The Moon's Shadow

☾ Chapter Forty-one

Note:

I'm so sorry about my absence. Life got kind of crazy, I was dealing with my parent's divorce, and was taking care of literally everyone in my family except myself. I needed a mental break to make sure I was okay, but I'm excited to get back to writing! 

Athena's POV

"Athena?" Ryker called for me, lightly knocking on the door. I ignored it, sinking further under the covers in bed.

The door opened, and I felt the pressure of Ryker sitting at the foot of the bed.

"You can't stay in here forever love. Come outside, it's a nice day. We can go get some fresh air."

I let out a sigh, I knew it would do me good but I couldn't bring myself to do anything since the fires. I lost my precious home, I had built so many memories in it, to lose it all so quickly, it upset me. 

But what upset me, even more, was myself. When the fire engulfed the buildings, I was selfish and focused on my own house instead of helping other pack members, and in the end, I couldn't even save my house. It made me even madder when I found out what Rhea had done, how she had put her own life and safety at risk when she should have never of had to do that in the first place if I could have just moved my own two feet.

"Athena?" Ryker called again, gently pulling back the covers as if any sudden movement would upset me.

"A walk sounds nice," I barely managed to whisper.

With that, Ryker fully removed the cover and helped me out of bed. I shuffled to the mirror to make sure I didn't look too horrible and instantly regretted it.

My skin was paler than normal, my olive hue was fading. There were huge dark circles under my eyes, no surprise there. I've hardly been sleeping. I let out another small sigh while trying to get a few knots from out of my hair.

"You look beautiful," Ryker said from behind me, giving me a small smile. I could see the same sadness in his eyes that were in mine, but he would never admit it.

I snorted, we both knew I didn't look great, but this was something I always had loved about him, even before we were mates. He was painfully nice, always complimenting people, smiling in their direction, trying his damned hardest to make everyone feel slightly better.

Satisfied that this was about as good as it was going to get, for now, I turned around and headed to the door with Ryker in tow. 

I braced myself as we headed to the main doors, I hadn't seen the village for two days, I knew everyone would be hard at work rebuilding, which made me feel guilty. 

"It's okay to take time for yourself," Ryker whispered as he laced his fingers through mine. He always seemed to know what I was thinking, he seemed to know what everyone was thinking, actually. It's been rumored that some of the higher ranking Eastern Woodland pack members had mind-reading abilities, but it always seemed ridiculous to me. As far as I knew, that wasn't a power that werewolves had. 

We stepped through the door, I squinted a bit due to the sun shining brightly. A cold wind danced around us, causing me to wrap my jacket around me just a little tighter. 

"See, everyone is hard at work. Everything is almost repaired, you can let yourself relax a little, love. Do you want to walk by the house?" 

I frowned, I didn't necessarily want to. It still seemed too painful, but I shrugged anyways. I wouldn't be able to get out of it.

We slowly made our way to the site of our house, my heart tightened at the site. Even though some pack members were hard at work restoring it. 

"Alpha says it should be finished by the end of the week, he made it the builders top priority," Ryker smiled as he turned to him, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. 

"It was nice of Rhea and Jett to let us stay with him, but I definitely think I'm ready to go back home," I replied quietly, leaning my head on Ryker's shoulder. I meant what I said, the packhouse small lodging quarters were quite full right now, due to the houses that burned down. Two of the houses that were destroyed held multiple families. It was nice to be able to silently grieve in some privacy, and not out in the open.

Even though no one would have blamed us, I was the top warrior in the pack, showing any sign of weakness, especially now, seemed wrong to me. In the event that we did have a rogue in our pack, which every sign pointed to we did, I didn't want us to come across weak. 

"Have you seen Jett lately?" I asked since I hadn't left our room.

"He's very busy right now..." Ryker trailed, frowning a bit. "I think he's really frustrated that he was gone when this all happened. He feels responsible." 

I nodded my head, that would definitely seem like Jett. Since he was little he always walked around with the weight of the world on his shoulders, I don't envy him and his position at all. I'm grateful to Rhea though since she's come to the pack it's seemed to make the pack a little less sad, and has made Jett just ever so slightly happier.

"I have a bad feeling about the next couple of months, I think things are going to escalate."

Ryker nodded in agreement, "I think the first move has already been made, but it seems like a warning. I think next time, things will be far more deadly."

I went to reply when Octavia's voice popped up.

"Athena, are you busy?"

"Not at the moment.. why?" 

I waited for a response, but nothing came through. I grew impatient, "Babe, do you know where Octavia is?"

He frowned, "I'm sorry I don't, we can always go ask Rhea."

"Rhea and I are in town. We're being followed." Her voice was quick like she was busy focusing on something else while she talked to me. 

"No no, that's okay," I answered a bit absentmindedly, waving my hand in the air, looking for the nearest car. "I'm going to go into town for a bit, Octavia and Rhea are there."

Ryker gave me a smile, "I think that's a great idea. It'll be good for you to spend your time with them." He gave me a quick kiss of the cheek before sending me on my way.