Chapter 98: The responsibilities
Chapter 98: The responsibilities
FIVE DAYS LATER
"How’s Dominic?"
Athena jumped at the sudden voice and the file which she was reading fell from her hands.
She turned around and found the group standing there while looking at her in amusement.She quickly picked up the file before walking toward the table.
"Well, hello, Nathan and everyone.I didn’t realise when you came." She said with a small chuckle as she put the file down and leaned on the table.
Everyone else entered the room and got settled on the couches.
They were currently inside the office room of Dominic in his mansion But the only difference is that he wasn’t present in the room.
He wasn’t there to sit on his chair like a king.
Even if the chair misses him, she could say that.
Even though staying in this room was suffocating, it was soothing in a way as well.He spent most of his time here.His scent lingered here like a lazy season.
She loved to keep herself lost here.
May that be in work or in his memory.
"We could say so." Justin said with a chuckle before eyeing at the file on the table which she just put there.
"You are still busy in that file?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
Athena was handling the paper works on behalf of Dominic from the past few days.
She didn’t want to make any mistakes as these things are very crucial and everyone put a lot of trust in her because of her name.
Goddess of wisdom.
While she was handling the paper work, they all divided the work.
Nathan was helping her in doing the paperwork and handling the work with other packs.
Justin was handling the border and training while the girls were handling the pack together.
They all are doing great group work even though almost failing in every step.
But stumbling back on their feets with the support of each other.
Those are the moments when they miss Dominic more than ever.
If it was him, he would have handled those with a blink of his eyes.
These situations wouldn’t have occurred in the first place.
"I finished it a while ago.I was just revising to see if I missed something."
Athena said with a small smile while taking the glass filled with water from the table and drank from there.She was thirsty for a long time but she was so engrossed in the file that she didn’t mind drinking.
"So, what do you think?" Nathan asked while getting up from the chair and walking toward the table.
He picked up the file and started going through it.
"I have marked some clauses with red marks which I think we should improvise and even added my suggestion in a few places.You can check them and discuss with me again if you want.Other than that, the deal is good I guess."
Athena said in a serious tone, while going through every clause in her mind once again to see if she missed something or not.This file was a contract file from the neighbouring pack.
The pack was relatively smaller than normal packs and very small in comparison to their pack.
But the Pack’s speciality is that they have very strong warriors.
They recently faced a crisis and asked for their help.
So, in the exchange of helping them, they decided to ask for their help with their warriors in future if there is any situation which needs them.
That was a good deal.
"Look at you, already handling things like a great leader.You are undoubtedly going to be a great Luna but if you were an alpha’s daughter, you would have been a great alpha lady." Patricia said with a chuckle, making everyone nod at her in agreement.
But the look on her face fell immediately after hearing her and she looked at her with a frown.Nathan noticed the look on her face.
"What’s wrong, Athena? Why do you look… worried suddenly?" He asked and that’s when everyone noticed the oddness as well.
"Alpha lady.From that I remembered something…"
Athena mumbled out with a frown on her face as she looked at them.
"What is it?" Suzanne asked in a worried tone.
"The man who attacked Dominic."Athena started speaking but before she could complete her sentence, Nathan snatched it.
"What about him?" He asked in a furious tone.
"He called me Alpha lady, for some reason." Athena said, sounding very unsure herself as she had a look of confusion on her face.
"Alpha lady? That’s weird " Patricia said with a confused frown.
"Yeah, and from that I remembered, we never really had the chance to talk about what happened that night in detail because of all the things happening after Dominic fell into a coma"
Nathan got serious and looked at Athena. Athena looked at him as well with a small sigh after he reminded her how they couldn’t handle things properly.
"Yeah, that shows how important an alpha is for a pack.A capable and deserving alpha" Athena said with a sigh and everyone nodded at her as they couldn’t agree more.
"Okay, Athena.Tell us what happened that night in detail." Justin said, getting serious.
He was ready to take some notes in his head. After the incident, things have been a little rough for each of them.
They were doing their best to hide the news of Dominic’s state from the neighbouring packs.It’s not good for the alpha leader to be down in bed.It’s an immediate threat not only to his position but as well to all the pack under him.
So, it’s very important the news doesn’t get leaked before Dominic wakes up.
Otherwise things are going to be different than how Dominic left it before going to coma.
Very different.
But the day Dominic got hurt, the whole region might have heard his painful howling to know that something was wrong with him.
The howls were so loud.
They received many letters from many alpha’s, asking about Dominic’s state.
Their days went by replying to their letters and in convincing them that Dominic was fine.
"Before I tell you what happened, did you guys find out about that man?" Athena asked with a frown.
She regretted not killing that man right that moment.She badly wanted his blood to avenge her mate.
But at that moment she was so confused and furious that it messed up everything for her.
But now she wanted them to find him at any cost so that she could finish him off by her own hands.
"We are still trying to look for that man but the progress isn’t much.Hope we can get some clues from you." Nathan spoke up, bringing her out of her thoughts.
