Alpha daddy

CHAPTER ELEVEN

SETH’s POV.

After he is removed from the room, I make my way back to the bed where she is seated. Athena refuses to make eye contact with me and I genuinely understand what’s going on.

“You seem to like trouble a lot,” I say calmly, perching on the space beside her, “you don’t care about your health and your wellbeing, do you?”

“What do you mean?” She asks me, “you saw what happened. He was the one who walked into my hospital room speaking to me like I do not matter.”

For a few seconds, I keep looking at her. With each passing moment, I keep wondering what’s going on in her mind. Why did she refuse to divorce him? Did she want to stay in that marriage that bad?

The more I think about it, the more it doesn't make any sense to me. Women—who knew them.

“You refused to divorce him?” I ask after a few minutes of silence.

“Yes,” Athena blurts out, her eyes not leaving me, “why should I divorce him?” Her lips curl into a tiny smile. I can see the pain inside of her, I can see the sadness in her eyes.

“Six years of my life Seth. I can’t give it away to Gemini like that. I have given her everything and not anymore. I do not want to give her anything else.”

“Stefan is not worth it, Athena” I continue, “that man who dares to cheat on his wife has nothing else to offer. If you ask me, I will tell you to divorce him. He is not worth it and he will never be worth it.”

“Six years—

“Think about it,” I cut her off, “that man does not know what he has and you are keeping every single nurse in this hospital on their toes. They all have work to do and they can’t keep waiting for when you will finally snap. You had a major miscarriage and we struggled hard to keep you alive. Don’t make our efforts go to waste, Athena.”

She slowly turns her head to me, her eyes saying something her lips are not talking about.

“Why are you worried about me, Seth?” She finally asks, “why do you care so much about me whether I live or I die? I am not even your family.”

“That’s the problem,” I lean closer to her, our faves only a few inches away from her. She is making me feel things that I can not understand. She is making me want to protect her even if she is not my responsibility. I want her to pull her into my arms and tell her how I am going to protect her from the people who are looking to hurt her. No matter how much I don’t want to think about it, her image keeps appearing in my head and I just—I just don’t know how to handle it at this point.

For the past eight years, I have not made a single mistake or slipped for once but then just a few days after meeting her, my world has already tilted.

“I also don’t know.” My voice comes out more hoarse than I actually intend, “I don’t know why I want to keep you safe when you are nothing to me, Athena”

“It’s because I am your patient.”

“It’s more than that,” I tell her, “I don’t go about trying to keep a patient who wants to die alive, Athena. I have gone out of my way a lot of times for you and I am trying to understand why. Who exactly are you?”

She opens her mouth to say something but I don’t let her, I immediately stand up and the words die on her lips.

“I am not letting you stay here for the night.” I announce, “or I may genuinely come to meet your dead body in the morning. I will bring you home with me.”

Her eyes open wide for a moment and I understand why. I am not looking to do that. Heck, I am not a psychopath.

“There will be a nurse attending to you,” I say after a while, “rest assured. One of the nurses will come to prepare you for that.”

“I haven’t even agreed yet.”

“I am your doctor. I have that right.”

Before she can respond, I turn and make my way out of the room. I won’t be able to rest peacefully if she is not in my line of sight. What has happened over the past few days has made me realize something. Someone can even sneak into her room and try to murder her at night. I can’t take that chance, not now.

By the time we left the hospital, it was already past 6pm. She is sitting on the passenger’s seat with her attention to the window. She has not said anything since she climbed into the car as somehow I love the silence. I am not one to talk much but I have in the last few days. This is better. She is okay and I don’t get to say a word.

Half an hour later, I pull up in front of the house but she doesn’t move, her attention still remains on the window but her eyes are closed.

“We are home.” I tell her.

Athena gently turns to me, her face white and devoid of any kind of emotion.

“We are home.” I reply.

“Home?” She smiles wearily, “you sound like I live here”

I don’t respond, I just climb out of the car and one of the security guards moves to open her car door but I stop him.

“I will do it.”

“Yes sir.”

With a little bow, he moves away and I open the door for her before holding out my hand.

She takes it immediately and I gently help her out of the car. My first instinct is to gather her in my arms but I stop myself. She is still a married woman even if I know it’s not for long.

“Welcome Mr Seth,” the butler greets as we step into the house, “the guest room has been prepared as per your instructions.”

“Thank you, Mira,” I answer while leading her towards the stairs.

“I can walk, Mr Seth.” Athena halts, “only my tummy hurts, I’m not paralyzed.”

“You don’t need a lot of strain on your lower body now so let me.”

She heaves a sigh but doesn’t say anything.

Without thinking, I gather her in my arms and she lets out a gasp. I don’t say anything, I just make my way up the stairs until we get to the guest room and I gently place her on the bed.

“Thank you.” Athena mouths and I nod.

“The nurse will be here soon.”

She nods and I turn to leave. I don’t know what I was thinking when I asked her to come to the house with me but then—

“I will see you later.”

I disappear out of the room before she can say anything else, letting out a sigh. The heat from my body is evident on my forehead. Eight years and it finally feels like I am thawing.

****

I finally have a shower and change into a pair of comfortable home clothes. A pair of shorts and a T-shirt. I allow my damp hair to fall over my face.

“Should I set the table for dinner, sir?” Mira asks as I walk into the living room but I shake my head in the negative.

“Can you make some soup for the lady?”

“Yes sir. I will get right to it.”

After she leaves, I slump on the sofa and close my eyes. I cannot get her image out of my head no matter how much I try. The more I try, the more her face keeps appearing. It’s like she has come to stay and that’s not what I bargained for.

“You clearly want her,” my wolf says in my head, “we both want her.”

“She is married,” I answer, more to convince myself than him, “and I am over twenty years older than her.”

Why the heck am I thinking of that at the moment? It’s not like anything will ever happen between us and she—

“Seth!” I hear her voice in my head and I immediately open my eyes. She is not here but I can hear her voice? How the heck is that even possible?

“I want you,” I hear her voice again and I immediately pull myself off the couch. Why the f**k can I hear her?