Chapter 6 Chase and Athena

*Chase*

I enter my brother's study pretending I was drunk. I just had a few swigs of scotch before I came back to the mansion, just to get the scent of alcohol on my breath. Once I closed the door, I hung my jacket on the coat rack near the door, sat down on his chair and swung my feet up on his desk.

Everything seems to be going according to my plan. I just had to tie up a few loose ends and soon, I will be the new Alpha of The Lotus Pack.

I lean back on his chair and smirk. The idiot thought I didn't know about Amy. Her baby is heir apparent and even if I would become acting Alpha, when the child becomes of age, I would have to turn the reins over to him. Why would I want to give up all of this to a half-breed? I'm not that stupid.

Dear brother, all you had to do was give me the money. All I wanted was a few million...fine, several million dollars to pay all the debts I had so the sharks would stop hounding me. Okay, I admit, I'm an idiot who gambles away when I'm totally hammered, but it was all for, uhm... charity. The assholes who played poker with me weren't even half as rich as my family was. I felt I needed to share the wealth. Unfortunately, my prick of a brother didn't share the same sentiments.

I thought after a chunk of my body was ripped out of me, my brother would soften up a bit and write me a check. But even after that, he still wouldn't budge. Instead, he started dating the nurse and focused all his attention on her.

Alpha Lucas Lockwood dating a human... Now that didn't sit well with many of the wolves in the pack. Especially the men who were ordered to protect her. She was a human. She wasn't anyone special. But no, big ol' Alpha Luke, didn't want to hear it. He was like that queen in that fairy tale, "Off with your heads!"

The growing animosity among some members in the pack gave me an idea. Why don't we just get rid of Lucas? We were all at a bar, seated at a dark corner when I voiced out my idea. They all gaped at me, stunned, I would suggest something so vile. Fortunately for me, all I had to do was promise them money and a position in the pack and off they went, doing my bidding...getting rid of both Amy and Lucas while I relax, doing absolutely nothing.

I get up and open my brother's minibar and poured myself some scotch. I should make a toast for the occasion. I raise my glass, "To Amy and the bastard child in your womb, without you, my dream of becoming Alpha would have never become a reality. Thank you!" I down the amber colored liquid. Success has never tasted this good.

My phone rings in my jacket pocket and fish it praying it wasn't a loan shark. Ahhhhhh, it was the two imbeciles who my brother ordered to follow him to Salty Moon. I cross my fingers for some good news as I answered the call, "Yes?"

"It is done." The line goes dead.

I chuckle to myself. Leave it to the men of my brother to be overdramatic. Yes! It's done. I dial the number of my hired assassin who I had ordered to stay at Salty Moon so he could finish off the two imbeciles and my brother's driver, that's if he was still alive.

"What?" I hear a growl, faint, whispering.

"There are two wolves maybe three whom I need you to kill. They are in the Salty Moon area, near a car crash."

"Three wolves? Have you gone completely insane?" He whispers. "My Alpha is here. If he finds out I'm the cause of the nurse's injuries, he'll have my head."

"Injuries?" I was expecting death not injuries.

"She's still alive. I need to finish her off before she's able to identify me. And now, you want me to kill three other wolves?! If my Alpha finds out about this, I'm screwed."

"You should have thought about that before you agreed to our arrangement. Now, finish off the three wolves or you will never paid the remainder that I had promised." They always want to back out last minute. Good thing I only paid him 20% of what we agreed on. He won't get more unless he does what I say.

"Fine. I want the rest of my money waiting for me when I'm done or I'll come and kill you." Empty threats. I've heard that every day for the past 8 months.

________________________

*Athena*

Luke's yell woke me up. I have seen him angry from time to time, but this time, it was different. I could hear the desperation in my older brother's voice.

I get out of bed and put on a robe to shield from the cold. I decided against using my bedroom slippers so I could quietly move around the mansion. There was something happening and I had to find out what it was.

The wood floors of the hallway were cold and as I tiptoed slowly, my feet started to hurt. The cold felt like needles pricking my feet. I tried to ignore the pain. Whatever was going on was more important.

