Dawn

Chapter 4

Ares

I used to think there could be nothing better in the world, but holding my sleeping mate in my arms has made me forget any instance of joy I had before. The way she cuddled into my chest and inhaled my scent made all the blood rush to my cock, but I knew Athena was still hesitant about our matehood, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't working through it as well.

My grandfather, Ares, told me about the Celosia wolves when I was young, and how he led the crusade to end their tyranny. I was named after my grandfather and I used to think it was such a great honor to bare the name of the man who, in a way, saved the world from that tortuous pack.

As I got older I developed a love for reading, and the library in the packhouse contained hundreds of books surrounding the history of the original packs. The Celosia wolves were considered direct descendants of the moon goddess, and, because of this, they were blessed with certain gifts and powers that no other wolf could possess. It was considered an honor to be born into that pack.

The story went that this pack began to take advantage of their power. The pack was over two thousand wolves strong, and their matehood stayed within the pack–the moon goddess kept her bloodline pure.

That was another mystery to me. I was part of the Seven Rivers pack. How could I be mated to a Celosia wolf when they only mate within their kind? Crazy of all, how was I mated to an alpha? It was said that two alphas were never mated as their power was too great. In fact not only did their union strengthen themselves and their pack, but their pups would be one of the strongest alphas of all time.

So not only was I going to have to protect my mate from those who will want to kill her, but I will also have to protect my pack from the matehood of myself to another alpha.

As I finally make it back to the house, I climb the stairs and lay Athena gently down onto my bed, bringing the blanket to cover her. She looks so peaceful sleeping there and there is nothing I would rather do than curl up next to her and hold her in my arms. She is my mate. My wolf craves to be close to her, especially since we hadn't marked or mated her yet. It was a brutal feeling to have her so close but not mine. There is a grumble from my wolf.

No. She is mine. All mine.

I growl in approval. My wolf and I will do anything to protect her. I know I can't stand and watch Athena much longer; I know there is business to be done, especially with this recent discovery, but I can't leave her just yet.

I reach down, tuck her hair behind her ear, and lean down and kiss her forehead. "No harm will come to you my love."

With that, I leave her to rest and mindlink my men to meet in the makeshift study. When I arrive they are already there, waiting patiently with probably hundreds of questions and concerns.

Dominic clears his throat as soon as I take a seat at the table.

"I've contacted the pack and notified them of our delay. We have at most 2 days until we must return."

I nod in approval. Two days. We need a plan, but I know my men have questions until we can even begin to discuss strategy. David is the first to jump in.

"Alpha, you can't possibly mean to mate with this disgrace of a wolf. This would bring ruin to our pack!"

"Are you kidding? Mating a Celosia wolf would bring great honor to our pack! We would have a connection to the moon goddess that no other pack has had!" Jon adds in.

Dominic decides to chime in, "You do understand they were massacred a few generations ago, and were thought to be extinct until this very moment, correct Jon?"

"How do we know she is a lone wolf? Maybe there are more of them! Maybe they will be the end of us all! There is a reason they were all killed. They are too strong and used their powers against every other wolf!" David yells.

"Enough!" I scream, "She is my mate. I have no plan to reject her David so you best stop suggesting such an absurd thought. I don't disagree with what all of you are saying, but I am more concerned about how to protect Athena and our pack when these two days are over. Now, what I say here cannot and will not leave this room." I infuse my words with my alpha command. It's not that I don't trust my men, but this is a risk I am not worth sparing.

"Athena divulged some very important information to me when you all were dismissed earlier. Some information I will need to check on to verify it is true." I turn to Dominic. "Dom, you could feel her rank. How strong would you say she is?"

Dominic hums in acknowledgement, "She is definitely the first born of a very strong bloodline. If I had to guess I would say a Beta or Gamma."

I nod. "I would agree, however, according to Athena, she is of Alpha blood."

At this David stands. "Impossible. Two Alphas cannot be mated! Even if this was the first instance, the first born alpha was killed the night of the massacre. Even if there was another child who was missed, they would not be able to carry the alpha gene! She is lying!"

I growl back to David, "Never call my mate a liar. Don't ever disrespect your Luna ever again." David slinks back into his chair, clearly affected by my pheromones which seem to be suffocating everyone in the room.

"Alpha, may I speak freely?" Jon chimes in. I nod in approval. "A wolf who mates with a Celosia will become incredibly strong. Strong enough to overtake any alpha of any pack. It would be incredibly stupid not to mark that Celosia as soon as possible."

I want to growl at his words. The way he is insinuating my mate as a business deal; as a way to make me stronger. As if I would mark her for my own benefits and then lock her away and use her as a plaything. Perhaps this is what other wolves would do, but my wolf wants closeness to his mate. He wants to love her, to have pups with her, to grow old with her. The mere thoughts are infuriating. My emotions are out of control now that I have met her, and it is something I always hated about the idea of mates. There was a time I did not want a mate simply because I saw it as a weakness. It wasn't until the one night stands left me with a deep pit of loneliness. I need her. I'm afraid I will lose my sanity if I lost her. I would see red and not rest until the world was coated in blood for taking her from me. I may be kind to Athena, but I am far from kind. I rule my pack with an iron fist–one must be strong considering we are the strongest pack in the United States. I will protect my pack at all costs. It's one of the reasons why any rogue or lone wolf caught on my land is killed on sight. I don't kill for fun, but I kill to protect.

"Ares, if you want to accept her as your mate, we will need to create a backstory for her. The longer we can protect her, the better it will be. At least it will give us more time to solidify a plan of defense." Dominic says which pulls me from my thoughts.

"I agree. Ok, dismissed for now. Dom, stay back, I need to talk to you." I say. I wait until Jon and David have left the room then I turn to Dominic. "I need you to find out anything and everything about Athena's past. I need to know how she's survived all these years, and how many others there are."

"Ares, are you sure you want to look into her past without talking to her first? It may give her another reason not to trust you." Dominic says while giving me a concerned look.

"I understand your hesitancy Dom, but honestly, I don't trust her either. She has every reason to lie to me. I need to know these things so I can protect her." I say, knowing that in the end, it will only help.

Both Dominic and I nod, but are broken from our conversation by an ear blood curdling scream. It takes me no time at all to figure out it is Athena's voice and my wolf takes full control, leaving the room with Dom on my heels. I sprint like a madman up the stairs towards my room, the door standing wide open. Someone dared to attack my mate. Someone will be dying today.

As I storm into the room I am met with the worst possible sight known to any wolf. A sight that makes me fall to my knees as soon as I've entered, and makes my wolf howl in agony alerting everyone in the house to an alpha's loss.

I see Jon leaning over my mate with his canines dug into my mate's mating spot, claiming her as his own, as she lies limp below him with tears in her eyes. He has taken her from me, forever.