Chapter 0252

Athena

I paced relentlessly outside the house after Alexander and Zachary left to find Brianna.

My stomach was in knots.

Alexander had been furious when I told him Brianna needed help.

Thankfully, the twins were fast asleep when Zachary returned.

He was dragging an unconscious Julian across the ground.

They were alone.

Which only made my anxiety spike.

He was heading toward the dungeons.

I ran to him.

"What happened?" I demanded.

"Brianna escaped," Zachary said, his voice tense. "There wasn't enough time for her to explain. I had to get him away."

He gestured toward Julian.

"The others stayed behind to see if she turned up."

"What did you do to him?"

"Nothing. He's been unconscious since we found Brianna dragging him into the forest. She crashed a car."

I followed him into the dungeon.

He didn't hesitate.

He tossed Julian into a cell.

Julian's body rolled across the stone floor.

It hit the back wall with a heavy thud.

It reminded me of when the same thing happened to Caleb.

Zachary turned to look at me.

His crimson eyes locked onto mine as he approached.

"You shouldn't have let her go alone."

"She already left. Yesterday. I didn't know until this morning."

"As soon as you found out, you should have told me, Athena. Maybe we could have planned for it. Handled it better than Brianna taking everything into her own hands."

He was annoyed.

I found myself nodding like a scolded child.

Certain things still triggered memories of my awful childhood.

"Is Seraphina alive?" I asked quietly, watching Julian.

"Yes, from what I've heard. She turned up in Lycan form."

His eyes glazed over.

"And they are back."

Zachary slammed the cell door shut.

He locked it with a deep frown etched on his face.

Alexander and Brianna were already inside the house when we returned.

"That was a fucking stupid idea, Brianna!" Alexander snapped at her. "Of all the reckless stunts you've pulled over the years, you just walked straight into the lion's den without backup!"

"I was just getting answers!" Brianna growled back. "And I'm alive. Aren't you grateful for that?!"

"Thanks to Athena." Alexander was glaring at Brianna when we entered the office.

"Really? It was alright for you to hunt your brother for a whole month with no word if you were okay? You couldn't even get off your high horse to contact anyone. Double fucking standards!"

"This has nothing to do with me!" Alexander snapped. "This is you trying to prove something. If you hadn't been able to link Athena, you would be dead."

"No, I wouldn't."

"And you know that for certain?"

Brianna rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, I do! Stop treating me like a child, Alexander. I've been doing this shit a lot longer than you have. Is it because I'm a woman? Is that it? You feel the need to save the fucking day."

"You know that's not what I mean." He shook his head at her.

"That's enough!" Zachary snapped over both of them. "Can we just be grateful that everyone is alive? Brianna, what happened?"

Brianna told us everything except how she escaped.

"Did he let you go?" Alexander quizzed.

She shook her head and puffed out her cheeks. "I had help."

"Who?"

"My mate."

We all looked at each other.

As far as we were aware, she had no mate.

She had no mark on her neck, so she hadn't been claimed either.

"Your mate?" Alexander pressed.

She quietly nodded but kept her eyes lowered. "He's a Wolf." She muttered. "But he isn't ready to tell anyone. Because… well, because everyone in the pack hates me."

"He's from my pack?" Zachary asked, glaring at Alexander.

She bobbed her head again. "When I linked Athena, it turned out I linked him too, but he was closer by. He was the one who knocked out Julian."

"Who?" Alexander snapped.

"I won't give you a name, Alexander. I respect his decision."

"You would only be able to link him if he claimed you," I muttered.

"I know." She lifted her top, showing us a mark on her stomach.

A really random place to have a mark.

Had he marked her there to keep his identity a secret?

None of us would have known if she hadn't told us.

"How long?" Alexander growled.

"A couple of weeks."

"You never said anything." Alexander was so irritated that Brianna had kept something from him. "And it still doesn't excuse the shit you pulled tonight."

"Okay, but can you just hear me out? When she was attempting to torture me, I kept pushing and pushing. She wouldn't shift, so I assumed that she couldn't. I pushed and pushed, expecting it to happen. When I questioned Julian for information, he spilled that Seraphina is afraid to shift."