**The Following Week**
“How long until they get here?” Ryna asks.
“Uncle Alex said they were about ten minutes away,” I say, eager to see Jason and Jess. ‘*Have you spoken to Noah recently*?’ I ask through mind-link.
‘*Yeah, I spoke to him yesterday. They thought they were being followed just outside Minot, but he said that Rich managed to lose them. They’ve been changing cars every two days and taking as many back roads as possible. They’re flying out of St. Paul’s today*.’
‘*Great. Make sure you call him later to make sure they got to John’s grandmother’s house safely*.’
‘*Will do*.’
I stand up from behind my desk and walk towards the door. “Come on, let’s wait for them outside,” I say, and Ryna and I go outside to wait on the porch for Uncle Alex, Jason, and Jess.
‘*Who has eyes on Damon*?’ I mind-link the Crescent Warriors.
‘*He’s in town. We have two warriors following him. He’s meeting with Alpha Costas again*,’ Leah lets me know.
‘*And the Luna*?’
‘*In her office, I’m standing guard with Leah*,’ Harry advises.
‘*Great. Please notify the warriors who are following Damon that I need to know when he is on his way back,’ I tell them as I see Uncle Alex’s car coming up the road. ‘I’m taking Jason and Jess up to the cabin so we can talk freely*,’ I say, waving to the car.
‘*Yes, Delta*.’
As Uncle Alex pulls up in front of the pack house and rolls down the window, I walk over to the car. “Hey guys! It’s so great to see you!” I greet Jason and Jess in the back with a cheerful smile.
“You too, Athena!” Jason says.
“Meet us up at the cabin. We’re right behind you,” I tell Uncle Alex, and he nods and drives away towards the mountain.
#
“Hey guys! How was your trip?” I ask Jason and Jess as I walk up to them and hug them both.
“It was fine. Jason didn’t tell me he hates to fly until we were already in the air, and he was practically hyperventilating,” Jess giggles, and Jason’s cheeks flush.
“I’ve never flown before!” He yells, embarrassed.
“Oh, Jason, I’m so sorry,” I laugh. “We could have organized for you to be driven up.”
“It’s okay. I’ll just get wasted before we fly home,” he says.
“Yes, as a Lycan, that will definitely help,” Jess snorts.
We all laugh when his cheeks turn even redder. “Come on, let’s get inside out of the cold,” I laugh and lead them inside the cabin.
Once everyone has taken their seats and the fire is lit, I begin to explain things to them. “Thank you both so much for coming. I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you would both come all this way. I’m sorry about the cloak and dagger and not letting you guys get settled before having this conversation, but we needed to talk away from prying eyes, and it’s not safe to talk in my office,” I explain.
“It’s been bugged?” Jason asks.
I nod. “Both my office and my room, Gamma Alex’s office, and the gym office that we know of. We believe Alpha Damon is behind it.”
“What makes you think your Alpha is spying on you?” Jess asks.
“First things first. You understand that I’m like your old Gamma, Nick? That I’m different like he is?”
Jess nods. “Yes, and Jason has explained what he knows about the chosen.”
“Are you familiar with Elder Laskaris, Jason?” I ask.
“He’s a good guy and was a good Alpha. Always fair and worked hard to keep alliances with other packs,” he explains. “That’s why he’s one of the youngest on the council. A lot of Alphas look up to him.”
“And do you trust him?” Uncle Alex asks.
“Yeah, I do.”
“Well, after the Elder Council meeting, Elder Laskaris approached me in private.”
“Why? What did he want?” Jason asks.
“He told me I needed to get to Doctor Shields before the council did because Doctor Shields had answers I needed. That everything has to do with a prophecy and the council trying to stop history from repeating itself.”
“Wait, what prophecy?” Jess asks.
“We don’t know.”
“Wait. You guys helped Doctor Shields escape, didn’t you?” Jason asks.
Ryna swallows and clears his throat. “We kidnapped him. Well, Athena’s mate did…” He says, nervously looking at me.
Jason sighs and rubs his face with his hands. “Was it at least worth it?” he asks after a moment. “Did you get any answers?”
“We… Don’t know exactly. Doctor Shields was rescued the same day we got him back to Montana. Athena’s mate questioned him, but he was murdered before he could tell us what the Doctor said,” Uncle Alex explains.
“Oh, Athena. I’m so sorry,” Jess says as she leans forward and squeezes my knee.
“His murder brings us back to Alpha Damon. Apart from a small circle of us, he was the only one who knew where we were keeping Doctor Shields,” I say, moving the conversation back to Damon.
“And you’re sure the other people can be trusted?” Jason asks.
