Chapter IV

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With the steps coming closer, I get up quickly, for a moment bewildered as to what to do with my naked body. I realize that there's nothing I can do at this point, so my next thought is where to go. The stomps are getting louder, but where are they coming from?

"The left", Hera says, still strained with pain, and so I run to the right. Before me lies a hill, and I start to panic as I realize, that I'm slower than the warriors, who undoubtedly are the ones chasing me right now in their wolf forms, but they would also easily spot me if I ran up the side of the hill. I'm freaking out, but since there's nowhere else to go than forward that's what I do with great haste.

The hill is quite steep so I put my hands to the earth as well, so that I will not fall face first if I should trip over a root. With the technique down, the climb is faster than I had anticipated, but so are the footfalls that are awfully close now. My breathing is hectic, but through it, I manage to determine that there must be at least 3 warriors on my tail, given that they are in their wolf form, otherwise, I couldn't start to guess how many they could be.

I look further up and spot a large tree and decide that I need to hurry up past it so that I can hide behind the wide trunk. I get up there and rest my back tightly against the tree, trying to hold my breath, which I'm doing poorly at. My mind is racing as I hear the steps stop. Did they lose track of me?  I throw my head back and look up into the leaves, praying to the Wolf in the Moon that they are gone. It's getting quite dark, I reckon that it must be at least 23 o'clock at this point, though I don't know how long I was out before regaining consciousness.

As I stand here waiting to hear another sound I begin to think, that maybe they did truly go back. They probably didn't want to miss the ceremony. I try to calm myself down, and when my heart finally stops beating all the way up in my neck, I step out from the cover of the tree. Before I get to turn around, I'm grabbed around the neck and a hand swiftly flies up and covers my mouth.

"Did you really think we couldn't hear you breathing? We could hear it from a mile away even before we shifted!". The voice is talking directly into my ear, and something about it sounds familiar. I try to wiggle free of his grasp, so I can see who the warrior is, and maybe get to cover my body. I feel the soft touch of a blanket on my shoulder. One of the other warriors must have thrown it to my capturer. He wraps it not so gently around my shoulders so that I can cover myself a bit.

"Shh Ena, you know, I really don't want to do this either, but I knew it would happen sooner or later. You are absolutely out of control when you shift, and Timothy has explained everything to me...". I try to scream that I wouldn't have done anything if it wasn't for his own actions towards Freya.

"He told me how he was just chatting with your sister, sharing some dessert, when you came out of nowhere and mauled him for no reason. First off, you know you aren't allowed to shift, and secondly, what the hell were you thinking, attacking our future Alpha?". The man loosens his grip on me, allowing me to turn and face him. I can't believe who am faced with.

"Dad? What are you doing here?" I exclaim shocked at the sight of him. I quickly continue, "Listen, Timothy is lying! Do you really believe him over me?!". He looks up and down at me disappointed, and then he looks over at the other two warriors, signaling for them to hold me. He folds his arm giving me the typical you're-in-trouble look, but I can feel that it's a lot more serious than that.

"Athena, from the way that I am seeing this, we have a 22-year-old male in the camp right now, with half of his face ripped off, while you are standing here in front of me, with not a single scratch. Tell me, how does that add up?". He looks at me like I'm the monster. I realize I must tell the truth about what happened. He should be able to hear that I am speaking truthfully.

"That is not what happened" I start slow and collected. "I was walking with Louise when I heard a scream from the treelines at the northern end of the garden. When I ran over there, I saw Timothy rap...", I quickly decide to change my choice of word, "Assaulting Freya, and that's whe...".

Dad cuts me off with a raised eyebrow and an incredulous look. "Freya as in your sister?", I respond with a yes and continue, "and that's when Hera took over and jumped on Timothy to get him off, so Freya could get away. But he jumped back on us and bit Hera's ear off, and then..."

"Athena shut up right now!" he yells at me, clearly angry and with no more patience, "I am so sick and tired of listening to your stupid excuses. You know just as damn well as me, that there is no 'Hera'. You are just a coward who won't take responsibility for their actions!". He is in my face at this point, pointing degradingly at me and making me bow into submission.

"... but I'm speaking the truth... " I almost whisper out, afraid of his reaction.

"Well, clearly he didn't bite your ear off, I can see perfectly well that you are unharmed, so drop the bullshit!", he brushes his left hand over his beard in frustration, turning away from me with his right hand on his hip. He walks around in a half-circle before turning back to me with an aggression I have never seen before. His eyes are glowing intensely with spots of red intertwined with the normally soft brown, which is more like a black color now. He addresses the other warriors while not breaking eye contact with me.

"I don't ever want to see her again. We are not bringing her back, and I don't care what you do, but make sure she can't return ever", he looks up at them both for a second, and I can sense them nod in agreement. My father turns and begins to walk swiftly back to the camp as I am left here to the mercy of the warriors.


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