The Equal Claim

Chapter 17

"You must be Athena, I've heard a lot about you," he says and I look at him as i stand up. "How do you know me?" I question him warily. There is something off about this guy, but I can't put a finger on it. "I make it my business to know everything that goes on in this pack darling" he smirks and I step back from the sudden closeness. "Besides, you are a new face here and I hear you're staying at Theo's house." I look at him with raised brows, "your point being..." I say gesturing him to continue.

"Now I wonder why my cousin has a guest staying at his house when there is plenty of room in the pack house where all the other visitors stay. Unless there is something that he is not telling me," he muses while scratching his chin in thought.

I scoff as I turn back to gather my things, "you can take that up with your cous......" I trail off as I turn towards him only to find him gone. 'Weird' I thought. I looked at the time and notice it's almost evening and I call out to the girls as we prepare to get back.

"Do you guys know of a guy called Sebastian?" I ask and all 3 girls look at each other. "What? Is there something I need to know" I question and Cathy is the one who speaks up. " We only know that he is Alpha Theo's cousin and was ousted from the pack 4 years ago, I heard he came back but I haven't seen him."

"If he was ousted doesn't that mean that he is not supposed to return?" I wonder out loud. "Yeah but he is Alpha Theo's cousin and they were close before so maybe he forgave him. Who cares anyways, I'm just happy that there is one more Argent I can look at, I mean have you seen them, they have some damn good genes, it's like they are photo shopped," Rachel gushes and I feel a surge of anger rush through me when she says that, but manage to push it down.

"Goddess Rach, you really need to get laid" Hazel jokes and I laugh slowly. "I know right, maybe I'll pay Sebastian Argent a visit," She says with a wink.
"Eww Rachel, that's gross." I say "you don't need to throw yourself to some man, be patient. You'll meet your mate eventually," and she nods in understanding.

"I had fun today," Hazel says and we all nod in agreement as we stop at the pack house. "It's almost dinner time and the smell wafting from the kitchen makes our stomachs rumble. "You know we didn't get a chance to eat all this food I got," Cathy complains. "You can take it home and stuff your fridge with it" Rachel tells her as we bid our goodbyes and go our own way.

I'm walking towards the house lost in my thoughts when someone side steps me. "Fancy running into you here again," He says in his smooth velvety voice. "You literally just blocked my way Sebastian, so clearly I didn't run in to you," I say with a roll of my eyes, "ohhh potato - potahtoh" he says with a wave of his hand.

"Going somewhere?" He asks and I take a deep breath and push him out of my way, "excuse me, I need to get home."

"And where exactly is home darling? because as per my knowledge and correct me if I'm wrong but you're just a guest here," He says with a small of a smirk playing on his lips. "I meant I need to get to Theo's house," I correct myself and start walking but he is on to me like a dog on a bone. "Well maybe I could walk you there, wouldn't want our special guest getting lost now would we?" He asks in a whisper that sends chills down my spine and not in a good way.

"I can walk myself there, I know the way." I say firmly to get him off my back. "Please, I insist" he says and gives one of the classic Argent smiles and I give in. Damn these Argent men and their ridiculously good looks.

We walk in silence but I can feel his gaze on me and I flip my hair forward to cover the right side of my face. From my peripheral vision I see a hand coming towards my face ready to pull my hair back when I catch it midair and glare at him. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. Nice reflexes by the way." He says and laughs.

I drop his hand and I'm relieved to see the house come to view, I quicken my steps and see someone standing on the patio, upon close inspection I realize it's Charles. I hear him breathe a sigh of relief as we get close. "Thank Goddess you're home; Theo's meeting with Ashton was postponed this morning and he had to go for it in the afternoon, he asked me to...." he stops mid-sentence as his eyes land on the person standing next to me. "What the hell are you doing back here?" He shouts, all concern from his voice now gone and replaced with venom. It's nice to see you too Charles," Sebastian says sardonically.

Charles moves quickly and pushes me behind him, as he takes a protective stance in front of me. "Stay away from her," he hisses and takes my hand and we enter the house. I watch Sebastian walk away from the window but not before turning back and giving me a smile. I turn to Charles with my arms crossed. "What was that about?" I ask him. "Athena listen to me, Sebastian is bad news. You have to stay away from him, do you understand?" He tells me with eyes filled with concern. "I do, but I need to know what's going on? Why did you react that way towards him?'' I quiz him.