Nodding, I say, “It was only the three of us in this room, my mate and his best friend, who helped him get Doctor Shields away from the Moonstone territory,” I explain.
“Goddess,” Jason mutters as he leans back into the couch and takes Jess’s hand in his.
Ryna goes over everything that has happened in the last couple of weeks since we’ve returned home. I sit there and watch my two friends, thinking about how lucky they are to have found each other.
“Athena?” Jess interrupts my thoughts.
“I’m sorry, what?” I ask.
“What do you need from us?” Jason asks.
“To be honest, I don’t know. As Ryna explained, there are warriors within our pack who are aware of our concerns about Alpha Damon. However, having the support of people outside of our pack would be helpful. If it comes to light that Damon killed my mate, I will put him down,” I say, anger seeping into my words.
“You’re asking us to possibly betray an Alpha of another pack…?” Jess asks.
I sit back in my chair. “Shit. This is too much, isn’t it? I don’t know what I was thinking, asking you guys to be involved in any of this,” I stammer, raking my fingers through my hair.
They look at each other, and I can tell they’re mind-linking. Then, finally, I hear Jess growl lowly, and Jason throws up his hands in defeat.
“I realize that I know you even less than what Jason does, but I believe you and everything you have told us today. I can’t explain why, but I trust you. So, we’re going to help you,” Jess says with a smile.
I exhale in relief. “Thank you. I know your pack isn’t exactly close by, but we don’t know who we can trust around here, and your support means everything,” I tell them.
“Alpha Peter accepted Alpha Damon’s invitation to the mate ball. He wants to smooth things over between our packs and figures the mate ball is the perfect opportunity. So, we’ll stay here until then. In the meantime, we can help you gather information on the Alpha,” Jason says.
“Thank you again. I truly treasure the both of you.” I give them a big smile. “Jess, you mentioned trusting me without being able to explain why. Do you have the same… abilities as Luna Cassia?” I ask Jess.
She stiffens and looks at me with wide eyes. “She told you about that?”
I nod and see Uncle Alex and Ryna staring at me, confused.
“What abilities?” Ryna asks.
“That’s not for me to say. Luna told me last week when she was in the hospital,” I explain.
Jess growls. “Why was my sister in the hospital?”
“Sister?!” I ask, shocked.
“Yes, Cassia is my sister. Now what happened?” She asks angrily.
“Ummm, well, we should probably go and talk to her…” I pause. “Ryna, why don’t you and Uncle Alex show Jason to their room in the pack house and show him around? I’ll take Jess to see her sister.”
They nod, and we all head back to the cars.
#
“I’ve mind-linked the Luna. She’s going to meet us in the bunker beneath the pack house. We know it’s safe to talk down there,” I tell Jess.
She nods, staring out the window and fidgeting with her bag absentmindedly.
We park outside of the pack house five minutes later, and I lead Jess down into the bunker. When she sees Cassia, they both run to each other, hugging each other tightly.
“I’ve missed you, baby sister,” Cassia says to Jess as she pulls back and looks her over. “Being mated suits you,” she smiles.
“I’ve missed you, Cass,” Jess tells her, hugging her again. “What happened? Why were you in the hospital?”
Cassia looks at me over Jess’s shoulder with a questioning look.
“I’m so sorry, Luna. I mentioned you had been in the hospital, but I didn’t say why. I didn’t betray your trust,” I blurt out.
Cassia sighs. “It’s okay, Athena,” she says as she pulls away from her sister. “And I keep telling you to call me Cass.”
“I’ll give you two some space,” I say, turning to leave the bunker.
“Please stay, Athena,” Cassia says, motioning for us to take a seat on the metal bench against the wall. She takes our hands in hers and exhales deeply. “It’s Damon,” she sadly says. “He’s the reason I was in the hospital.”
Cassia explains everything to Jess as I sit there and squeeze her hand, trying to comfort her as silent tears fall down her face.
“That son of a bitch,” Jess roars, the anger becoming too much to hold in. “I’m gonna kill him!”
“No, you won’t, my dear sister. Athena has been keeping me safe,” she says, giving me a soft smile.
Jess gets up and starts pacing. “He’s not worthy of you! You have Alpha blood running through your veins! He’s nothing but a Beta who took advantage of his Alpha being killed!”
I stiffen as it hits me. “Oh, my Goddess…” I whisper. Jess stops pacing, and the sisters both look at me. “What if… What if he didn’t just take advantage of the situation? What if he orchestrated it?” I ask Jess.
Her jaw drops open. “Shit…” she mutters.
“What are you talking about?” Cassia asks.
“Have you told her what you told me today?” Jess asks.
I shake my head and turn to Cassia. “Cass, I think there are some things you need to know…”