7

Athena POV

I didn’t know what to expect. But I sure as hell wasn’t expecting the pink barbie jeep I am looking at right now. It’s a total abomination. And nothing I would have ever thought to see Millie in. But, here we are.

“Alright. Spit it out”. Millie huffs, walking over to her… thing.

“What, the real world isn’t what you thought it was?”. I snicker. “Every night is girl’s night?”.

“Are you done?”.

“Even if I can’t make it perfect, I can make it better”.

“That’s enough of the barbie quotes”.

“Nooo, it’s Kenough!”. Laughing loudly, I plant my ass in her abomination. “Seriously though, what the hell happened with this thing? A candy cane vomited all over it?”.

Sighing dramatically, she starts to speak as she drives off. “Mom thought it would be cute. Don’t get me started. I nearly had a heart attack when I first saw it. But hey, what was I going to do? I wasn’t going to break my momma’s heart”.

We continue chatting and laughing throughout the entire ride home. My smile never falters. No until I open the front door to see my father inside, that is. I almost want to ask him to what I owe the pleasure of his gracious visit. But I bite my tongue. Mom loves him somehow, and she hates fights. Mom is here as well, but she is just no match for him. She turns into a field mouse when he is around.

“Athena! Alpha called me and ordered me to go home. He told me you had an altercation with Jake and Jerry”. His voice is stern as ever, but there is a calm anger in his voice as well.

“An altercation? That’s what he called it?”. I laugh humorlessly, before Millie adds her 2 cents.

“Sir, Jake and Jerry nearly whipped your daughter to death. For no reason whatsoever”.

“I’m sure they did, with how weak she is”. The father of the year spits with a scoff, before adding. “And I’m sure she deserved it”.

My father, ladies and gentlemen… He never fails to disappoint, does he?

Millie’s mouth has literally fallen open, and she appears to be at a loss for words. There’s a first time for everything, I guess. Mom doesn’t argue with him, she never does, because he has threatened to leave us more times than I can count. But I can see the disagreement in her eyes. I know she doesn’t agree with him in the slightest. Which brings me some comfort. I have long stopped trying to get his approval.

A part of me is screaming at me to challenge him and let him see exactly how weak we are, but I can’t. For my mom’s sake. I would whoop his ass though, I’m sure of that. I’m not saying I’m stronger than him, I’m just saying I want it more than he does. Just like with the shit stains and their posse. Motivation wise, I would annihilate them all.

“Let’s go, Mills”. I grab her hand and drag her upstairs to my room, without replying or looking back at my “father”. Thank the goddess I’m adopted, sort of. I would hate to have his genes.

And my mom, well, she is just too soft-hearted. She wouldn’t hurt a fly. Which is also a telltale sign I am not related to her by blood, because I would love nothing more than to burn this entire pack to the ground. Preferably with everyone except mom and the Luna in it.

Morbid, yes, I know.

“What the f*ck is wrong with your father?!”. Millie calls out with a raised voice, as soon as my bedroom door closes. I would love to tell her he isn’t my biological father, but I am not sure I can trust her with that. I do trust her, don’t get me wrong. But this is very critical information. I might be a mouse living among wolf shifters.

‘Human, I am not a mouse!’. Ares huffs in annoyance, and I roll my eyes in return.

‘How would you know? We have never shifted. You don’t even know yourself yet’. I got her there.

‘Do you even know me at all?! I am too feisty to be a mouse’. She sounds disgusted having to even say the word. It’s hilarious.

‘You could just be a feisty field mouse. Or a grasshopper mouse! They are really aggressive, you know...’.

‘Pfffft, humans!’.

“Ath? Is he always like this?”. Millie breaks our internal convo, and I shrug my shoulders in return.

“Yeah, pretty much sums it up. When he is even here though, that is”.

“That’s awful…”. Millie shakes her head, but I just shrug it off. I’m used to it.

“Anyway, how long are you staying again? And where do you stay, actually?”.

