025 His Wrath

"What did you do this time?" A woman's voice surprised Themis, who was then sitting on the kitchen floor back in the bar, holding her knees close to her with a blank face as if she lost her soul.

Themis looked up in horror: "Why are YOU here?!"

It was the waitress from the hotel; the one that took Kitty to the job interview.

"Well I HAVE to come because my boss is here." The woman laughed and sat down on the kitchen table in a sexual way, hinting at the door.

Themis turned her head to follow the waitress's eyes, only to find the man who interviewed Kitty standing by the door with his arm held in front of his chest, looking at her with a cold face.

"You are her boss?!" The man in front of Themis shocked her worry about Erebus being mad at her out of her head.

"Stop joking around." The man said coldly to the waitress, ignoring Themis.

"Are you not the boss?" The "waitress" giggled, "Why do you get the office and I have to be waitress then?"

"Because that's Lord's order." The man answered with the same calm, cold voice as if he never knew what a "joke" is.

"You are so boring. I cannot believe boss made me to work with you." The woman rolled her eyes at the man's not responding to her teasing.

"Because we are the only two people on Dim Patronus that the target hadn't seen. This arrange is so that she won't find out--"

"Bla, bla, bla! O, M, G! You are soooo boring! I'm really looking forward to your punishment when our Lord finds out that--"

The kitchen door flung open, and Erebus stood there, staring at the woman sitting on the kitchen table: "Find out about what?"

"My Lord!" The woman jumped down from the kitchen table and stood straight.

"Iapetus." Erebus called the man's name coldly.

"Yes, my Lord." The man didn't even change his posture too much. He had the quality as if he had no emotion.

"What happened yesterday?" Erebus directing a question at Iapetus, but his eyes was on Themis. Themis didn't dare to even more under his ice-cold sight.

"We followed the target around all day. She was job hunting. So we designed an interview and tried to recruit her as a hotel stuff. This way she could support herself, AND be within our protection. She didn't take the bait, so now our plan is to make sure no one else would offer her a job. I'm confident that we will solve her job problem tomorrow." Iapetus bowed his head at Erebus and out with the long and business-like report.

"I mean, why did she had only breakfast." Erebus listened to his long speech patiently, but the question was with anger.

"Because she came back late, and we cannot offer her food out of nowhere because your order was to keep your help a secret to her." Iapetus replied without even hesitation, as if talking about math instead of a live human being.

"Oh, 'my order'? What IS my order, Iapetus?" Erebus finally took his eyes off Themis and turned to look at Iapetus.

"Your order is to give her a way of living without her knowing."

"So that..." Erebus started the sentence for Iapetus to finish.

"So that she would have no trouble surviving, and have the time and means to do what she wants to do."

"Good. Does your report sound like you fulfilled that mission?" Erebus's voice was now filled with anger and danger.

"No, my Lord."

"She is NOT, a 'target'. She is my mate. Do you understand what that means?" Erebus sighed, shook his head.

"All due respect, my Lord. Our loyalty is to you and your well-being, not her." Iapetus didn't even blink when he responded.

"She IS my well-being." Erebus was using his alpha voice now, and Iapetus couldn't even talk under the pressure Erebus was casting on him. It was Erebus's mercy that he was still able to stand there.

"My Lord, he was doing his best." The woman hurried forwards, "We wanted to keep her as close to the hotel as possible, so we didn't want to give her too many reasons to stay outside."

"Astraios, don't get into this." Iapetus said calmly to the woman.

"Go see the Enforcer. 20 whips as a warning." Erebus lifted the pressure he gave Iapetus and walked past him to Themis without giving him another look.

"Yes, my Lord." It seemed as if Iapetus had more to say, but Astraios pulled on his sleeve, hinting him to not to. He hesitated for a bit and just turned and left.

"My Lord, I'm sorry. I was out of line--" Themis finally found her voice. She bowed her head and kneeled on the floor at Erebus.

"Yes, you were." Erebus cut her off.

"I'll go see the Enforcer." She quivered at the cold answer.

"No, you will not." Erebus said, "Stand up."

"My, my Lord?" Themis stood up, even more nervous than before.

"Give me your hand." Erebus held out his hand at her.

"No!" Themis screamed with shock on her face as if she just saw a ghost, "No! Please, my Lord! Anything but that! Please..."

Erebus didn't respond. He just stood there, with his hand held up.

"My Lord--" Astraios started but Erebus cut her off:

"This doesn't concern you, Astraios. Leave." She could even hear a shred of growl in his voice, and she couldn't disobey his direct order.

He was really angry this time.

