Antiope

A week has passed since that last disaster of a dinner and we barely talk to each other. I am still obliged to have breakfast and dinner with him at the appointed time but the interaction between us is minimum. Last night Magnus brought some paperwork and read through it while we ate. Which was supposed to be a win but it eerily irritated me.

I still haven't seen Celia and he is not even looking at me each of the thousand times I have asked about her. My greatest fear is that he has taken his anger out on her, punish her for my mistakes. He can't hurt his Luna, not so close to the Luna Championship but Celia is his prisoner.

"The fights are tomorrow," his husky voice fills the kitchen and makes me jump up.

I look across the breakfast island only to see him focused on the same papers he was looking the night before, his eyebrows frowning and his jaw tense.

"Am I required to attend?" I answer.

This was what I was waiting for the whole week. My presence at the fights is pretty much a prerequisite and I was planning to use it as a leverage.

"Yes, you will attend," he is still shuffling through the papers.

"I want to see Celia first."

That gains his attention. He looks up from the papers and pins his eyes in mine. I try to stop myself from gasping but not swallowing hard when I see his handsome face is out of the question. Him not talking the whole week had that effect and I hated it. I was trying to read him through his body language and his facial expression and that meant spending a hazardous amount of time studying his flawless body and strong, angular face. At the same time, he kept his mouth shut and didn't say anything to remind me what an asshole he really is.

"You know that if you stood up, went to him, straddle his waist and sniff his neck, we would be by Celia's side within the hour, right?" Maximo offers.

She is right. Angry, furious, frustrated and enraged as he might be for the last week, I caught him looking at me with that unmistakable look of lust in those burning eyes of his. If I were to give myself to him, he would let me... NO!

For a fleeting moment, the idea seemed so tempting, so titillating. My skin didn't crawl with disgust by the idea that he would touch me and that was bad. I know I am in Sweden but that doesn't mean I need to be a Stockholm Syndrome victim. That man forced me here and has my sister locked in silver chains somewhere.

"If you want me to come to the damn fights and behave, you will let me see Celia."

"You will see her after the fights," he says and goes back to his work.

"No."

This time his whole body turns to me, giving me his full attention. His jaw twitches and his lips are tight. Instinctive fear before an Alpha male that is barely containing himself grabs me but I keep my ground.

"In order for this quid pro quo agreement we have between us to work, we need to trust that the other party will deliver as promised."

"Oh, am I supposed to trust the man that keeps me locked in here?"

"First of all, have I ever broken a deal?" Magnus's face breaks in a faint smile. "And then, Antiope," he gets up and leans over the table closer to me so that his potent, masculine scent reaches me, "are you sure you are locked?"

That's all he says before gathering his papers and leaving the house. And I am there, dumb-stricken by his last remark. In a haze, I gather the plates and wash them though a girl came in once this week to clean this place. Then I run up to my room and change into the only set of clothes I have and head back down.

I stand before the door. I know this one is open but I never crossed the passageway to the other side. I assumed that it was locked, that he wouldn't let me roam freely. Was I such a jerk or is he pulling my chains? One way to find out.

I cross the bridge and grab the handle. I turn it and the door opens without a creak. I peek through waiting to see guards that politely yet firmly ask me to go back to the house. But there is none. Motherfucker!

"Let's go for a run!" Max immediately suggests.

I feel the same itch in me so I head straight for the main door and I open it too. I go down the steps and that's when I see the guards.

"Luna," they bow their heads and I do the same so they let me run.

"I am going for a run," I announce in my Beta voice.

"You need to have your Champion with you, Luna. After tomorrow..." One of the guards says in that thick Scandinavian accent.

"You can escort me then."

"We are on guard duty and can't leave our posts, Luna," the other says apologetically.

"But I can take you for a run," I hear a voice I have heard before.

I turn and there at the top of the stairs is Egil. Now that I am more rested and less pissed I can see that he is truly a handsome looking man, tall and striking and with an air around him that makes me feel comfortable. He is a Beta, after all, my father is one, I am one. It's natural to feel safe around him.

He comes down the steps and he too bows his head when he finds himself before me. And then regards me with a cocky smile.

"So, you decided to get out of the house? What did the Alpha do? Wear you down all day?"

I roll my eyes at this comment. That is what the pack thought? That Magnus and I fucked all night and I was too weak-kneed to walk? Fuck them. I am sure that the fact I smell nothing like him has given them an answer.

"I want to go for a run," I discard his question.

"Sure," he says. "Lake or forest?"

My heart races. My pack also lived next to the water and I longed to run there, splash in the cold lake, feel alive. My look drifts to the lake and I must be looking at it with such longing that Egil chuckles.

"I guess lake it is. We got some shifting spots in the woods. We keep clothes and you can shift in dignity. If Magnus finds out I got a glimpse of you naked, he will kill me on the spot."

Maximo roars inside with happiness. Her mate is possessive exactly like he supposed to be and she is longing to busk under his dominance. I am not so keen to do that.

"Show the way," I ask of Egil.

He points at the forest and we walk for a few meters without talking but I can tell that Egil wants to say something. I'd rather he didn't. I am sure it will be a lecture of my duties as a Luna and perhaps a few banalities in the area of "Magnus is not as bad as he looks" so I prefer to be spared.

We reach the first trees of the forest and I feel him stop. And right when he pauses and turns to me, a voice cuts through the chilly air.

"Egil!"

"Oh, goddess," Egil mutters as Magnus approaches us.