“For the entire semester is the plan. And they have a room for me at the pack house. Which is supposedly “better protected” with the Alphas there and blah blah blah. But, I would much rather stay with you”.

“I would love that too. I’ll ask mom when dad isn’t here. So you may have to crash at the pack house tonight though”.

“I’ll survive a night, I suppose”. Millie sighs dramatically, to which I chuckle.

We spend the rest of the day just catching up on how things are at Red Runner. Not that I didn’t know already. Millie, Maxim and I text each other a lot. But talking about it in the flesh is always nicer. We get to see each other’s facial expressions and hand gestures. And trust me, the girl has a lot of them. But, I do too when I am with her. I am different when I’m with her. Not the grey field mouse I usually am. Ares growls softly at the mention of a mouse, earning a laugh from me. I may or may not have used that analogy on purpose. We will never know

“Ah, by the way, there is one thing we definitely need to talk about. The elephant in the room: the red eyes”. Millie gives me a pointed look. She probably expected me to confide in her sooner. The thing is, I can’t be sure I am a wolf yet. So perhaps it’s normal for me to have red eyes. I don’t know how to bring that up without spilling the beans about my adoption.

“Uhm… yeah. What would you like to know?”.

Surprisingly, she asks the last thing I would have expected her to start with. “What’s her name?”.

“Ares” I reply with a smile.

“That’s a cool name! What’s she like? And how long have you had her? And most importantly: why didn’t you tell me?”.

I sigh, mentally preparing myself to tell her I have had Ares for as long as we have been friends. “She’s feisty. But also funny. And, well, uhm… since I was 6”.

She stares at me blandly for a second, before bursting out. “SINCE YOU WERE 6?!”.

“Yes. I’m sorry I never told you, Mills…”.

“That’s fine. But, seriously? Since you were 6?! How is that even possible?”.

“I don’t know. Perhaps she came early because I was having a hard time”.

“When you were 6? What was so hard, someone stole your lollipop?”. Millie grins, but my smile falters when I think back to those days. The days when I was still full of joy, and didn’t have a care in the world. Until none of them wanted to be friends with me anymore suddenly, and the bullying started. And not just Jake and Jerry. The entire pack.

“Well. She emerged a few days after they tried to push me off a cliff. So, there’s that. But it could also have been all the bullying in general. And since literally the entire pack was against me, I had no one to talk to. I was starting to feel really depressed to be honest. And then Ares came and threatened to burn the entire pack down to the ground haha”. I chuckle, thinking of how she is as feisty now as she was back then. There is no doubt in my mind that she would do it if she could either.

“Sh*t, Ath… I’m sorry… Did you report that to the Alpha?”.

I laugh. “Have you heard my dad’s reaction? Take that, and then take into account that it involved his own sons. The Alpha is a misogynistic cunt if you ask me”. Millie’s look is full of pity, which I don’t want from her. Not from anyone, for that matter. Shit happens, life’s a b*tch and all that kind of crap. And you deal with it.

Just as I am about to tell her that, there is a knock at the door. I know it’s mom. I could hear her footsteps. And, to be fair, my father never comes here.

“Come in”. I call out, and mom enters.

“Hi darling. It’s time for supper soon. Will your friend be joining us?”.

Before I can answer, Millie does. “I would love to!”.

I was going to say it depends on whether or not my father is there, but I’ll leave it be this time. On the rare occasion that he is actually home for dinner, I prefer to stay up in my room. Not that mom will let me. She thinks the relationship between us is salvageable. Fat chance. That relationship is about as salvageable as the average president’s integrity.

“Wonderful! Be down in 10, girls”.

“Will father be there?”.

“Yes, he will!”. Mom exclaims excitedly, much to my amazement. I grimace at the answer, almost letting out a groan. Mom gives me a pointed look before walking off.

“Wow. There is really no love lost between you guys, huh?”.

“Nope”. I plop the “p”.