Forever Is A Long Time

Chapter 2

“What did you say?” Nathan asked, slightly shocked. I could feel my wolf howling inside of me as she too recognized her mate. 

“Sorry, I’m Brandon,” my mate said, completely ignoring his dad as he extended his hand to me with a smile, his eyes boring into mine. For a second I found myself lost in his gaze and quickly composed myself. This couldn’t be happening to me. In over a 1,000 years I had never found my mate and now the moon goddess decided she wanted to be funny.

“Brandon, it is nice to meet you. I’m Athena.” I replied, ignoring his extended hand, with no excitement whatsoever in my voice. “I’m here on business with your father,” I added looking over at Nathan who was still clearly trying to wrap his head around what was happening. From the corner of my eye, I could sense a look of hurt on Brandon’s face.

Clearing his throat, Nathan finally composed himself and crossed his arms. 

“Yes, that is exactly why Athena is here, Brandon. She is the one we reached out to in helping us with the war situation.” Nathan then proceeded to look over at me. “Athena, this is my son, as you have probably figured out already.” 

“Wait, Athena as in the warrior we called upon? The one from the history books?” Brandon suddenly asked, looking at Nathan then at me. 

“The one and only,” I replied with a slight sarcastic tone, letting out a light chuckle.

I could sense the awkwardness setting in. 

“I think Athena has had a long trip, why don’t we get her situated and then we can talk strategy tomorrow?” Nathan threw in suddenly, making me relieved for once.

“Let me show her to her room,” Brandon stated. “If that is ok with you of course?” he then asked me with a pleading look. 

Seeing as we would have to discuss this whole mate thing sooner or later, I figured we’d get it out of the way. I was already planning on rejecting him. It wasn’t uncommon to reject your mate but the chances of getting a second chance at finding them was close to none. 

“Sure,” I replied with a half smile, that soon left my face as I turned away from him.

A spark flew up my arm as his hand connected with mine. He had reached for my bag.

“I guess you felt that too,” he said, looking at me with a sheepish grin as I looked back at him. I could feel my cheeks turning a light shade of red. 

“I didn’t feel anything,” I said, composing myself, “however, if you really want to, you can carry my bag for me,” and kept walking towards the stairs. 

Once we had reached the third floor, I headed straight to the room I figured would be mine since nothing much had changed. 

“How did you know that would be your room?” Brandon asked suddenly as I was about to reach for the door knob.

So many thoughts raced through my head at once. I could tell him that it was where his father and I used to make love or just tell him that it was one of my abilities. 

I slowly turned around to look at him. He had a curious expression on his face. 

“I used to stay in this room a long time ago which is why I figured your dad would assign it to me,” I stated. 

“That makes sense,” he said, running a hand through his hair. As he did that so many memories ran through my head. 

“So I should go inside. Thanks again for helping with the bag,” I said, forcing a smile on my face and grabbing my bag.

“Wait,” he said, grabbing my wrist, sparks flying up and down my arm. My eyes landed on his, making me get lost again. 

I saw as he got closer to me, his full frame towering over me. Like his father he was 6’2, with broad shoulders. My heart rate started to accelerate as his eyes kept me locked in.

“What?” I asked, finally able to say something. He grinned down at me. I could tell he was trying not to laugh.

“Do I amuse you?” I asked back, composing myself enough to be my usual unpleasant self. 

“As a matter of fact, yes. Yes you do.” he added with a smirk as he took another step towards me, making my back lean against the door. I raised an eyebrow at him, trying to seem un-phased at the fact that he had me literally cornered. “Care to elaborate?” I asked back.

He stared at me for what seemed eternity. Almost as if he was having some sort of inner conflict.

“Look, if you’re just going to stand there staring at me, you might as well--” I got cut off by his lips and body smashing into mine. Time seemed to have stopped. As if everything else in the world didn’t matter. His lips were warm and just the perfect proportion. It was nothing like I had ever experienced before. 

Mate. My wolf yelped inside my mind, ecstatically.

My eyes fluttered open, as I realized what he had done. In a matter of seconds, I pushed him off me, with what someone else would have seen as an invisible force. I reached behind me, wielding my sword that consisted of a magical energy. Almost as if I was holding a lighting bolt in the palm of my hand. Using my super speed, I got to him just as he landed on his back. The tip of my sword was now inches away from his throat.