"I think the best person to answer that will be Theo; who should be back by now. He has instructed me not to leave your side under any circumstances and I see the reason behind it now," He comments. ''You do realize that I'm not a child, I can take care of myself,'' I say while giving him an annoyed look. ''I know Athena but for this once please co-operate with me,'' he pleads and I nod my head in response.

We sit and talk for about 15 mins when I start to get tingly all over; 'he's here' I thought as a smile appears on my face. "Theo is almost home" I say and Charles shoots me a questioning look. Sure enough 2 minutes later the front door opens and in walks Theo. I get up to hug him and he quickly closes the distance between us as he pulls me in for a kiss. "Ugghhh, get a room you two" Charles says while gagging and we pull apart. "So Theo, what did Ashton say?" He asks.

Theo decides to sit on one of the couches and pulls me to him while entwining his fingers with mine. "Seems like the rogue problem is growing, there has been sightings near all the pack borders, the only confusion is that they are not attacking anyone; it's like their passing through, "He says. Charles and I look at each other in confusion.

"In fact the Crimson pack's beta got into a fight with one of the rogues and got himself injured." He says with a small laugh and I turn to him wide eyed. "Oh my God, is Axel okay?" I ask worriedly and Theo looks at me condescending. "He'll survive love, it's just a few scratches." He says casually and I nod. 'I need to talk to Ethan', I thought. "Okay so we need to up our security.

I will talk to Noah as we still keep the search on for the blue eyed beast who has been spying on my cookie here." Charles says giving me a wink and I smile in return. "Cookie? You call her cookie now?" Theo asks Charles, ''and what do you call him love? " he asks me as he rubs circles on the base of my neck causing my skin to tingle. "Uhhh let's see.... I'll call him 'Chip'" I say in excitement.

"Yeah and will call Theo 'chocolate' and together will be the 'chocolate chip cookie' '' Charles finishes and I look at him worriedly. "From where do you come up with this stuff Charles, are you sure you didn't pick him up from some mental institution Theo?" I say as I turn to look at my mate.

"If you ever call me Chocolate again, I will rip out your tongue and feed it to the rogues, you understand?" Theo threatens Charles. "Sure Chocolate whatever you say man," he replies and Theo gets up from the couch and runs after him as Charles flees out of the house and I'm left behind rolling in laughter.

Theo soon comes in followed by one of the omegas who has brought over our dinner, I thank her politely and we sit down to eat. "So did you miss me," he asks. "Hmmm....let's see." I pretend to think, "nah I didn't, I had good company." I say trying to get a reaction out of him. "Ohh I see...though I'd like to think I'm better company than 3 girls," he says and I laugh. that you're, I wouldn't even dare disagree to it" I say. "So you like my company then?" He says with a sly smirk playing on his lips. "Don't get too cocky mister" I reply.

As we lay in bed together, this time in his room which is twice as big as mine and has a walk in closet, I ask him the question that has been in my head all evening. ''Theo?" I ask softly and he responds with a hmmm, "how is Sebastian related to you and why does Charles hate him so much?" I ask and I feel his whole body stiffen at the mention of Sebastian.

He turns me to so that I'm facing him now. "Where did you meet him love? Did he say anything to you? Did he hurt you?" He asks as he bombards me with questions. "No quite the opposite actually, he creeped up to me when I was at the lake, told me he was your cousin and offered to walk me home, That's it," I say.

He takes in a deep breath and then replies, " Sebastian is my cousin, he is the son of my dad's younger brother Alan. He is older than me by 2yrs, so when my dad died 4yrs ago he thought he would be given the Alpha position, I was 24 at that time and dad had trained me for it, so the pack elders came to a conclusive decision to give me the position, Sebastian didn't take it well and we had a big fight after my ceremony, since I had newly gained the Alpha status, I had a lot of power and subdued Sebastian easily, he left the pack in disgrace the following week. I didn't hear from him for 4yrs until last week when he called me before your brothers' ceremony asking for forgiveness and to be reinstated back in the pack. He is after all my blood, so I forgave him."

"That doesn't explain why Charles dislikes him, he was livid when he saw Sebastian. " I say and he nods "Charles has never liked Sebastian, according to him he is a power hungry bastard who won't stop at anything until he gets what he wants." Theo comments. " I got a bad feeling too when I was around him," I confess.

"Just be careful around him love." Theo says as he kisses my temple. "Now come on let's sleep, we have a 05:00 am run to go to." He says and I chuckle as I snuggle into his chest and fall asleep.