Artemis Lupine- The Complete Series

by Catherine Banks

He smiled. “I changed my mind. I don’t want to be away from you.”

  I remembered what Bret had said about him being a horndog and asked, “Is it me or my body you don’t want to be away from?”

  He stopped moving and the smile left his lips. “What’s that supposed to mean? I haven’t tried anything with you.”

  I shrugged. “From what I’ve heard you think mostly with your smaller head and you’re just being nice today so you can pressure me tomorrow.”

  Billy snarled. “That bastard will say anything to keep you to himself. I swear I am going to kick his stupid ass!” He started walking quickly down the road to Bret’s house. I knew I should stop him, but this was actually a fight I wanted to see. We arrived at Bret’s house quickly and Billy yelled from the yard, “Come out, come out wherever you are! You pussy-ass liar!”

  I stared in shock at the angry Billy who was somehow more attractive now.

  Bret walked out of the house with no shirt on, smiling. “Hey bro, what’s up?”

  Billy shook his head. “Don’t call me bro! You tell Artemis the truth right now, or I’m going to whip your ass!”

  Bret shrugged smiling smugly. “I did tell her the truth! I’m better than you.”

  Billy looked at me. “You didn’t tell me that part.”

  I shrugged. “It didn’t seem important at the time.”

  Billy turned around and glared at Bret again. “Tell her the truth!”

  Bret smiled. “You aren’t better than me. That’s the truth.”

  Billy charged up the steps and slammed into Bret, knocking him down on the ground. Billy was one of the strongest football players on the team. I had seen him bench pressing and couldn’t even add up all the weights that were on the bar. Billy started punching Bret in the face. Bret shoved Billy backwards and jumped up. Darren walked calmly out of the house and past the fighting boys to stand next to me. “What’s going on?”

  “Not much. Bret said Billy was a horndog and that he is better than him and now they are fighting,” I said.

  Darren smiled. “So, they’re fighting over you?”

  I frowned and then thought about it. “Shit! Now you tell me.” I ran over to the boys and threw myself between them. Bret threw a punch that barely missed my face. “Hey!” I yelled as I ducked down. Bret at least had the decency to blush. “Look, I didn’t really think this through. Now stop fighting.”

  Billy shook his head. “Not until he tells you the truth.”

  “Fine. Artemis, he isn’t a horndog. He’s a freaking spineless virgin!”

  I stared at Bret in disbelief. “Why is that a bad thing? I’m a virgin.”

  Bret’s face fell. “No, it’s different for girls.”

  “You’re one, too.” I said quietly, nervous of his answer.

  Bret sighed. “No, I’m not.”

  Billy smiled smugly. “He’s been telling you that so he had a better chance of screwing you.”

  Bret punched at Billy and I kicked Bret in the shin. “We are done, Bret!” I ran into the house and grabbed my bag. I walked out of the house furious and shaking with anger. “I should let my dad kick your ass!”

  Darren smiled and waved bye to me. I walked away with Billy walking beside me, silently. We got halfway through town and I stopped walking, turning to look at Billy. “Why didn’t you tell me about Bret?”

  “What was I supposed to say? ‘Hey, Artemis, Bret’s really just trying to get in your pants, but he is lying to you to do it’?”

  I smiled. “Yeah that would have worked.”

  He scoffed. “Right, and then I wouldn’t have him as a friend anymore because I broke the guy code.”

  I rolled my eyes. “The guy code. Stupid!” I realized I had no clue who Bret had slept with or anything. “Billy, who has Bret slept with?”

  He cringed. “You sure you want me to answer that?”

  I gasped. “Skanzilla! That’s why she is always hanging on him and hates me so bad. Because he’s been screwing her! That bastard!” I felt my body heating up more and groaned as I fell to the ground and started convulsing.

  Billy held me down and whispered, “Breathe, Artemis. Come on, stop the seizure.”

  I gritted my teeth and focused on calming myself down. The twitching finally stopped, and I exhaled. The doctors always thought I was lying when I told them that I could stop the seizures, but obviously, they were wrong.

  I looked up at Billy and asked, “How’d you know?”

  He smiled. “Bret told us in case he wasn’t there and you needed help.”

  I smiled back at him. “Thanks. You can let me up now.”

  He kissed my lips softly. “I don’t want to let you up.”

  I suddenly felt pinned and my body started to heat up again. I thrashed against him, but he held me down. I screamed in anger and fear of being trapped and pushed against him lifting him up off the ground.

  Trapped!

  I fought with my mind to make it realize that I wasn’t trapped, but nothing worked.

  Darren appeared over the top of me and saw the fear in my eyes. “Billy get off of her!”

  Billy stepped away and Darren backed up, too.

  I sat up slowly and slowed my breathing down so I wouldn’t hyperventilate. Billy shook his head. “What happened?”

