I wanted to stay at the foot of the mountains for long but Mila mind linked me to come back as soon as possible since it's pack breakfast day. 

Of all the days it had to be today, just my luck.

I ran back to our spot, took my clothes from the hollow in the tree and continued my way towards the house. As I ran, I saw a lot of pack members gasping since this is probably the first time some of them have seen me in my wolf form.

As soon as I get home, I trot to the back door, drop my clothes and transform back. Once I'm done putting them on I walk indoors and find Theo sitted on the couch going through his phone.

''Get dressed, we are leaving in 15 minutes.''

He doesn't even look up from his phone and for a second I wanted to go up to him and apologize but my pride gets in the way and I rush up the stairs to shower.

''I'm ready let's go,'' I announce and he gets up without even sparing me a glance, walking towards the front door.

''Okay then, so he is super mad,'' I say to myself and follow him out.

We walk in an uncomfortable silence towards the pack house, I can't even sense what he is feeling; he bloody blocked me out. I try to induce the mate bond a few times but it likes I'm hitting an invisible wall.

I scoff and am about to say something when someone joins us. ''A beautiful day isn't it?'' he says in his smooth voice. Of all the people in this pack it had to be him, I roll my eyes at his comment and Theo looks up.

''Oh hey Sebastian, glad you could join us; good to see you aren't out there attacking other betas,'' he comments sarcastically.

''Now brother, do you really think that I would miss the opportunity to be the object of attention of all the females in this pack? I love pack breakfast. The betas can wait,'' he replies jokingly.

I eye the interaction between the two brothers and scoff.

''Careful brother, some people might actually believe what you say, '' Theo says in a taunting manner.

''Seriously Theo!!'' I yell, ''you're unbelievable,'' I hiss at him and walk past him in anger.

I spy the pack house in a distance and increase my pace. I need to get away from Theo for a moment but that's short-lived when his annoying cousin jogs up to me.

''if I'm not wrong, which by the way I'm never; I noticed some tension between the two of you. What happened, honeymoon phase over already?'' Sebastian interrogates me and I glare at him.

''don't want to talk about it, go find someone else to disturb or better yet why don't you run along and be the object of attention of the females?'' I snide.

''Ohhh darling, you got that didn't you. You know I don't need to find them per say; they, actually find me, '' he says and flashes a smile at a group of girls standing. They immediately start giggling and waving making me scrunch up my face in disgust.

''Well why don't you go entertain your girls and leave me alone, '' I reply and make an attempt to enter the hall.

''Uh uhh uhhh...wait a second,'' he grabs my arm and pulls me to him, ''and leave you in that foul mood, of course not darling; out of all these women here you, Athena, are my favorite,'' he pokes my nose whilst saying it and a smile automatically appears on my face.

''Ahh there it is.....that smile; don't hide it with a frown okay?'' and I nod. ''Come on let me walk you to your chair alpha,'' he says and pulls out his hand for me to take.

Once I'm sitted at the high table, I look around at all the people in the hall and my gaze lands on Cathy and Hazel who wave at me and I return a small wave.

Soon enough Theo comes and slides in the chair next to mine. ''Charles and Mila are not coming,'' he says monotonously but I don't reply. I knew they weren't coming; Charles was still healing from the cuts last night and he is weak.

I get up and walk to Chef Perez in the kitchen asking him to send breakfast to the both of them. He readily agrees and gestures me to go take my seat.

This had to be the most awkward breakfast ever. Theo and I were ignoring each other. I was looking everywhere else but at him. I even caught Aiden's eye at one point and he gave me a questioning look but I shrugged him off. If Aiden could sense the awkwardness I'm sure others would too.

To top it all off, the bitch of the century decides to make an appearance and as usual makes her way to the high table. Someone is going to get their head cut off today.

''Heyyy Theo,'' she drawls in her annoying honey like voice and I have to stop myself from cutting her wrists when she extends her fingers to hold his hand.

''I'm not in the mood Elena, '' he grumbles and swats her hand away. I have to look away to hide my laughter.

''This one here not keeping you happy? Why don't you pass by my place later today?'' she winks and all the laughter leaves my eyes.

I turn to Theo with a challenging look in my eye, waiting for him to say something but he surprises both me and Elena when he pushes his plate away, gets up and leaves the hall. It's a good thing a lot of people had started leaving so it didn't raise much suspicion.

''One day Athena; one day I will be sitting there, mark my words,'' she hisses and walks away with a flip of her hair.

I pinch the bridge of my noise and catch Lila's worried gaze. I muster up a smile but she sees past it and walks up to me. ''Is everything okay Athena? wait don't answer that; because you will obviously say yes. Walk with me?'' she asks, I finish my juice and get up.

''I could sense the tension from where I was sitted honey, did you two have a fight?'' She asks in her sweet motherly voice. I hesitate at first but she puts her hand on my shoulder, ''You can tell me Athena, i can help you.''

''Thank you for your concern Lila, yes we got into a fight but which couple doesn't right? It's a small misunderstanding, I'm sure we will get past it but thank you I really appreciate your concern, '' I reply and hug her.

After we pull away she places a kiss on my cheek and says, ''You know where to find me if you ever want to talk, okay?'' I nod and make my way to Charles and Milas'

''Hey you guys, feeling better Charles?'' I ask as I walk into their house and plop on the unoccupied couch. ''It's not even midday and you look like an aftermath of a hurricane,'' Charles comments from his position on the couch.

''Glad to see your sense of humor is still intact, '' I reply and massage my head.

''How was breakfast today Athena?'' Mila asks as she walks out from the kitchen.

