I pack the last of my clothes into my suitcase while Beta Jason is on the phone with Alpha Peter.

“Yeah. Room 12. Mhm. Yes, Alpha. We’ll wait here until they arrive. Thanks,” he says and ends the call. “Alpha is sending a group of warriors to escort us back to the compound. They’ll be here in about an hour,” he tells me.

I nod as I head into the bathroom to grab my toiletries and makeup, packing them into a small bag. Then I turn to leave and crash straight into Beta Jason.

“Shit, sorry,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck. “I was coming to see if you needed any help.”

“Oh, I’m nearly done,” I smile awkwardly. “Thanks though, Beta.”

“You can call me Jason,” he says as he moves to the side, my breasts rubbing against his chest as I move past him into the room. I feel his eyes on me as I get the last of my things from around the room and pack them in my suitcase. I turn and look at him, my heart rate picking up as we stare at each other.

‘Today has been a whirlwind of emotions. Hell, the last three weeks have been. Maybe we could let off some steam,’ I think to myself.

‘He’s not our mate, Athena,’ Enyo growls softly.

‘Who cares? Who waits for their mates anymore? Guys definitely don’t,’ I say, my eyes travelling down Jason’s body and back up again.

He leans against the bathroom door frame and crosses his arms, a playful grin on his face.

‘This is a bad idea, Athena,’ Enyo tells me.

I glide over to Jason, a smile creeping across my lips as I stop just in front of him, my nose brushing against his. I lock my gaze with his, daring him to make a move. His breathing is shallow on my face, and I can hear his heartbeat matching mine. I’m about to turn away when he grabs me and lifts me, his lips slamming into mine. As he moves over to the bed, I wrap my legs around his hips and sit on his lap when he sits down. He strokes my back and wraps his hand around the back of my neck. I press my hands against his chest and deepen the kiss, our tongues running over each other, tasting and exploring each other’s mouths. I reach down and pull my shirt over my head, and my nipples harden in the cool room. He runs his hand up my side and then across my right breast, his thumb resting on my tight bud. I squirm in his lap and gasp into his mouth, rubbing my moist mound over his hardening length.

I jump when the phone in the room rings. “Ignore it,” I say as I pull Jason’s shirt over his head. Finally, the phone stops ringing, and I push him back onto the bed, kissing him deeply again. My breasts rub on his hard pecs as I start to grind on him. He moans as he grabs my hips, his fingers digging into me hard as he turns us over and he settles in between my legs and kisses my neck, but stops and hovers over me, looking into my eyes.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” He asks softly. I nod and lift my head to kiss him.

We both groan when there’s a knock on the door. “For fuck’s sake,” I say harshly, annoyed by another interruption.

“There’s no way they got here this quickly,” Jason says, sounding just as annoyed.

“Miss Argos? It’s Tim from the front desk. Are you there?” The old man says.

I groan and reach for the shirt I was wearing, and Jason rolls over, frustrated. I get up from the bed as there’s more knocking. “Coming!” I yell as I walk to the door.

I look through the peephole and see the old man from reception standing there, so I open the door and greet him, “Hi Tim, what’s up?” I ask as I brush my fingers through my hair.

“Hi, Miss Argos. I just wanted to let you know that there has been a man calling here looking for you,” he says brightly, unaware of his interruption.

“Did the man leave a message when he called?” I asked, wondering who it could be. Only Mom and Uncle Alex knew I was staying here, and they wouldn’t have told anyone.

“No, Miss. They just said they needed to confirm you were staying here but refused to give a name, saying that they were trying to send you something but needed to confirm the address and when you’d be available to receive it.”

Jason gets up from the bed and walks over to the door. “Tim, did anything end up arriving for Miss Argos?”

“No, sir. When he called again this morning, I told him she’s been unavailable,” he says. “There’s something else, though, Miss. About 20 minutes before you arrived today, a man came in looking for you as well.”

“And the man today, do you think it was the same man that was calling?”

