''You went for a run!!'' dad bellows as soon as we walked into his office. ''What were you thinking Athena, you could have been seen!!'' he continues. ''Do you not remember our talk yesterday, you promised me,'' He whispers the last part and sits on the couch with his head in his hands.

''Dad, dad look at me,'' I say as I crouch low and take his hands in mine. "No one saw me, I went as early as 05: 00 a.m. and that's what I will be doing from now on. I understand the risks dad. No one will know, I promise,'' I assure him.

Mom then walks in with a cup of coffee, which I'm sure had a few drops of whiskey in it, since I caught a distinct  smell of it and hands it to dad. He takes it with a small smile and looks at me. ''I'll take you up on that promise Athena, I trust you to be responsible enough to not let this get out. I cannot afford to go on a war with the council, there is too much at stake. Swear to me you will be vigilant."

"Cross my heart and hope to die, dad.'' 

Ethan returns home around noon to tell us that the issue at the border has been sorted. Turns out a lone rogue wolf had somehow managed to cross pack borders, but the warriors from Shadow pack captured him and have now taken him in for questioning.

I chose to retire to my room and decided to work on some new designs. As I lay on my bed I think about my 'date' tomorrow with Axel, should I even call it a date, he just said hanging out.

But what if it is a date! What will I even wear! I start hyperventilating, okay I need to calm down, we're just hanging out, it's just casual I tell myself. Why am I even behaving this way gosh, it's just Axel, I have known him since I was a kid. 

I let my thoughts carry me to the most absurd situations and before I knew it I'd drifted off to sleep.

I'm woken up by a loud knock on my door. I roll my eyes knowing that there is only one person in this whole wide world who can go to extreme lengths just to annoy me. ''What do you want Ethan?" I mumble in a groggy voice.

''Dinner's ready, it would be our greatest honor if her royal highness would grace us with her presence.'' He says, his words laced with sarcasm. 

''Hahaha very funny,'' I retort humorlessly. 'I'll be down in a few.'' 

Dinner already? How long did I sleep?

We were all quietly having our dinner, but of course Mr. Soon-to-be-alpha had to ruin it. ''So Ena, he starts, ''now that you're back permanently, what will you be doing to spend your time here?''

''I...... Uhhh,'' I start, but he cuts me off.

''I know, why don't you join Axel and I in our daily routines, in that way our work load will lessen and you'll utilize your time too, what say?''

''No! I don't think so.'' I say a bit too quickly making mom and dad look at me skeptically. ''I mean, I have an idea that has been in my mind from morning ,I'd actually like to run it by dad first and if he approves I can get it up and running.'' I say calmly, phew that was close.

''I'm all ears Athena, go ahead.''

''Okay, so here goes, this morning at breakfast I noticed that our female population almost rivals the males, so I'm thinking that what if we start an exercise where we train our females how to fight and defend themselves, it can be useful specially in times of danger. I mean most of the females around here have nothing to do, no wonder we have too many pups running around the pack!''

I look around the table and notice three pairs of eyes looking at me as if all that I've just said is gibberish.

After a long silence Mom is the first one to speak. ''Honey, that's a bold step to take you know, but I do agree with you, women need to step up too. We cannot always rely on our males for everything." My eyes widen with excitement over her revelation. ''I think you should really consider this Chris,'' she says while looking at dad.

Dad seemed to be deep in thought, and after a really awkward silence he speaks up too. What is it with my family and going into deep thoughts?

''I will take this matter up with the pack advisers and inform you of their decision.'' I squeal excitedly at his response. ''But....'' He continues, ''this will take at least a week and I do not guarantee a positive response from them Athena, so if I were you I'd hold on to your horses.''

''It's okay dad, I'll wait, I'm a very patient woman.'' I say confidently as I hug him and bid all of them goodnight.

I wake up at 05:00 am again today and changed in to my gym clothes, I jog to my spot near the tree and transform, it's still painful but I can take it. Once I'm back from my run I hop in the shower and take a nice hot bath.

I get ready and go downstairs for breakfast," where's dad?" I ask mom as I help her set the table.

"He is in a meeting with the elders, and yes it's regarding the proposal you sent in yesterday," she quickly adds before I can interject.

"Turns out Robert is thrilled with the idea and convinced Chris to immediately go to the elders, Ethan and Axel have also accompanied them as future alpha and beta."

"Oh mom, this is great news, I'm so thrilled, I hope they consider it." 

"I hope so too honey." Mom responds. "Now come on let's have breakfast, it's just the two of us today."

"So it's confirmed huh?" I muse while gulping down my toast. "Axel is really going to be Ethans beta."

"Of course he is Athena, they have been best friends for ages, they know each other's strengths and weaknesses. Most importantly they trust each other, the relationship between an alpha and his beta is almost similar to them being brothers." Mom explains and I nod in understanding.

It's not until after noon, that Dad and Ethan return from their meeting. I quickly run down the stairs to meet them in the living room and bombarded them with questions. "What did they say? Did they agree? How long until they pass a decision?"

"Well, well, well, would you look at that, what happened to the I-am-a-patient-woman from last night?" Ethan teases.

"She drowned in a glass of water this morning, now cut the suspense and tell me already!!" I whine.

"The elders are considering it, and they will pass a decision after two days, until then we wait," announces dad indicating that this discussion is over.

Two days is better than a week, I tell myself as I get ready for my hangout with Axel.