She looked at him with a frown.She wanted to lash out at him for not finding one man in five days but she knew it was useless.She couldn’t blame him as well Everyone has been going through so much that it’s hard for everyone.She understood that but still the helplessness was two times stronger for her.
Her freaking mate was in a coma!
"I don’t know how much I will be able to help.But the man seems to hate Dominic.He was very angry at Dominic." She said with a frown after letting out a sigh.
She clearly remembered the look on that man’s face.
It wasn’t jealousy or anything.It was a look of hatred and pure anger.It was the same look a person has when he was terribly wronged by a person and he wants revenge.
He was giving Dominic the same look, like Dominic killed his loved one’s.
While Dominic looked as confused as them at this moment.
The look on Dominic’s face said that he wasn’t aware of what was going on either.
Athena knew that Dominic was innocent and that damn man was mistaken.
"There are tons of people who are angry at Dominic and hate him.It’s nothing new.They are all jealous of his success and prosperity.They are jealous of his position and title and want to get him down."
Nathan explained exactly the same thing Athena was thinking didn’t happen.
They couldn’t stick to that point.
They needed to explore other options as well to find that man because the chances of what they are thinking are fifty percent.
There are fifty more chances left to think about other options.
She needed to tell them about it.
"Yes, that I understood.But this man, he was different.He was accusing Dominic of something which he did.According to that man, whatever Dominic did doesn’t give him the right to be the alpha leader anymore."
Athena explained in a calm tone.
Nathan and Justin looked at each other in confusion before looking back at her for further explanation, "Could you please elaborate your point some more? It’s not making much sense now."
Nathan said with a small frown. From NôvelDrama.Org.
He was offended hearing anything against his alpha and best friend even though he knew Athena wasn’t the one to say that she was just explaining them.
"What did Dominic do? He always does the best for his region."
Justin exclaimed in fury as well, ready to kill some ungrateful brat.He has always been the one with the hothead.
"He didn’t seem like he belonged from this region.And he was talking about some innocent lives that ‘Dominic took'" Athena said with a frown as the words still confuses her.
She doesn’t believe one ounce that Dominic was even involved in something like that, let alone doing that.She was never going to believe that He was such a man who could sacrifice his own life and mate for the betterment of his people.
So, doing something like that to other people wasn’t an option at all.
"Innocent lives?!"
Nathan and Justin exclaimed at the same time as the previous frown cleared from their faces and they looked at each other with widened eyes.
They looked as if they suddenly solved half of the mystery.
On the other hand, Suzanne and Patricia sat on the couch silently, without making any comments.
They were listening to them silently and carefully. They decided to keep themselves away from their business, "Nathan, are you thinking the same as I am thinking?!"
Justin asked with gritted teeth, his eyes were flashing golden as his wolf was already at the surface.
"Exactly the same fucking thing! I am so angry right now!"
Nathan exclaimed back while having the similar reaction as Justin. His wolf was at the surface as well.
The girls looked at him in shock because it’s not easy to see him losing his calm.
If he did, the matter must be something serious.
"Nathan, what’s wrong?" Suzanne spoke up in a worried tone, unable to stop herself anymore.
She put a hand on his shoulder to calm himself down a little and it worked but he was still angry.
"What’s going on?! What are you guys talking about?" Athena exclaimed in a wary tone.
She was already sensing something wrong and she knew it was really bad for the guys to react like this.
Nathan and Justin shared a look which clearly showed that they were considering the idea of should they share it with them or not.
But they knew the girls are not going to let it go anyway hence they let out a defeated sigh before looking at Athena.
"Do you remember that we were having some problems at the border?" Nathan asked her while giving her a pointed look Athena frowned hearing her.
Of course she remembers it.It was the same day when the pack members went crazy and she had to get down on business to calm them down.It was the same day when Dominic increased their training after returning from the border.
So, she remembers it clearly.
"Yeah, on the same day the incident happened.I asked Dominic but he didn’t say anything." She replied with a frown while looking at him impatiently, she couldn’t wait to know what it was all about.
"Well, yes.We didn’t want to worry you girls regarding the border matters.That’s why we all decided that we would keep this away from you girls.At the same time, we didn’t want the pack members to know as well.Because it doesn’t take such news to go overseas."
Justin exclaimed why they didn’t tell the news before because he didn’t want the girls to lash out at them for not sharing this earlier,
"What’s happening at the border?" Patricia asked in a stern tone while glaring at Justin which made him look at Nathan as he wanted Nathan to break the news.
"Was happening.It stopped on the day Dominic was attacked.Before that we were finding dead bodies of people at our borders from different regions.And we recently found out that those bodies are from the South region."
Nathan exclaimed in a calm and blank tone, ready to get rained on with the scolding.
And not so surprisingly, it came from his mate first only
"How could you hide such a big thing from us?" Suzanne snapped in fury.
She started to fume already while having a dark and cold expression on her face.
The look on her face was a little different than everyone else.
Nathan noticed the difference but couldn’t point out what it was about
"We didn’t want to worry you because it’s something really weird and dangerous.Nothing like this has happened before."
Nathan exclaimed in a calm tone while shrugging the thought of the weird expression of Suzanne, thinking he was looking too much into things.