Tim puts his hand on his chin, his brow furrowed. “No, Miss, the man on the phone sounded older. The man that came in looking for you was younger. Around your age, Miss. Tall, around 6’5, muscular, dark brown hair, amber eyes.”

I look at Jason. “Does that sound like anyone you know?” I ask. He shakes his head no.

“The man today left a number, but no name,” Tim says, as he pulls a piece of paper out of his shirt pocket and gives it to me.

I look at the paper. It’s a local area code, but I don’t recognise the number. So, I go over to the desk and get my phone, but Jason stops me from calling it.

“Maybe we should get someone to investigate the number before you call it. Whoever this is obviously doesn’t have your number if they’re trying to track you down in person,” he says.

I nod and put the number into the pocket of my suitcase.

“Thank you, Tim. I need to come and check out, anyway. I’m leaving earlier than I thought,” I tell him.

“Of course, Miss. Come with me, and we’ll get it sorted for you,” Tim says and turns and walks towards the reception building.

Jason puts his shirt on, grabs my suitcase, and follows us out of the room.

“You can wait here if you want,” I say.

“No way. There’s too much weird stuff going on right now. You need someone to watch your back,” he says firmly.

“I can look after myself, Jason,” I say as we follow behind Tim.

“Of course you can. But some backup never hurts,” he says with a smile and puts his arm around my shoulders.

I roll my eyes but smile.

I finish the paperwork with Tim, and then Jason and I go back outside to the SUV. Jason puts my suitcase in the back, and I get in the passenger side as my cell rings. I get it out of the pocket and smile when I see that it’s Ryna.

“Hey Ry, how are you?” I ask cheerfully.

“Athena Isabella Argos! I have been trying to call you for two weeks!” He yells crankily.

“I’m sorry, Ry. I’ve been so busy. But that’s no excuse. I should have called you back,” I say sadly.

“I didn’t know where you were or what was happening,” he says, sounding upset.

“I’m really sorry, Ry. I’ve been so wrapped up with everything and I’ve been a terrible friend. Forgive me?”

I hear him sigh. “You’re lucky I can’t stay mad at you, Athena.”

“I know. I’m the luckiest girl in the world,” I say, grinning.

“Gamma said you’re down south. Have you found anything?” He asks.

“Kind of. I’m not sure what it all means or if I believe it. Actually, is your better half around?” I ask him.

“Gino’s at work. Why’s that?”

“I was wondering if you could see if he knows anything about Plato and his theory on incarnation, and if there’s anything in our history books relating to pure or chosen lycans. If anyone is going to know, I’m hoping it’s your mate,” I tell him.

“Plato, incarnation, pure or chosen lycans. Got it. I’ll ask him when he gets home,” Ryna says.

“Thanks, Ry, I appreciate it. Also, I need you to tell Gamma that I need any information on that investigator, Derek, that he might not have given me. The mother fucker tried to kill me today,” I say.

“I’m sorry, what?” I hear panic rise in Rynas’ voice.

“I’m fine, Ry. I just need to know if there’s anything that I’ve missed on the snake,” I snarl.

“Athena… Maybe it’s time to come home. I don’t like this at all,” Ryna says with concern.

“I promise you I’m fine. And besides, I have backup,” I say with a smile as Jason opens the door and gets in the driver’s side.

“You promise me that if things get any worse, you will ring me. I can be there in a few hours if you need me.”

“I promise, Ry. I need to go. But I miss you!” I say sadly.

“I miss you too, my girl. Take care of yourself, please,” he says affectionately.

“Promise. Bye, Ryna,” I say and hang up when he says goodbye, and I put my phone back in my pocket.

“Are you ok? You seem sad,” Jason asks, putting his hand on my knee.

“I’m fine, just a bit homesick after talking to my best friend,” I explain with a small smile as I squeeze his hand.

“Looks like the cavalry has arrived,” he says, motioning to three SUVs that have just pulled into the motel’s driveway. “Let’s get back to the compound,” he says, starting the SUV.