I put on a pair of jeans and a cute floral top and decide to pair it with some open toe flats. I take my light brown jacket and walk out the door after informing my mom of my departure, it's a good thing dad and Ethan have still not woken up from their afternoon nap.

I make my way towards the daffodil fields, when I spot Axel at a distance seated under a tree waiting for me, he stands up to greet me as I approach him.

"Heyy," I greet as I give him a side hug. "Nice place you've chosen," he is a pretty good planner, I wonder to myself as I take a seat on the blanket he's laid down.

He sits down next to me. "You look pretty," he says. A blush creeps up my cheek and I had to flip my hair to cover it.

"You clean up well too Cooper." I reply as I eye his choice of clothes, he's worn a navy blue V-neck T-shirt and black jeans with a black leather jacket and finished it off with a pair of white sneakers.

"Nice" I add as I nod my head in approval. 

He gives me one of his classic dimpled smiles then motions to the picnic basket he's brought. "let's eat, I have your favorite ham and cheese sandwiches and wine of course."

My smile widens at the mention of wine and we dig in. We talked about a lot of things his family, my life in Toronto, his growing responsibilities as soon to be beta and before we knew it was almost dusk.

"I think we should head back, it's almost time for your perimeter check." I tell him as I proceed to stand up. 

"Yeah, Ethan will come looking for me anytime now, anyway so umm, I had fun today, maybe next time I'll take you out on a proper date." he states.

"A date? Like a real date?" I ask flustered and he nods.  "Axel that would be great, but you know how it is with us don't you? We can go on as many dates as we want to, but we can never be truly together, we both have our mates out there and it will not be fair to them or to us. I hope you understand what I'm trying to say here."

"I understand Athena, but until we find them we are free to make our own choices right? We can continue this," he says moving a step forward and closing the gap that was between us, our noses almost touching.

"Axel," I whisper. 

"Ssshhh," he lightly places his lips on mine and slowly starts kissing me. I hesitate at first but then I give in.

After we pull apart, I take two steps back. "That cannot happen again, "I say and he looks at me shocked.

"If we do this we will be knowingly destroying four lives and I can't have that on my conscience. You have to understand Axel please. I say softly. 

"okay. You're re right Athena, we can't do this, I'm sorry if I forced you into doing something you didn't want to do, It was fun while it lasted, I should go, I'll see you around." And with that he walks away leaving me standing by the edge of the meadow.

It's now been two days since my date with Axel and he has been avoiding me like a plague. I have kept my distance as well and buried myself in my work.

We were having our lunch when he walks in and tells us, "the elders are announcing their decision on the proposal we had put in," and with that he walks out of the door without even sparing me a glance.

We hurriedly walk out and make a beeline towards the pack house, all the elders are already present and the meeting starts as soon as the last official walks in.

"We are gathered here today to pass a decision on a recent proposal made to us. Alpha Christopher's daughter Athena has requested for a female training session where female wolves will be trained in combat and sparring so that they can defend themselves in times of need, and also be able to aid our warriors in war if need be." 

"After considering all factors the elders have come to a conclusive decision to give Athena Robinson the permission to have have a team of female warriors, provided she will personally train them. So Ms. Robinson, do you accept full responsibility of this task and promise to train the females under your command?" 

All eyes fall on me as they wait for my answer.

"I accept," I answer with pride in my voice.

It has now been a little over two weeks since the decision was made and I'm currently on the training ground with quite a large group of female wolves all training and sparring.

"98,99,100, 101....come on keep going," I encourage two girls who are having a push up competition. On the other side I see Christy getting ready to spar with one of the strongest female in our pack, as soon as they start circling each other everyone gathers around to watch their fight.

"On the count of three I want you to start," I shout, "3......2......1....go!"

I see Christy make the first move and attempts to punch her opponent but she easily dodges and counter attacks. Christy tries punching her again but fails to cause even an inch of pain on her opponent.

"My grandmother punches harder than you Christy and she is dead!!" I shout clearly pissed off at her unwillingness to deliver her punches, but that insult snaps something in her and I see her now counter attacking her opponents' blows.

"Nice little army you got yourself here, I'm impressed, " a voice whispers in my ear. I turn to see Axels' coffee brown eyes staring deep into mine.

"Thanks," I reply in monotone and turn my attention to the girls, hoping he would go away but luck isn't on my side today as he comes and stands closer to me.

"I was hoping you and I could spar one day," he says.

"Thanks but i'll pass" I reply and move away to create some distance between us. Before he could say anything in response Ethan calls him over and he runs to him. Amazing timing brother, I mentally thank him.

And so our daily training continued, the she-wolves were getting better at their fighting, we are now thinking of mixing our training so that we can have the experience of fighting with the males, I'll have to speak to Ethan about it and try convincing him.

It's now been two months since my return, two months since Axel and I kissed, two months since the Female warrior training started. 

As I lay in bed that night, I thought over the events of the last two months that have led me here, to the present, where my room is scattered with different kinds of catalogs ranging from invitation cards to decorations, furniture to menu cards, you name it....how I went from training female warriors to being a party planner is still beyond me.

In one month's time Ethan will officially take over the Alpha position and preparations have already begun in the pack. It will be a big event as Alphas, Lunas and betas from all the packs will be attending this event so everything has to be perfect.

I decide to call it a day and turn in. Tomorrow will be a long long day for me as I have meetings scheduled.

"I need to be ready," was my last thought before I turned off the lights and sleep took over me.

***
So this was more of a filler chapter. Anyway let me you what you think of it in a comments below.

-Jessica.S