Athena (L. Clearwater)

Chapter Twenty

Athena drives Bella to the treaty for Edward because he doesn't even trust himself to be near Jacob. She sees a shirtless Jacob down the road and across the treaty.

"Do they all have bodies like that?" Athena asks Bella bluntly and Jacob smiles a little. "Even the girl?"

"Yes," Bella replies. "Do you want me to tell them your story?"

"If you want to," Athena replies. "You call me if you need me, Bella."

"Hunt up, watch out for the vampire," Bella says. She gives Athena a hug before she goes to Jacob, who hugs her tightly.

"Keep her safe," Athena says.

Jacob looks over and he meets eyes with the vampire. "I will," he replies and he leads Bella to his Rabbit.
*********

"You wanted to talk about Athena Cullen?" Billy Black asks after he's done with the tribal stories.

Athena started using Cullen as soon as the breakup occurred, she was using Volturi-Hale beforehand while she still dated Edward.

"She said I could tell you her story, she said it's why she respects shapeshifters," Bella says softly, shyly.

"Which one's Athena?" Paul asks.

"The one who yelled at the big vampire," Sam says. "The one who continued the search. I talked to her, told her we lost Victoria."

"Right..."

"She's the oldest one out of them," Bella says. "She's two-thousand years old, maybe more."

"Sheesh," Sue Clearwater gasps. She's taken over for Harry Clearwater, her late husband, on the council.

"In her past life, she wasn't a human," Bella says. "She was a werewolf. An actual werewolf. A child of the moon."

Sam whistles. "The one where there ability is a curse," he says to the guys and Leah as they grow confused. "They shifted every full moon and they were in pain all day, according to the legends. There are no more now."

"She was pregnant," Bella says. "Children of the moon could have babies, but they were their most vulnerable during the day and night of a full moon, so if they gave birth on that day..."

"They die," Jared Cameron whispers. His eyes wide.

"She gave birth to a boy, Rhesus, he was stillborn," Bella says. "Some vampires arrived to kill her village because of their species, and they found her with the human midwife holding her dead son. She wanted them to turn her."

"Why?" Leah Clearwater, Sue's daughter and the she-wolf Bella told Athena about, asks. "Why would someone want that?"

"Because of her curse," Sam assumes, "right?"

"Right... she told me it was called a curse for a reason," Bella says. "Vampire venom kills the werewolf inside its semi-human host," she continues. "She begged for the vampire to turn her, to save her from her curse. He did. She buried her son. I don't think she's been in Greece since. Her gift... she's gifted. Her gift is humanity. She can eat human food, sleep, cry, blush..."

"Is she fertile?" Paul asks curiously.

"I... don't know," Bella says with a frown. "I can ask."

"Please."

Bella pulls out her cellphone and calls a number.

"Are you okay? Do I need to make a sneaky entry and rescue you?" a female's voice asks and Sam notices Leah staring at the phone curiously.

"I'm fine, Athena," Bella says. "The 'shifters had questions."

"You had me worried!" Athena scolds as she walks back into her house. "Okay, you oversized wolves, ask away."

"Oversized wolves?" Paul looks so offended.

"Are you fertile?" Jared asks while Paul repeats what Athena called them.

"Yes, and I'd carry a human baby," Athena replies honestly. "I don't know if it's true. I haven't tried for a baby since I was turned."

And Bella knows that Edward's a virgin, so she didn't even have sex with a vampire.

"Who can knock you up?" Embry Call asks and Billy blinks at his wording. "You know, since you're a leech."

"Anyone," Athena says. "Vampire, human, shifter, zombie."

"Zombies are real?" Seth Clearwater, Sue and Harry's youngest and Leah's little brother, asks energetically.

Athena laughs heartily. "No, but God, I wish," she says, "that'd make this world interesting. Mix things up a bit."

"Yeah!" Seth cheers and Sue shakes her head in amusement at her son.

"How old were you when you turned?" Billy asks her.

"I was nineteen," Athena replies. "Nineteen summers, as we counted by then. I was born in the summer. I think the month now would be July. The first or the second of July. I lost my entire pack on the day I was turned. I lost my --- my son that day."

"I'm so sorry," Emily Young, Sam's imprint, says sadly. "I had a stillbirth before I met Sam."

"They're terrible, aren't they?" Athena asks sadly. "You carry the baby for ten months and then when they're born..."

"They're worse than miscarriages, if you ask me," Emily responds and Sam holds his imprint's hand. "Rhesus is a pretty name."

Athena sniffles and Bella winces. She's crying.

"It was my father's name," Athena says. "Is that, ah," sniff, "is that all, Bella? I have to go."

Bella looks at the wolves.

"That's all," Sam says. "We're sorry to bring up past memories."

"The alpha," Athena whispers. "Any luck on your end?"

Sam sighs. "Not yet," he answers.

"Let us know," Athena says before ending the call.

"She dated Edward for a couple of decades," Bella says.

"What happened between them?" Seth asks. He's so eager to learn. He's just so excitable. Sam blames it on his age.

"..." Bella hesitates. "Me. Edward left her for me. It took Athena months to warm up to me, and now we're actually pretty close. She even has her green in their natural human color around me after I'm around vampires for so long. Her human eyes are comforting in this world."

"I'll say," Leah mumbles and Sue sends her a look. "What? That wasn't an insult to the leech, Mom."

Bella winces at the terminology but says nothing else as Sam looks into the fire and Billy studies Bella and Sue scolds Leah softly.