Chapter 17

ATHENA

The drive to the office was one that I thoroughly enjoyed. Bella had gone ahead earlier than me to get things ready and adjust my schedule for the day.

I suddenly realised how much I've missed being able to enjoy my time on drives alone.

When I left Dradesvow, all I could do was spend time alone as I was too busy to make friends or connections outside business and that meant a lot of alone time to study.

We soon arrived at the office building, a massive structure with a showroom spanning through the entire bottom floor, offices on the second and third floors, a smaller but more expensive showroom on the fifth floor, and mine and Bella's office on the entire sixth floor.

I noticed a small crowd at the entrance. They were trying to be discreet but it was obvious that they were failing at it. Some sat on benches around with their jackets draped over something I suspect was a camera, others tried fooling themselves like they were leisurely strolling around except for the fact that they never truly strolled past the front of my office and people don't wear formal clothing on a leisure stroll. Some were even desperate enough to pretend as beggars, but beggars wouldn't be allowed into a high-end business district like this.

My guard noticed the same thing as he slowed down and drove into a nearby parking lot.

"I think those are reporters, ma'am," he said.

"Yes, I noticed," I nodded. "I'm assuming they're trying to get a glimpse of me."

Since I got back, I have been very careful not to let my face become public. At least not when I was still working on Sebastian's request.

His was the most troublesome request yet because a face reveal would lead to a lot of controversies as people will dig up our past relationship and try to create a story out of it, regardless of Sebastian's immense leaps to make it disappear.

"So, what do we do?" I asked the guard.

He was silent for a few seconds before he continued.

"We can't have you walking in a crowd. They might be reporters but considering the threat to your life, there might be assassins in their midst."

I nodded in agreement. I had considered that too.

"What do we do?"

"Could you call your assistant, ma'am?" He asked.

I nodded as I took out my phone and called Bella who picked up almost immediately.

"Don't come in through the front gate!" She said once she took the call. "These bastard reporter's are loitering around the office. They would swarm you once they see you."

"I have noticed that," I said. "So what do we do?"

"Drive out to the airport," she said. "Alpha Sebastian lent us a helicopter. You will land on the helipad on the roof. At least it'll take some time for the reporters to arrive with helicopters of their own."

Her words left a bad taste in my mouth.

"Sebastian?"

"Yes, ma'am," she replied. "He called me to suggest this earlier this morning."

Of course he did.

I couldn't help the sigh that escaped my lips.

"Fine."

I ended the call and turned my attention to her guard.

"Drive to the airport. Apparently, there's a helipad waiting for us."

"Yes, ma'am," he said as he pulled out of the parking lot and drove the other way from my office.

It was a twenty minute drive to the airport but it felt a lot shorter than that. I was hoping to stretch it out as long as possible.

Once we got there and I provided identification, we were led to the helicopter which was painted blue.

It was quite beautiful.

"Drive to the office," I said to the guard. "I will be expecting you in twenty minutes."

He nodded as I strolled away from the car and headed for the helicopter.

I was ushered in by a mean looking man with a really muscular build who was quite pleasant despite his hard looks.

Once I was inside the helicopter, I was quite rendered speechless by the presence of another individual besides the pilot.

"Sebastian," I said through gritted teeth.

"Good morning, Athena," he smiled. "You are just in time."

"I'm not even surprised," I sighed as I plopped into the seat beside him.

"Why would you be?" He asked. "This is my helicopter."

"When I heard that you were lending it to me, I expected it to be, you know, just for me," I rolled my eyes as I replied.

"I can understand why you'd think so," he nodded. "Well, you're wrong."

"Obviously," I retorted. "What are you doing here, Sebastian?"

"I was heading to your office," he replied calmly. "I understand that you're done designing Sienna's ring and mine is in the works right now."

"You're right," I nodded. "You don't need to come to my office for that though. I could just get you to give whatever information I need through Bella."

"That's not quite acceptable to me," he replied as the helicopter began its liftoff, the sound making him raise his voice. "I would prefer a more personal interaction between us if you need my information. I'm a perfectionist, you see."

I rolled my eyes at those words but I was already too loud to argue and I was in no mood to yell.

We sat in silence as we headed over to the Valerian and I simply enjoyed the view as we travelled.

Dradesvow was a very beautiful city despite its corrupt system and ruling class. It was surprisingly perfectly circular, with the middle of it being the hub of civilization and business district for the top one percent of the population.

At the very center of it all was the tallest tower in the district, a hotel belonging to none other than Sebastian Stone.

As it fanned out of the middle, the affluence was gradually reduced until it leads into the country where werefolk live simple live surrounded by nature.

Past the country and the beauty of the hills was the dense woods which bordered Dradesvow on all sides and eventually it is bordered by the sea which makes Dradesvow into an island of some sort.

An really large island.

"We're here," Sebastian's voice brought me out of my reverie as I marvelled at the sight.

I watched until the helicopter eventually landed.

Sebastian promptly stepped out and offered me a hand.

"Shall we, Miss Athena Montgomery?"