Athena

Chapter 17

"And I thought my heart was detached from all the sunlight of our past"
-Olivia Rodrigo

The first thing that I felt when I got my senses back was the excruciating pain on my back and the throbbing in my head. The next was the tight hold that someone had on my hand. They were running their thumb up and down in a calming way and they were occasionally kissing my knuckles, while murmuring sweet reassurances.

After a few minutes of being awake I tried to open my eyes, only for them to close shut again immediately because of the blinding lights that greeted me.

After blinking repeatedly in order to focus my vision I managed to keep them open. With a grunt, I tried to lift my self up, a task that was proven way more difficult than it should. I closed my eyes tightly, in pain that was caused by my sudden movement.

"Hey hey hey, it's okay. Here, let me help you." A voice called from my left.

Two strong arms were placed under my armpits, lifting me slowly and carefully in a sitting position.

Murmuring a small thank you, I took a look around the room, only now noticing the people that were in here with me. On my left stood Alex, helping me sit up, then on the couch was Leo and Enzo while Anthony was on my right, softly stroking my hand.

"What happened?" I asked no-one in particular.

"You don't remember?" Anthony said worried.

I squinted my eyes and thought back to the events of the previous day. The cells, the torture, guns, shouts, blood...

I slowly nodded in realization. "How long was I out?"

"The whole night. About eight hours." Enzo said while standing up and stretching his arms.

My eyes widened at that. So that would mean that it's a total of two nights and one day that I've been away from Noah and Cade.

I slowly moved to get up. "I got to go..." I said, mostly to myself.

Leo got up as well and came to my side. "You're not going anywhere, missy. You're hurt and there are also some things that we need to talk about." He said with finality while pushing me back on the bed.

"No, you don't understand. We can talk later. I need to get to my brother, he's all alone...A-And my wolf. They don't have any food. Noah must be so scared. You have to let me go, please!" I pleaded, a stray tear escaping my eyes.

"Noah is fine. He's on his way here right now with Apollo. Your wolf, I have no clue. To be honest with you I didn't even know tou had a wolf but considering that they are wild animals I believe that he is doing just fine on his own. You, on the other hand, are definitely not fine so I suggest you stop moving before you hurt yourself even more." Alex answered with a pointed look.

"Wh-How is Noah with you?" I asked, curious.

"We found him outside the diner you work at panicking and looking for you. We had figured out by then who you are so we took him with us." Anthony replied with a soft smile.

"Thank you..." I whispered with glossy eyes.

I can't believe they actually helped Noah. I thought that they were selfish monsters who only cared about their money but I couldn't be more wrong. They are thoughtful and kind and they are actually trying to help me now that they found me. I thought that if we ever reunited, in the best case scenario, they would just ignore me, act like they don't know me, but that's far from the truth. I can't help but feel guilty for thinking so low of them, but back then I believed that it was their choice to send me away. It's still not an excuse, though.