-Athena-

''So neither of you are going to tell me who Selene is?'' I ask the two men again.

''Athena, love, how fast can you clear things up at your office? Charles, I need you call the people at the hangar. Tell them to get the jet ready and fueled up,'' Theo ignores my questions and starts throwing around orders.

''Okay, so this is what we're doing now? Of course, please, by all means ignore the female in the room. No one cares that she's been asking the same question for the past five minutes!'' I yell.

''Athena that's not it, okay, no one's ignoring you. But right now we need to get to Vancouver as soon as possible,'' Charles tries to explain as he fishes out his phone and starts making calls. ''Just go and sort out your office first.''

I look at Theo who has turned his back on me, both literally and figuratively. And is now on the phone with someone. I think I heard him say Ashton.

''Fine I'm going. Not that anyone cares,'' I roll my eyes and walk out of his office.

I grumble all the way across the street, muttering and cursing Theo and Charles under my breath. Who do they think they are, ordering me around like I'm some lackey. I just asked one simple question and they ignored me like I was a long list of terms and conditions.

Infuriating men!

As soon I get to the entrance of the building the security guard stops me. ''Ms. Athena, you cannot go in.''

''And why is that? I need to get to my office.''

''I'm sorry ma'am. I just know that I can't let you go in, but you can use the elevator in the parking lot to get to your floor,'' he says the words robotically, like he memorized them the whole night.

I try to side step him and get to the doors but he grabs  my hand and stop me. ''Ma'am please, you cannot go through this door. Please ma'am.'' My eyes focus on his hand around mine and travel back up to him. He immediately drops it and backs away. 

I take this as my opportunity to enter, when he suddenly removes his baton and points it at me. I notice a thin line of sweat forming on his forehead. His hands are also trembling as he struggles to keep his hold on the baton. ''I....I don't want t-to do this, ma'am.''

''Why are you not letting me pass through?'' I ask him quietly, so as not to gather a crowd around us.

''I don't know ma'am. I'm confused. I just know that you're are supposed to go through the parking lot. That's it, that's all I know, ma'am,'' he pleads. He has a look of fear mixed with confusion all over his face.

''Okay, okay,'' I raise my hands slowly. ''It's okay, I'll go through the parking lot. You can put that down.''

I back away from him slowly and go around the main entrance which leads to the parking lot. As soon as I walk in, a familiar feeling of uneasiness sets in. My wolf instincts perk up and I'm now on high alert.

''Something is not right.''

I spot my car parked in its usual spot and head towards it. A horrible stench fills the air and the closer I get to my car, the stronger it gets.

''I guess Amunet doesn't have any new tricks up her sleeve, so she is back to sending her minions after me,'' I shout loud enough for the vampires to hear me. Although they would've heard me clearly either way.

I take a peek inside my car, when I hear a whoosh from behind me. I move my head away just in time as the vampire crashes her fist into the car window. A second more and that could have been my head.

I put my hand bag down and take a few steps back, ready to take on this vampire. She pulls her hand out leaving a fist sized hole in the window. ''Amunet's going to get the bill for that.''

She says nothing and hisses at me, her sharp fangs elongated as she prepares for a fight.

''Where are your friends? I'd like to think that you're not stupid enough to come here alone. Or are you?''

''Where is the witch?'' she snarls.

''What witch? I have no idea what you're talking about?''

''Where is the witch, wolf?'' she asks again and this time takes a menacing step towards me.

''I told you, I don't know what you're talking about. Now if you'd stop wasting my time, I have someplace I got to be.''

I back away from her and begin to head towards the elevator when my path is blocked by another vampire. This one had shoulder length blonde hair that was tied into a neat man bun, he was shorter than the female vamp, but had more muscle than her.

''You're not going anywhere until you tell us where the witch is?'' he snarls.

''Well then, I guess we're going to spend the whole afternoon here. Like I told your friend, I don't know any witch,'' I shrug my shoulders and give him a blank stare.

''She's lying. Amunet said, Selene will go to her,'' vamp one tells her blonde friend from behind me.

So that is who Selene is! She is a witch. See, how hard was that? But no, both men had to be ominous about it.

Could she be the same one who Theo and the others were looking for and now even the vampires? Well , Amunet was right, kind of. Selene did come to me, only, not in the way she had anticipated.

''Are you going to let me pass?'' I ask them one last time.

''Not unless you tell us what we want to know,'' Man bun replies.

''You guys never learn do you?'' I roll my eyes at him. He gives me a 'what the heck are you talking about look,' before charging forwards ready to punch.

I step out of the way and elbow him in the back with all the strength I could muster, expecting him to fall face first on the ground, but he only staggers and manages to hold his own.

The female vampire corners me from my left and launches her attack, but I grab her by the throat before she could lay a hand on me. I put some pressure on her neck and using all my strength throw her across the parking lot.