Don't even ask, Theo and I are fighting; he is not talking to me just because I told him that there might be a small chance that Charles is right and the cherry on top of it all; Elena Cavanaugh, '' I groan.

''Oh wow, you're having a bad day today but putting that aside, you believe me? You believe that the blue eyed monster is Sebastian?'' Charles questions while pulling himself up on the couch.

''I don't know what to believe Charles, what I do know is that you would not lie about something like this but then you do hate Sebastian so I also see Theo's point here and speaking of him; he is suddenly so hardheaded that he actually blocked me from mind linking him or even sensing his emotions, honestly I didn't even know you could do that!''

Mila comes and hugs me while simultaneously rubbing my shoulders.

''I don't know what to do, I can't have Theo being angry at me; it hurts the mate bond, it hurts me, '' I whisper and push back the tears that are threatening to fall.

''I think I have an idea,'' Charles speaks up after a minute of silence. Mila and I turn to look at him, urging him to continue, ''we're going to need Theo's help here so you Athena will have to do everything and I mean everything in your power to make sure the man is no longer mad at you, understood?''

''Okay, but umm...what exactly can I do?'' I ask quizzically.

''You are woman Athena, make use of all the god given gifts you have and make sure that man is on board with our plan.''

''Okay Charles, I think she has got the concept, now tell us your plan?'' Mila says.

Two hours later I am standing outside my own home contemplating on whether I should walk in or head back to Mila's. ''Come on Athena, you can do this; you have come across far worse things than this, you're strong, you're confident, you can do it, you can do it, '' I keep on whispering to myself and am about to walk in when the door flings open and I see Theo standing there in all his glory, with a brooding look on his face.

My pep talk falls out the window the moment our gazes meet and I have this sudden urge to hug and kiss him but I control myself and walk past him inside the house.

''Can we.... uhhh... can we talk, please? '' I ask him warily.

He doesn't reply and takes a seat on one of the couches then gestures me to sit too. My initial thought was to go sit beside him and as close as possible but I choose to ignore it and sit on the couch opposite his.

I take a deep breath before starting, ''I don't like this Theo, I don't like us fighting, I don't like you shutting me out like this but you need to listen to what I have to say, I know deep down you know that Charles could be right; you just don't want to accept it because Sebastian is your brother. Heck even I don't want to believe it; Sebastian is my friend but so is Charles and you know Charles even better than I do. Do you really think he would be lying about something as big as this?''

''I'm not saying that he is right; what I'm trying to say is let's give him the benefit of doubt and if he is wrong he will drop it and maybe even reconcile with Sebastian. Though that would be pushing it too far.''

''And what if he is right Athena? What if my brother is the blue eyed monster?'' He asks, I look into his eyes and I know he already knows my answer.

''Then I think you know what you have to do Theo.''

He goes silent for a few minutes and speaks up, ''What has Charles planned?''

''How do you know it's Charles' plan?''

''Like you said love, I know him better than anyone; he is a schemer and he sent you here to convince me didn't he?''

He called me love; guess he's no longer mad at me. A smile makes its way on my face and I nod, ''just to be clear, you're not mad at me anymore right?''

''Come here,'' he says in his gruff voice and I run from my couch and perch myself on his lap. ''I love you this much,'' I say and widen my hands; he makes the wise choice to move his head out of the way this time and kisses me, ''I love you too and I'm sorry for how I reacted this morning; I guess I just didn't want to accept that Sebastian can do something like this.''

''We are still not sure Theo; that's why Charles has cooked up this plan and we need to you to execute it, so are you in?''

''I am love but under one condition; if Charles is wrong then he will drop this and never bring it up again, ever.''

''Scouts honor, if he is wrong we put it past us and move on.''

''Very well then, what's the plan?''

''For starters, let's pay Sebastian a little visit and invite him to dinner, I'll cook, '' I say and he raises an eyebrow at this.

''stop it with the judgey face, I do cook. I stayed alone for eight years in Toronto remember?''

''I haven't said a word love, now come on let's go.''

We make our way to Sebastian's house and I explain the plan to Theo on the way. Once we are there he gives me a nod and I place a soft knock on his front door.

He opens after a while, shocked to see us both but quickly replaces it with his classic smile and invites us in.

''To what do I owe the pleasure this afternoon?''

''So uuhhh...we just...we just came to apologize about Charles' behavior this morning, it was wrong of him to accuse you like that,'' Theo starts.

''Oh come on brother, I have met people worse than Charles; his words don't bother me,'' Sebastian says with a wave of his hand.

''But it does bother us Sebastian, he should not have done that; you are family to us, so if it's any given consolation we would like to make it up to you.''

This seems to peak his interest as he leans on the kitchen counter with a raised brow, ''I'm listening darling, please continue.''

''We would like to invite you to our home for dinner; I'll cook. It will be family only. How does that sound?''

''You had me at 'I'll cook' darling,'' he says excitedly and I mentally sigh in relief noticing Theo relax on my right.

''Just to clarify, you do know how to cook right or should I come with back up?'' he teases.

''Not funny okay? I can cook and you my friend will bear witness to it today. How does 07:00 pm sound to you?''

''Can't wait darling,'' he chuckles.

Theo and I then get up to leave. Once we are out of hearing range, he speaks up, ''Okay step one is done, now what?''

''Now, we go to Charles' house and get that healthy dose of wolfs-bane he has prepared,'' I reply and we walk towards it.

***

And so the trap has been laid.but what will happen when the truth is finally revealed?

Theo & Athena re-reconciled! Yay!!  Can't have our fav couple fighting for long. 

Thoughts?

PS. Three more chapters to go.

-Jessica.S