looks at Leo, ''I told you she is a smart one. ''But precious...this is not my decision to make anymore. As I mentioned before; Leo is my successor, in a few weeks' time he will be taking over the company.''

''What?'' I gasp in shock. ''You're selling your company?''

''Yes precious, I am. It's time I retire and young Leo here showed a lot of interest and offered me quite a lot might I add,'' he winks at me.

I take a huge sip of my wine. Scott is selling his company! Wow, how do I not know about this?

''When.... when did you even announce that you were selling?'' I ask him still not believing it.

''Ahemm.... he announced it about a month ago; I already had my eyes on it as I wanted to start a business here in Canada and when the opportunity arrived I just grabbed it,'' Leo explains and I nod in understanding.

Our dinner is then served and I poke around the shrimp in my plate. I thought It would be easier to convince Scott since I've known him for quite a while, but this, I was not expecting it at all.

''Athena, hey....'' Leo taps my hand and I look up at him.

''I'd very much like to get into business with you, in fact I was going through our reports in regards to your company, it looks good, although there was a drop last year but overall everything looks fine. So it would be an honor to manufacture for your company again,''

''Oh umm wow......that's really nice to hear Mr. Grey, I promise we will not disappoint you and my company will definitely cover for the drop,'' I reply and give him my well-practiced million-dollar smile.

''Please Athena, call me Leo. It will be great doing business with you,'' he extends his hand forward and I shake it in return, ''likewise.''

''Well why don't the two of you get acquainted, I should be leaving by now, I need to hurry home and start getting my retirement plan ready, '' Scott excuses himself and leaves.

''I think the shrimp didn't sit well with him,'' Leo jokes and I laugh in return and start to get up too to leave.

''You're skipping dessert?'' he asks. ''Well I'm actually still hungry, I'm going to find myself something filling to eat,'' I reply and shrug my shoulders.

''I might have to agree with you on that, I don't get why Scott chose this restaurant in the first place. What do you have in mind?''

''I'd kill for a burger right now,'' I say and he laughs, ''mind if I join you?''

''please, be my guest.''

We both walk to the front door where the attendant hand us our coats. We then start walking in the direction of the nearest burger king.

After a long argument of who should pay, Leo backs down and I pay for our burgers.

''Mind if I walk you home?'' he asks. ''You don't have to Leo, my apartment is just a few blocks away from here.''

''Oh come on, it's the least I could do after you paid for these,'' he insists and I nod as we now walk towards the direction of my house.

''You know... you look different Athena, there is this glow about you and you look really beautiful too,'' Leo suddenly says and bites into his burger.

A slight blush rushes to my cheeks, ''Thank you, you don't look so bad yourself Leo,'' I reply back and smile flirtatiously, I mean look at this guy. Tall, jet black hair, blue eyes. Damn.

''Ahhhh thank you, I had to look good today,'' he says and adjusts his black blazer.

''So tell me, how is he?'' he asks and I raise a questioning eyebrow at this.

''Excuse me? how is who?''

''You know who I'm asking about Athena, how is he?''

''Ohhh...of course, there is always a him isn't there. Because the only way a woman glows and looks beautiful is because of a man, right?'' I scoff at this and throw my free hand in the air in frustration.

''No... no... that is not what I meant at all Athena.''

''That is exactly what you meant Leo. Because that is how you all think. It's....argghh...it's so infuriating when men do that!!... You know what? I'll just.... I'll just walk back home by myself. I'm sure you can find your way back!'' and with that I walk away leaving him standing on the pavement, confusion written all over his face.

***

Ooooh new character alert....sort of. 

What do you guys think of Leo?

I know most of you are hating on Athena, but it be like that sometimes. She can't be perfect, she needs to have vices, just like we all do.

anyway, happy reading :) Place your thoughts in the comments and do vote.

-Jessica.S