Her lean form slides on the pavement roughly and she crashes into the trash cans piled in the corner.

I couldn't enjoy my little victory, as man bun swung at me hard, throwing me against the wall. My heels scratched on the concrete, creating an eerie sound.

''Where is the witch?'' he growls and continues advancing towards me.

I could taste the blood in my mouth from the blow he landed on me. I wipe it off from my bottom lip, remove my heels and get up before he could lay a hand on me again.

''Don't you understand English?'' I snarl out as anger fills me. The beast in me is trying to fight for control and is ready to emerge and rip out this man's throat. ''I. DON'T. KNOW.'' I  give my wolf partial control and extend my claws out. My eyes which are now red, focus on their intended target, man bun.

I charge at him in full force and start landing blow after blow on him. He manages to block a few but he wasn't that lucky. I scratch his face and kick him hard on the chest. He falls to the ground with a thud.

I put my foot on his chest and apply pressure on it. He wheezes loudly, trying to get up but I use more of my strength to keep him pinned down.

From the corner of my eye, I see the female vampire advancing towards me. I look down at man bun and give him one swift kick in the stomach and another one in the balls. That should keep him down for a while.

I turn to face my oncoming attacker, claws at the ready, my eyes focused on her. I could see her fangs protruding as she readies to bite me. As soon as she got remotely close to me, I pushed my hand right through her rib cage and pulled her heart out.

He limp body fell at my feet as her dying/ technically dead heart lay in my hand. I turned to face man bun who was now on his knees trying to stand up while clutching his privates.

''Give this to Amunet, she'll know,'' I throw his friends' heart at him.

''She'll kill you, you know?'' he manages to say in between the painful grunts.

''She can try. Next time, tell her to face me herself.''

He makes the wise decision to not say anything more. In a flash he grabs his dead friend and her heart and whooshes away from the parking lot.

''Theo cannot know about this,'' I whisper to myself as I grab my shoes and bag. I look down at myself and notice the patches of dirt all over my black dress. Not forgetting my blood covered hand.

''Damn it! I can't go up like this.''

Using my clean hand, I fish out my car keys from the bag and unlock my car. ''Ugh where is it?'' I grumble as I look for the packet of wipes. I open the glove box and spot the packet. I must have used up to five wipes to clean my hand, but there was still a tinge of redness and the faint smell of blood in the air.

I grab the navy blue trench coat from my car and put it on. ''Hmm......at least this will hide the dust patches on my dress.'' I make my way towards the elevator, but not before double checking to see if everything in the parking lot looks normal. 

Well, as normal as it could be after a fist fight.

With my right hand buried in the pocket of the coat, I walk out of the elevator only to be met by five pairs of worried eyes. Out of the five, three of them just happened to rush up the stairs from the 17th floor the exact same time I walked out. 

Two, who didn't have a single hair out of place and one, who was completely out of breath and looked like she would drop down on the floor any moment from now.

''Where were you Athena?'' Theo, who is flanked by Sharon asks. ''We've been looking everywhere for you?''  I notice the both of them came from the direction of my office area.

''I was just in the building,'' I reply nonchalantly.

''What, did you take the stairs twice or something? We've been looking for you for like thirty minutes,'' Charles questions me now.

I look at everyone including Nancy, who is completely out of breath. ''Can someone please get her a chair and some water!''

I notice Cameron sniff the air, before his eyes zero in on my hand.

''Umm.... Ms. Athena,'' he clears his throat then pauses uncomfortably. I almost laugh at his expression since he has never called me that. But because of Nancy's presence, he had to improvise.

''Is there something wrong with your hand?'' he finally asks.

''No. Not at all, why ask?''

He looks like he wants to say something more but makes the wise decision to shut up. Instead, he looks at Theo and from what I'm guessing, mind-links him. Great, we have tattle tale.

''Athena, a word in your office please,'' Theo speaks up after a minute or so.

I roll my eyes and walk towards my office. Theo follows me in and to my surprise so do Charles, Cameron and Eleanor, who locks the door behind her.

''I thought you wanted to speak to me privately?'' I face my mate who is now sporting the best poker face I have seen in a long time.

''What happened Athena? and where were you?''

''I told you guys, I was in the building.''

''The truth, love. I can hear your heart racing and so can everyone else in this room.''

''Fine!'' I throw my hands up in the air. ''I was in the parking lot. I entered the building through the parking lot.''

''That's where you were! But we looked everywhere for you,'' Charles yells, but not as loudly as he normally would.

''Apparently not,'' I quirk an eyebrow at him.

''If I may, Alpha Theo,'' Cameron says then continues when Theo gives him a nod of approval. ''But why did you not enter the building using the normal entrance?'' he then looks at me pointedly. 