He pays for their salary; he gives them a promising career; he IS their boss. But he also teaches them, takes care of them, and he takes them as his responsibility. He was not just their employer, he was their mentor, he was the Lord they pledged their loyalty to. This kind of disobey is betrayal, and he won't allow that, not from his Dim Patronus.

"My Lord, please, I beg you. I know I hurt you, and I'm sorry..." Tears falling, Themis was now shivering in shock.

"You betrayed me, Themis. You are no longer a part of the Dim Patronus, no matter you give back my imprint or not." Erebus didn't seem to be moved at all by her begging.

"No!!! No..." Themis burst into tears and kept on saying no as if all of this could not be true so long as she kept on denying.

"My Lord!" Menoetius rushed into the kitchen and stopped by Themis's side, "Please my Lord. That was an outburst of her. She didn't mean to hurt you! She would never!"

"Menoetius..." Themis mumbled, a bit shocked that he would burst in and stood up for her.

"She forced Kitty out of the home I gave her, into crossing path with Perses's killer." Erebus said with a very calm voice, but the weight was too much for Themis to bear. She fell on to the floor and started to mumble stuff that no one even understands.

"None of us knew there were killers waiting for Kitty. It didn't look good with Kitty going into the store right after Perses's men. Themis was looking out for you--" Menoetius knew Themis made a huge mistake that no excuse was ever enough, but he had to try.

"Looking out for me?" Erebus suddenly cut him off and repeated his words in an ice-cold tone.

"It seems as if none of you knows what 'marked' means." Erebus said slowly with a shred of danger in his voice, "I guess that's my bad. I should have taught you better."

"No, we know, my Lord." Menoetius bowed his head at the dominant voice.

"Really?" Erebus said with sarcasm.

"Mate for life, and life for mate, my Lord." Menoetius dared not look him into his eyes.

"You tried to murder mine, and you call that looking out for me. Am I understanding what you are saying correctly?" Erebus took a step back and leaned on the kitchen table, holding his arms up at the two.

"No, my Lord... I mean yes, I mean..." Menoetius hurried to explain but he only made that sentence worse and worse.

"I can forgive her." Erebus suddenly said.

"Really?!" That word burst out from Themis.

"IF, you take her punishment for her." Erebus ignored Themis. He was looking right at Menoetius.

"My Lord!" Menoetius shrunk at that offer as if tasered.

"Or you can step aside and let me deal with MY troop." Erebus said coldly.

"I... I pledged my loyalty to you, my Lord. I won't take it back." Menoetius took a deep breath, "I'd like to take her punishment for her, and I'll give you my life instead of my imprint."

"Menoetius!" Themis gasped, "Why... why are you doing this?! You know I don't... I..."

"Why don't you want to leave even after he threw you out?" Menoetius said with a bitter smile, "Because I love you, even if you don't love me back."

"..." Themis didn't know what to say. She cannot lie to him saying she loves him, but somehow saying she didn't love him also sounded cruel.

Seeing that it was enough to get Themis to think about her relationship with Menoetius, Erebus finally started talking again: "99 whips, not one more, not one less."

"He will die! My Lord, please!" Themis followed Erebus as he left the room, begging him to reduce the sentence.

"He won't. He is a wolf warrior." Erebus left these words without even a pause, leaving Themis and Menoetius silent in the kitchen...

"My Lord, did you really wanted to throw Themis out?" Metis came to the cliff, where Erebus stood alone in silence, gazing into the night.

"How's the hotel?" Erebus didn't turn back.

"All set. The bartender was from Paris, experienced and clean. Kitty should be on her shift by now." Metis bowed her head, even though Erebus was not looking at her.

"I wanted to kill her." Erebus said slowly, and then he turned to face Metis, "I didn't know I could be so cruel."

"No, my Lord. A mate's bond is deep, deeper than life. I cannot imagine your pain when you thought you lost her because I never marked anyone, but what I do know is that you are not cruel."

"How would you know?" Erebus give her a bitter smile, and turned back to the cliff again, "I heard Menoetius came to listen by the door, and that was what knocked me out of the killing urge."

"So you took the chance to give those two a push. Themis certainly noticed Menoetius when he took her fall. And this, is how I know you are not cruel." Metis said with a calm and firm tone.

Against the faint light from the city, Erebus was only a dark shadow in Metis's eyes. He was always the "great legend" Silver Lightning to her until now. At that moment, he was not caring, not powerful, not intelligent, he was just a man without his mate by his side.

"Thanks, Metis."

And that was the first time Metis felt that he was also just a mortal.