Chapter 152

**Athena's POV**

Chaos. Not something that I would use lightly given our situation, but in this moment, Chaos was the more fitting role among any other word that I could possibly think to use in that moment between us.

The sound of growls and howls slowly rising all around us as Ares and I continue to fight, our teeth and claws grazing at each other's fur as we did. Ares now attempting to bite me in my flank while I continued to jump just out of reach of his teeth.

Ares snarling any time he would miss his opening shot.

‘Ares, snap the fuck out of it, please’ I beg, my voice bouncing off the bond we shared in hopes that it would help snap him out of whatever spell Lily had over him.

‘It’s no use Athena, Ares won’t listen to us’ whines Artemis, not wanting to give up on our mate either but losing faith quickly.

‘We can’t lose hope, Artemis, we have to pray that Mother Moon will be able to help us,’ I move to say back to her, a piece of me hoping that she would understand my reasoning.

‘And if she doesn’t?’

‘Then we keep trying. I refuse to kill Ares just because of Lily.’

With that in thought, I move to circle Ares once again, Ares still attempting to bite me in the leg or side only for me to swiftly turn around and catch him in the snout with one of my paws, my paw catching him gently across the face causing him to yelp.

Surprised at being caught off guard does Ares move to growl, his teeth showing once more as he moves to pounce, catching me off guard as he manages to pin me to the ground, Ares now hovering over me with a furry.

Ares… I whimper to myself, my eyes closing as I wait. Ares slowly moving to sniff my fur, his snout moving from my side to then my shoulder until finally he reaches my neck, my body tingling in anticipation at what he would finally do to me.

My eyes squeezing tightly closed as my fear rises, the fear of Ares biting my neck, of ripping out my throat now crossing my mind. Unable to move and desperately praying, all I can do is wait for the final blow to hit.

A final blow that doesn’t seem to happen. Curiosity now rising within me as I move to take a peek from the corner of my eye. Ares now freezing just above me. His eyes now reflecting an inner struggle going on within him.

Shifting my focus completely over to him fully, I continue to watch. To stare. Only to become startled by Lily’s voice. Her voice sounding annoying to anyone other than her as she moves to bark out orders yet again.

“What are you doing Ares? I said kill her! Do it, Do it NOW” yells Lily, clearly not happy with the outcome of what she was witnessing before her.

“ARES!”

Upon hearing his name, Ares moves to lock eyes with Lily, a glare now marring her face as she continues to stand her ground. Her eyes still locked on Ares even as he continued to hover over me.

Keeping his focus, Lily moves to speak again.

“Stop playing with your prey Ares and kill her, kill the bitch. I want her dead and gone. NOW”

Growling softly, not one to take orders lightly, especially from someone who wasn’t an Alpha or Luna, does Ares continue to hover over me, almost as if he was contemplating Lily’s words even if he didn’t immediately act upon them.

‘Ares… Please, snap out of it’ I try once more, a part of me hoping to get through to him finally only to hear the sound of pounding feet off in the distance.

‘I-Is that-’ I trail off, hoping that Artemis would know the answer to it instead.

‘It’s help. Help is coming for us’ answers Artemis, hope now returning to her as well.

Feeling a wave of relief begin to wash over me slightly, I quickly decide to use this moment of distraction to my advantage and move to bite Ares in the leg instead. A howl of pain now radiating throughout the air as Ares tries to free himself from between my jaws. My jaw locked tightly around his leg as I refuse to let him go. The feet from earlier now growing closer the longer I tried to hold out for them.

“Why you little bitch” cries Lily, Clover now close to the surface as she gets ready to shift forms.

Throwing her a dirty glare myself, I manage to roll myself out from underneath Ares. My jaw finally letting him go as I move to stand back up, my paws hoping to put some distance between us as I move myself away from him.

My eyes still glaring at Lily even as I bare my teeth to her, having had just about enough of her as I move to face her directly. My eyes blazing with rage as I dare her, hoping she would become careless enough to let Clover out to play instead.

