Respect

Chapter 11: His Shadow of Regret

Daniel's POV
My encounter with Athena was worse than I expected. She never saw me as anything other than a monster. To think, she thought I would hurt her. She thought I wanted to torture her. Did I really look like that sort of guy? Was I that bad of a person that she only needed a look at me to come to a conclusion?

She was hurt and in danger and all I wanted to do was help her, protect her and possibly....love her. I would never be able to bring myself to hurt not even a single hair on her head. She meant the world to me, and I wanted her safe.

I had gone out to get her some things that I thought she'd like. I thought I had gotten an overview of her style and picked what I could for her. I wasn't sure if she'd even like what I got her, but either way, she needed them.

I walked into her room and could immediately see the sadness and hatred for me in her eyes. I longed for the time when she would accept me and not fear me. I placed her things on her bed and tried to not show how hurt I was.

I walked out and gave her space and waited outside. She took long to get ready, but I wasn't complaining, I could wait for her. When she came out, I was in awe at her beauty. She looked so....breathtaking. I didn't want to scare her or anything with an awkward compliment pared with an equally awkward stare so, I kept it simple.

She looked like she wanted to leave but couldn't because of my men. She was so determined to get away from me. I couldn't get her to understand that I wanted to protect her. She wouldn't listen to me even if I tried explaining a thousand times. So, I let her go.

I ordered my men to give her free passage and she ran like she was running for her life. Seeing how she left broke my heart. I never wanted her to get hurt and this was the only way I could think of to get her to understand. I let her go knowing that she was in danger.

I watched as she ran into the woods, you could see she was struggling as she was still healing but you could also see her determination to get away.

I wanted her to get a good look at the place she was in and not to show her that she couldn't get away. It was important that she saw that.

I followed behind her knowing the route she took. She couldn't get away, I wouldn't allow it.

I took a few of my men with me together with the dogs to make the search for her less hectic. The dogs led the way and followed her.

The sky started to get dark when I knew that it was going to rain soon. We had to get her back. The forest was not at all friendly. It was dense and not easy to navigate through. That's why I got a house here, it's very hard for my enemies to get to me, but it is not impossible for someone to get lost, and when it started to rain and the fog rose, not even the best navigator could get out of it. I needed to find Athena....fast.

The rain soon started to fall and the ground became soft, making it hard to move in. The dogs were barking like crazy and not because they saw Athena, they saw a wild cat. Now this was very common in this area, and I could care less about it, but I knew Athena was out there and it roaming around didn't help my anxiety.

Why did I even let her go in the first place!

If anything happened to her, I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.

We followed the dogs as the rain got heavier and stronger. I started to lose sight of what was in front of me. I started calling out as I knew the dogs were now becoming of no use.

I called out to her as the rain pushed me from side to side. I could barley see now and was getting very worried for Athena. If I was having a hard time, what more her.

"Athena!"

I called out in the noise of the thundering storm. I could barely hear myself, I doubted if she could. But I tried to remain optimistic.

I looked behind me and only saw three of my men. We were literally ten of us. I could care less about their whereabouts, between them and Athena, they were more capable of taking care of themselves. Athena came first.

I shouted for them to split up and find her and they left in opposite directions. I continued in my path hoping to find her.

I had been walking for what seemed like ages and the rain was far from over, on the contrary, it seemed to get heavier.

Just my luck

I stopped to look around when I saw something bright huddled besides a tree stump. She was wearing some bright sweater. I quickly ran to it. It was her.
I held her in my arms and called out to her, she never responded. She was unconscious and cold. I tried to carry her when I noticed that she was stuck. I looked around and saw her leg caught in a snare. She was badly hurt.

This was all my fault

I tried to get it off of her but it only seemed to get tighter. We sat there for some time until I finally got it off. I carefully put her in my arms and carried her in the rain as I attempted to find my way back to the house. She was unconscious and I feared the worst.

I walked through the rain, and pulled through the mud with everything I had. I could feel the strong winds fighting to push me off balance, but I had to get Athena home. I walked for some time when I saw Lucas with a flashlight. He saw us luckily and helped guide my way home.

I got home and ran into the house. I placed Athena on the couch, her ankle was cut really badly. I called for the doctor but it didn't seem like he'd be here in a while. The rain had caused a lot of road blocks and cars weren't advised to move.

I couldn't bare seeing her like this. I carried her to her room and lay her on her bed. I ran to the washroom and run a hot bath for her. I placed her frail body in the water to warm her up and cleaned her.

I clothed her in something warm and put her to bed. I asked for some warm water for her head and a first aid kit to treat her leg.

I was used to caring for myself so, this was a walkover. It hurt me to have to see her like this and I had no one else to blame but myself.

I watched over her for the night. The rain had now stopped and it was quite late. I was hoping the doctor would come soon so I could give him a piece of my mind for making Athena wait.

He stepped in and sutured her ankle and gave her some medicine to help with the pain. Looking at him, I wanted to beat the life out of him for coming late and him talking was just adding to my anger and he noticed. He left immediately after he was done with her checkup.

I stayed up for her, I was hurting seeing her hurt. I felt helpless knowing she had none and worst of all, I was guilty knowing she didn't deserve this.