I sat near the top of the steps peeking through the banister of the stairs hoping I could a glimpse through the stained windows beside the entrance to the mansion. I hid quickly when the door opened and in came my brother Chase, drunk as usual.

He went into Luke's study. Odd. He was rarely allowed to go inside when Luke was here in the mansion moreso when he was gone. I saw Luke enter the back of his car and heard the screeching of its tires as it sped off. He was in a hurry...as if his life depended on it.

I slowly go down the stairs, purposely missing the one stair that would make a creak when stepped on. I heard Chase chuckling inside. He seemed to be very happy. Why?

I tiptoed hurriedly and quietly as I could to the door of Luke's study. I bend down and peek through the keyhole. This is the beauty of old locks...I could peer through them when needed. Being the youngest of the Lockwood brood, I was never given any information so I would usually lurk around the mansion and get the information on my own.

I see Chase pour himself a drink and raise his glass to the air in a toast. "To Amy and the bastard child in your womb, without you, my dream of becoming Alpha would have never become a reality. Thank you!" He sneered and drank, clearly satisfied with himself.

Amy! Luke's girlfriend! She was pregnant! With... Luke's baby? Dream of becoming Alpha?! Chase, what have you done this time?!

I knew of my brother's problems with debt. His phone would constantly ring at inopportune times and when he answered, I could hear the angry voices on the other line. I caught Chase asking Luke for $10M and asked if his trust could be liquidated so he could pay off his debts, but Luke said no.

I hear his phone ring and I stay a little longer to see of I could know more. Luke's life was in danger and I needed to find out where he was.

Whoever it was, kept it short, but after that phone call, I saw my brother pause to call someone else.

""There are two wolves maybe three whom I need you to kill. They are in the Salty Moon area, near a car crash." Salty Moon Forest was an hour away from here give or take. I tiptoed to my secret panel at the bottom of the stairs where a hidden pathway leads outside the mansion.

Once outside, I pull out one of the wooden floor panels take out a backpack which Luke had always entrusted to me to keep if anything were to happen to him. I put back the panel and close the secret door. I shift to my wolf and bite the strap of the backpack to carry with me. I sprint to my bestfriend's house which is about a couple of miles away. There, clothes and car wait for me.

After changing, I throw a pebble on the window of my bestfriend's bedroom. She opens it, rubbing her eyes. "Athena, what are you doing here at this hour?" She whispers.

"I need to go somewhere. It's an emergency. Can you vouch for me? Say I was here all night?" I ask her while I batted my eyelashes so she could know I was begging.

"Sure. Just tell me what's going on?"

"I can't, Rose. Just trust me on this. Is the car ready?"

"Yeah, where we always hide it. Athena, keep safe." She waves to me.

"I will." I wave back and sprint towards the forest of her backyard. Near the road at the end of the forest was a barn we built to keep a car hidden for emergencies. Over the years, the car has changed and for tonight, I'll be driving a pickup.

I open the barn door and jump inside the pickup throwing the backpack in the passenger's seat beside me. I put the key in the ignition and drive,  looking in my rearview mirror from time to time, making sure I wasn't being followed.

I was driving for fifteen minutes, suddenly a phone rings.

I jump when I hear a phone ringing and laugh afterwards realizing I was frightened by a cellphone. I stop on the side of the road and pause for a moment, leaning my forehead on the steering wheel. I do some breathing exercises to calm myself and count to ten. When my heart rate slowed and was no longer throbbing against my ribcage, l searched for the phone. Not in the glove compartment, the center console, nor was it in any of the door compartments. The phone starts ringing again and I hear it coming from the backpack beside me. I open one of the smaller pockets and fish out a small Nokia 1100. It was flashing an unknown number. I answer the phone call, but wait until the person on the other line says something.

"Little Miss. I have sent you coordinates. Please come." said a man's voice after which he hangs up.

Only one person on this planet calls me "Little Miss." I take out a map from the glove compartment and scroll through the text message on the phone which had the coordinates listed down.

Odd, it goes the opposite of Salty Moon.

Oh, Moon Goddess, guide me on my lofty quest.

I turn the pickup around and head to the direction of the area I mapped.

Luke, I hope I find you.