That’s it bitch… Shift… I wanna see you suffer just like I’ve had to, come my deepest, darkest thoughts, thoughts I didn’t think I could ever have but apparently did.

‘Be careful Athena, you're poking a sleeping bear’ whispers Artemis who knew how much I truly wanted to see Lily unravel herself before us.

‘I know. But I’m so done with her, with Lily and her bullshit. I’m done letting her decide how my life should be runned’ come my final thoughts as I get ready to attack her instead only to be pinned to the ground yet again by Ares. Having managed to heal from my earlier attack, giving him the ability to bounce right back. Our eyes now locked with one another for a final time as he growls deeply, his body unmoving.

Ares, comes my hitched reply, now certain that Ares would officially kill me on the spot only to hear a howl in the distance. A howl I knew all too well.

Eros.

Returning the howl, I move to return my focus back over towards Ares. Deciding to shift back to my human form instead, knowing that I would be completely exposed but the need to touch, to feel him now weighing heavily upon me as I wait for the end.

Upon shifting back to human form do I slowly move to run my fingers through his fur, his black fur still soft as ever even as I keep my fingers buried there. “Ares… I know you're in there, somewhere. It’s me, Athena. Your mate. Please, don’t let Lily ruin us. Fight her, please. If not for me, then for Adrian, for Ryder, Nathan and Samara. For Eros.”

Keeping my focus on Ares, I continue to reach out to him, hoping and praying that my words, my voice would somehow reach him. Tears threatening to rise as I move to tilt my head back slowly in defeat. A part of me knowing that if I was to die this instant, then at least it would be by Ares and not Lily or Brian.

I guess this is it then. I’ve tried. Lily’s finally won, come my final thoughts, Ares snout now close enough for me to feel his hot breath against my bare flesh, my mind blank as I wait for my fate only to feel a lick against my neck before a nuzzle instead of cold, hard teeth.

‘Athena?’ whispers a hazy voice.

Gasping, I move to cling to the wolf that continued to tower over me like a lifeline.

“ARES!” I say, my voice on the edge of trembling.

‘Yes’

“OH GOD. ARES! THANK THE GODDESS” I cry out finally, my arms coming to wrap themselves around his neck tightly. Lily’s voice screeches in shock and horror as she watches Ares break free from her mind control spell.

“NO! NO!”

Ignoring Lily and those around us for just a second, I continue to hold on tightly to my mate, sobs now wracking my trembling body at knowing that Ares was finally back to normal again.

Lowering his body carefully onto mine, Ares lets his giant wolf size body cover my very naked one as he tries to process his surroundings and what was going on between us.

‘What happened? How did we end up here?’

“You were taken by Lily. She brainwashed you, God I thought I lost you. You weren’t responding to me at all.”

‘Never. I’ll never truly leave you, nor our family ever again’

Releasing another sob, I continue to hold onto Ares gently. Thanking the Moon Goddess for whatever miracle that she had performed in order for me to get my mate back in one piece. Lily still shrieking like a lunatic only to cry out in alarm when another huge black wolf finally appears before her.

Teeth bare as growls erupt all around us as the wolf moves to stand between us and her. It’s form standing protectively between us as if daring Lily to attack it, more wolves beginning to merge from between the trees as they slowly move to approach the battle field. Their growls mixing together with the Rogues become an overbearing sight to behold.

“NO! This isn’t how it’s supposed to end. Not now, Not ever” cries Lily before finally leaping into action. Clover finally appearing before us as she moves to pounce at the wolf now standing between us. Ares still hovering above me as chaos now erupts all around us.

War finally breaking loose just as it had within my dreams. The Hunter’s Moon now high within the sky as it hangs dangerously above us. The moon full and colored in a deep crimson red, like blood as wolves attack other wolves. Claws and teeth shredding into one another with a primal urge to come out on top in the end.