He immediately realizes who he is talking to and lowers his gaze. Good to know, you know who your other alpha is, tattle tale.

''The guard stopped me.''

''I'm sorry what now?'' Charles crosses his arms and leans forward, as if he didn't hear me clearly.

''Cut it with the drama Charles. Yes, the guard stopped me. I don't know why, but he was really adamant on me not using the main entrance and kept on insisting I use the parking lot to enter the building. I didn't want to create a scene, so I just obliged.''

''And?'' Theo presses, knowing that there was more to that story. Damn him. How is he able to look so intimidating and hot at the same time?

''And nothing. That's it.'' I turn my face away from him, more to control myself than anything else.

''Did you get lost in the parking lot or something?'' Charles questions me.

What's wrong with these guys and why are they asking me all these questions? I'm here now aren't I? Isn't that enough? They don't need to know every little detail of my little adventure from the parking lot to my office. And besides, aren't we supposed to be on our way to Vancouver? Should I tell them? Maybe I should not? And if I do, what would Theo do the warriors? I mean, they were brought here to protect me and that was the one thing they didn't do.

''Athena, Athena,'' Theo waves his hand in front of my face.

I blink multiple times before focusing my gaze on him. Should I or should I not?

''We can smell the blood on your hand Alpha Athena,'' Eleanor speaks up.

Guess the answer is, I should.

''Okay fine,'' I remove my hand from the pocket. ''I was cornered by two vampires. Happy now?''

''Not until you tell us why. This doesn't explain anything.''

''Why are you looking at me like it's my fault, Charles? I'm the victim here!"'

''Love, did you rip out someone's heart?'' Theo asks, his eyes still on my tinged hand.

''Umm, yes?'' I shrug my shoulders. ''Look before you guys get all hyper. It's fine, I handled the situation. Well, I handled it as well as I could for someone who was fighting in heels. But no matter. It's all said and done. Now let's go, we need to get to Vancouver.''

''What did they want?'' Theo continues with his questions.

''Oh, we are still doing this,'' I mumble. ''Okay then. Amunet thinks we have Selene here with us, and so she sent her two lackeys to get the information out of me.''

''We need to get to Vancouver fast,'' Charles is the first one to speak up after a long brooding silence.

''That we do. But we needn't worry. So long as Selene is on pack lands, Amunet can't get to her,'' Theo replies. ''I hope the jet is ready.''

He removes his phone and dials the last called number. ''Is it ready? Very well then, we'll see you soon.'' He cuts the call and faces us.

''We have an hour to ourselves. Sort out your businesses and we all meet at the penthouse. You guys inform Sharon and Hudson. Charles, go home and start packing. Athena and I will join you and Mila soon,'' Theo goes into full alpha mode and commands everyone.

''Yes Alpha,'' The three of them chorus and leave the office one by one, leaving me and Theo behind.

''And now you.'' He takes two steps toward me, His voice sends shivers down my spine. ''Let's get you cleaned up first.''

He takes my hand in his and leads me to the private bathrooms. I mind was fixated on the sparks and tingles rushing through my skin, that I didn't even bother to ask him how he knew where the bathroom was.

He closes the door behind me and directs me toward the sink. He then puts his arms around my waist and slowly unties the belt I had fastened loosely. He then pushes all of my hair from one side to another in a very slow and seductive manner. My skin tingling everywhere his fingers graze. My gaze meets his through the mirror as he slowly peels the coat from my back and pushes the sleeves up.

His gaze is so intense; I could feel myself shivering under it. I had to grab on to the tiled bathroom counter to keep myself from falling.

''You really like keeping me on toes, don't you love?'' He whispers in my ear, before biting it lightly. Oh shit!

My hold on the counter tightens as I feel my knees buckling. ''Theo,'' my voice cracks. I surprise myself by even being able to talk.

''Why do you always think that you can handle every situation on your own without any help?'' he asks as he slides his hand down my arm and turns on the tap. He slowly starts rubbing my hand, followed by my fingers. I watch as the light pinkish taints on blood merged with water go down the drain.

If I was a normal human, I would have died of a heart attack. At the rate it was beating, I was sure people in my office could hear it.

Theo then turns off the tap, walks around me and grabs the towel then slowly wipes my hand. ''I can't even be mad at you because I love you so much,'' he whispers and slowly kisses each of my fingers.

''I.... I need to get back t-t to....to work,'' I stutter. I somehow manage to find my voice again.

''Who's stopping you love?'' he smirks and drops my hand.

Giving him one last look, I grab the bathroom door, but before I could leave he clears his throat behind me. ''Yes?''

''You have exactly fifty minutes.''

I dip my head and walk out of the bathroom making a beeline to my office. I pull the coat back up and fasten the belt. Before stopping by Nancy's desk, who looked way better than she did a while ago.