"South region? Isn’t Stacey’s father the leader of the South region?" Athena asked with a frown as she was trying to make sense of what she had just heard.
The question made Justin and Nathan look at each other once again.
They looked confused and uncertain about the answer of this question, earning a threatening growl from Athena which said, ‘You better hurry and let this out’.
They immediately looked at her sheepishly
"Well… Yes…?" Nathan answered and his tone was filled with total uncertainty.
The girls looked at him with squinted eyes which made him immediately look away from them.
"Why don’t you sound confident enough?" Patricia asked with a frown, not liking how they kept on discovering such things on the same day.
It was too much in one day and she was going to make Justin sleep on the couch for this, for one whole week.
Only then he was going to learn his lessons
"Err Dominic has the better answer for this question.He knows better about the South region and Stacey"
Justin immediately spoke up on their defence, putting all the blame on Dominic to escape.
But the damage was already done "Well, he can’t answer now.But I think there are two possible reasons for this happening."
Athena snapped at them, really angry at them for hiding such things from them.
But it was already done and there wasn’t any point in getting angry with them because Dominic was equally involved in this "What are they?"
Nathan asked, getting serious again
"One could have been the leader of the South region doing these deliberately but I don’t think it’s the matter.Otherwise he wouldn’t have killed his own people.You would have found your people’s dead bodies at the border.So, the chances of being the second option is higher." Athena said with a thoughtful look on her face as she was trying to think of any other reason but couldn’t find any.
It was not easy for her to find such reasoning when she was kept away from such things.
She didn’t have complete knowledge about the pack and its relations yet.
"Which is?"
Justin was the one to ask this time.
"Someone is doing it deliberately to create misunderstanding between two regions and lead to a possible war." Athena replied in a nonchalant tone and both of the men looked at each other again.
Athena looked at them to see what they got to say about this.
"Dominic said the same.That’s the reason he had ordered to increase the training for the pack members.We had also planned to send letters to other packs to warn them about it."
Nathan explained and Athena nodded at them, finding it as the best solution.
She already knew that they must prepare for a war but she didn’t know the reason for the war was much more than what she was thinking
"Did you get any replies?" Athena asked after a few seconds.
"Yes, they are all supporting us.We sent it to the very reliable packs only.Because we have packs which are against Dominic like the shadow eclipse pack." Justin said while spitting the word ‘shadow eclipse’ as if it was something disgusting in his mouth.
Athena rolled her eyes at his childishness even though she supported him in this one.
The alpha of the pack was disgusting!
"Could it be possible that Derrick the dick was involved in this?’ Her wolf suddenly spoke up, making Athena frown at the suggestion.
The possibility was really high.But she kept herself from sharing this with them.
"And did you guys send any letter to the south leader?" Athena asked after coming out of the thoughts of her and looked at them with a frown.
Sending a letter to the south leader was very important because sometimes things could be solved with words as well.She didn’t have much idea about the south leader.
"We did but didn’t get any reply yet.I guess they got busy with the issue as well.But we are expecting a reply soon" Justin answered with a worried frown on his face and Athena nodded at him.
"I have a feeling that the reply we will get is going to be completely different from the reply we are expecting." Athena suddenly spoke up, making everyone look at her with a frown.
"What do you mean?" Suzanne asked with a frown and Nathan noticed the difference in her expression and tone again.
And yet again he shrugged it off.
"I am guessing the man is from the South region and his attitude was a little different toward me." Athena said with a thoughtful look on her face.
"Different, as in?" Suzanne asked in the same defensive tone, making Nathan look at her with a frown.
Was she just protective over Athena?
"He was… very respectful toward me.He was showing me respect by bowing in front of me and kneeling down in front of me.He was saying many things which didn’t make sense.I think he misunderstood me as someone else.So, if that’s the case, they will be back to find this person whom he misunderstood me for."
Athena explained what she thought and the words made a lot of sense in a very dangerous way.
The boys shared a secret look between themselves before looking back at them.
"That’s going to be really interesting then…"
Nathan muttered under his breath with a small frown itching on his face as he thought over what she said again.
"Yes but it’s going to be tough as well without Dominic.Because only an alpha leader knows how another alpha leader works.We will need Dominic to face them."
Patricia spoke up with a small frown as well and everyone nodded at her.
What she said was true
"For that he needs to get well soon." Athena spoke up with a sigh.
Her shoulders slouched in defeat.
"How’s he?" Nathan asked in a sad tone.
"The same No progress." She replied with another sigh.
"I don’t understand why isn’t he getting better? Why is his progress stuck?!"
Justin asked in frustration as their doctor wasn’t giving them any answers as well
"Trust me that question hurts me too." Athena said with closed eyes to stop themselves from crying.
"You are doing really great, Athena.We are very proud of you.Dominic is very proud of you as well." Suzanne said in a caring tone while walking toward her and hugging her by side
"Stay strong, Athena He will wake up soon" Patricia said while walking toward her and hugging her as well.
They three shared a group hug while the men admired them "I hope the same, guys I want the same"