Chapter 535: The Weight of a Decision

One Month Before

Nathan stared at Annabeth as if he had finally lost all patience.

For a moment he simply looked at her.

Then he sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"It doesn’t matter if you’re stepping in for Benny," he said.

Annabeth frowned at his words. "It does matter," she argued.

Nathan shook his head. "No, it doesn’t."

He gestured vaguely toward the door, toward the pack outside.

"Everyone looks up to you now."

Annabeth scoffed at that. "They look up to me because Benny isn’t here."

Nathan’s expression hardened slightly. "They don’t just look up to you because Benny isn’t here. They look up to you because you know what you are doing. You know how to lead. And you are going on about Benny this, Benny that, but have you ever thought for a moment, what if he isn’t alive anymore?"

The words had barely left his mouth when Annabeth stiffened.

"Don’t say something like that," she said sharply. "Benny is alive. I don’t know where you got that thought from, but scrap it out. He is alive."

Nathan just gave her a look. There was every probability that Benny was no longer alive. He had been gone for weeks already, but Annabeth was not willing to listen to that. She didn’t want that to happen at all. And Nathan hoped for her sake that Benny was alive.

"I refuse to believe he is gone... there would be no need for me to even be here if he’s..."

"Get that stupid thought out of your head," Nathan growled at Annabeth, interrupting her. "You keep downgrading yourself when it comes to situations like this and it annoys me. So what if you were supposed to be a stand-in? What if you are just supposed to hold on until Benny returns?" he asked her.

"Open your eyes, Annabeth, and take a look around the pack. Observe and stop belittling yourself. You tell the pack members to jump and they ask how high."

Annabeth didn’t respond.

"You tell them to run and they immediately ask how far."

She looked away slightly.

"And yet you keep saying you don’t have what it takes. You took up a mantle you were not prepared for. You learned to fight to protect your people even when you have no interest in it, so stop it."

Tobias shifted slightly where he sat. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

He suddenly felt like someone who had walked into a very personal argument. One he should not be a part of.

Nathan suddenly turned toward him.

"You know what, instead of taking Annabeth, take me," he told Tobias.

Tobias blinked in shock. He had not been expecting that at all.

"Excuse me?"

Annabeth stared at Nathan.

"What?"

Nathan focused his gaze on Tobias. "I know you don’t have a hearing ailment, boy. I said to take me instead of Annabeth."

Annabeth looked at him like he had lost his mind.

"Nathan, what exactly has come over you?"

Nathan shrugged. "Nothing. I’m doing what I should have done from the moment you started that stupid talk about going with Tobias to Victoria. You shouldn’t be the one going. You shouldn’t waste your life for something like this. You have so much to do after all."

Annabeth just stared at him in shock. "I... I really do..."

"You are young, Annabeth. You haven’t met the love of your life yet. You haven’t even been with a man or a woman for that matter. You have not experienced how infuriating it is to have a partner and also how nice it is. You haven’t achieved what you want to achieve, the healer you want to become... you’ve yet to become that. I can’t let you waste your life for something like this when you have so much more to do. An old man like me... it’s better I go."

"Um..." Tobias tried to speak but then Annabeth interrupted him.

"There is no way Victoria would fall for that. I’m certain she already knows that the alpha of our pack is a female. If you go then that puts Tobias at risk too," Annabeth told Nathan.

Nathan tilted his head in thought then nodded.

"Okay, it’s settled, take both of us," he told Tobias.

"It’s settled?" Annabeth asked him. "Settled where? And besides you have family, Nathan. I can’t just let you..."

"My only family is Louis and he’s in Victoria’s hands right now. My wife has been gone for a while now. My son and daughter-in-law are dead too. At least let me help my grandson and every other person in the pack. And besides, just in case we need a scapegoat, it would be better I go," Nathan said firmly.

Then he turned to Tobias. "I don’t know who you are listening to right now, but I do know this. If you dare take only Annabeth, son, I’ll hunt you down. I will do everything in my power to haunt you and I don’t mean this lightly."

Tobias swallowed nervously. He didn’t doubt for a second that Nathan would carry out his threat.

"Nat..."

"Come on Annabeth, let’s not keep circling around this for long. We have an agreement and I’m sure Tobias here has to meet up with Victoria soon lest she gets suspicious," Nathan said as he turned to Tobias. "Right, boy?"

Tobias nodded. "Yes, sir."

The room was silent for a while and then Tobias stood up along with Nathan and Annabeth.

"How about the other pack members?" Tobias asked them. "Just in case Victoria sends some others here."

"We have plans for that already. Now, we should be coming up with the story you are going to tell Victoria about how all the other warriors died and how you were only able to save yourself but kidnapped two important people of the pack," Nathan told him.

"And also, you look too neat for someone who fought with over ten people with blood and death involved," Annabeth said to Tobias and he sighed knowing he was going to have to look the part of a warrior who had done his job.