''In my office in two minutes.''

I settle myself on the chair and take in deep breaths. ''Control, Athena, control. Inhale, exhale.....''

Exactly two minutes later, Nancy walks in. By then I had managed to calm myself down.

''What do you need to do today?''

''I'm leaving for Vancouver in an hour. I need you and Rebecca to hold down the fort until I'm back. Can I count on you, Nancy?''

''Yes, yes of course. You can count on me, Athena. But, if I may ask, why are you going?''

''It's something personal. I wish I could explain more, but I'm just as confused.''

''Is this about your memory loss?'' she whispers.

''More or less.''

''Well then, I hope it's all good. When will you be back?''

''I don't know. But I will be constantly in touch with you,'' I quickly add after seeing the look on her face.

''I hope not for a year,'' she mumbles.

''You said something?''

''No, no, nothing at all. Have a safe flight. Are your tickets booked?''

''Umm, no actually,'' I reply.

''Do you need me to book one?'' she asks, already tapping on her tab.

''No, no. We are taking Theo's private jet.''

She stops midway and stares at me, her eye so wide for a second I thought they'd fall off. ''Shut up!''

''Excuse me?'' I quirk an eyebrow.

''No umm, sorry, that's not how I meant it. Sorry. It's an expression, you know?''

''I know how you meant it Nancy. It's okay. You can leave now while I draft an email to all the department heads.''

Ten minutes later, Theo walks in my office and makes himself comfortable on one of the sofas. I ignore him and continue with my work. At least I tried to. He sat there patiently. I could feel his eyes on me until he finally decided to speak up.

''Thirty minutes love. Remember, you also have to pack.''

''I know. Just, two more minutes please.''

It took more than two minutes, since I had to clear up somethings with Oliver, the financial controller.

''Okay, I think I've taken care of everything. We can leave now.''

''Great, come on,'' Theo says, trying to stifle a yawn.

I kiss him on the cheek and put an arm around him. ''Theo?''

''Hmm?''

''Why do you think Selene has gone to the packs?'' I ask him once we are in the elevator.

''I have a theory that she was with Amunet all this time, she somehow managed to escape her clutches and has now come to us since she knows vampires will never step foot on pack lands. My best guess is, she needs protection.''

''Or?'' I prod. Knowing that is not the only theory he has.

''Or, Selene is working with Amunet and this is one of her sick games.''

''So you mean to say, all this time that you have been looking for her, she's been with Amunet?''

''That's what I think love. We can't know the truth until she talks.''

''Let's hope she does.''

As we near my car in the parking lot, Theo stops and gives me an unamused look.

''Whaaaat?'' I look at him innocently.

''Just to satisfy my curiosity, how would you have explained this fist sized hole in the window had I not insisted on you telling us the truth?''

''Umm,'' I shuffle nervously under his gaze, ''I'm sure I'd would have come up with something.''

''Why didn't you call me or anyone for help, Athena?'' He suddenly grabs me by the shoulders.

''Theo, what's done is done. Why worry about it?''

''Why worry, why worry Athena?!'' He yells at me and his grip tightens on my shoulders. ''I was busy preparing for our departure while you were here fighting two off two vampires and you didn't even think of letting me know?''

''I handled it, didn't I? What's the problem?''

He finally drops his hands from my shoulders and runs them through his thick mass of hair. ''What's the problem? Really love, what's the problem?!''

I could see the battle raging in his eyes, he was trying so hard to stay calm but I think I managed to strike his last nerve. Although I don't understand his worry, If I did require his help, I would've called him. ''Theo, you need to listen to me.''

''No Athena. You need to listen to me. When something like this happens, you call me, okay? You mind-link me, you shout and scream my name and I promise you, love, no matter how far I am, I will come.''

''But, Theo I-''

''Promise me, Athena,'' he takes my hands in his and kiss them.

I heave a sigh and nod. ''Okay, I promise but only if you promise to do the same too.''

''What? No, If I'm in trouble, I'd want you to be far from it and safe,'' He drops my hands and take a step back.

''No, no no, Theo. This is not how it works. Equality remember? If you're in shit, then I'm in it with you too. If we're facing danger, we're doing it together. I'm not going to sit at home and worry about whether you're coming back to me or not. I'd rather be by your side,'' I place my hand on his cheek. He leans in to my touch and closes his eyes.

''What if we die?'' he whispers after opening his eyes. His light brown ones boring into mine. He then lifts a finger to move a stray lock of hair and tucks it behind my ear. I close the distance between us and kiss him softly on the lips.

''Then we die together.''

***

There you have it!!!

Firstly, i'm really sorry for not updating on Friday, but look on the bright side, you get two chapters this week!!!

Let me know you thoughts on the chapter as usual in the comment section.

Please vote. ❤

-Jessica.S