  Darren rubbed the back of his neck, a mirror of Bret’s nervous habit. “She got scared and well…it’s hard to explain.”

  “Sorry.” I said, embarrassed.

  “Are you okay now?” Billy asked. I nodded, and he smiled. “Good. Now let’s go.” I let him grab my hand and pull me up to a standing position. Once I had my balance I kissed his cheek. He smiled wider. “What was that for?”

  I smiled back. “For being understanding about my…uh…stuff.”

  He shrugged. “You’re too much of a catch to let a few minor things bother me.”

  I started walking away with Billy when Darren cleared his throat. I turned around to glare at him. “What?”

  “When will you be home?”

  I shrugged. “Why do you care?”

  He frowned and spoke in his ‘don’t talk back’ tone, “Artemis.”

  I sighed. “Tonight. You and I have things to talk about anyway.”

  He cringed. “What stuff?”

  I smiled. “Things Koda and I were discussing.”

  He growled. “What did he tell you? And when did you talk to him?”

  I shrugged and turned away, dragging Billy along with me. “Interesting things. Bye Darren.”

  Billy walked with me as I skipped like an elementary school girl. “What was that about?”

  I smiled and started walking instead of skipping. “Apparently, my dad has been withholding information about my past so I have to make him sweat a little.” Darren and I had never been close. He provided for me and I never starved or anything like that, but he had never been emotionally open to me. I’d never felt loved by him. I’d always blamed it on my mother’s disappearance, but maybe it was more than that. I needed to get out of the town and away from Darren as soon as I could.

  We arrived at Billy’s house to find J.D. and Jess sitting on the porch. Billy smiled at them. “What’s up guys?”

  Jess and J.D. stared at us for a second before smiling. Jess held up a bottle of whiskey. “We come bearing gifts.”

  Billy licked his lips then looked at me. “You don’t have to drink if you don’t want to.”

  I shrugged. “I’ve never tried it before.”

  Jess laughed. “Oh, girl, you are in for a great time!”

  We walked into the house and sat down around the kitchen table. J.D. grabbed four red plastic cups and poured some of the alcohol into each glass. I sniffed the cup and gagged. It was horrible smelling, like rubbing alcohol.

  Billy laughed. “Don’t smell it! Just down it.”

  I stared at the brown liquid. “Down it?”

  J.D. tipped his cup up and gulped down the drink in one swallow. “Woo!” He yelled.

  Jess s
miled. “Like that.” She held up her cup towards me. “Ready?”

  I lifted mine up and hit the side against hers. “I guess.” I looked at the liquid one more time then tipped the cup up and swallowed. The liquid burned my throat and I exhaled and set the cup down. “Whoa.”

  Billy poured another round and raised his cup. “Cheers!”

  We all hit cups then downed the alcohol. My stomach felt warm for a moment as the liquid settled then the warmth disappeared. J.D. frowned. “You sure you haven’t drunk before?”

  Jess giggled beside me. “I’m a lightweight no matter how much I drink!”

  Billy snorted. “You’re just a lush!”

  Jess rolled her eyes. “You’re a boozer!”

  I could see the difference in Jess already, but I didn’t feel any different. J.D. poured another round and we touched cups then downed yet another drink. Billy took out a deck of cards and taught me a drinking game which consisted of taking as many shots as corresponded to the card you pulled. Jess and J.D.’s eyes became glazed over, and they started acting drunk. Billy was slurring his words and smiling a lot. I frowned as I realized I didn’t feel any different. I went to the bathroom for the fifth time, and as I walked out of the restroom ran into Billy. He wrapped his arms around me, and I felt instantly disgusted as his alcohol breath stole my fresh oxygen. He tried to kiss me, and I pushed him away, heading for the door.

  Billy frowned and followed me. “What’s wrong? Aren’t you having any fun?”

  J.D. scoffed. “No ’cus we’re drunk and she’s not. Artemis has been holding out on us.”

  I rolled my eyes and smiled at Billy. “I have to see my dad, remember?”

  “Are you coming back tonight?” He asked.

  I shook my head. “No, but you can come over in the morning, and I’ll make you breakfast.”

  He pulled me against him in a hug. “That sounds great.”

  I pulled away from him and grabbed my backpack. “Bye.”

  He let me go and waved as I walked down his porch steps. Once I was in the night completely, I stopped and inhaled. I had always loved the night time. It was like more sights and sounds and smells came alive in the dark. I stared up at the half moon and smiled. The full moon would be here soon. I could feel her song flowing through my body like a second pulse. The full moon always made me feel safer and more powerful. As if that made any sense. I jogged across town towards my house and inhaled loudly trying to separate the different smells. I reached the house much faster than I had wanted to and looked up at the moon one last time before walking up the porch. Darren sat in one of the chairs staring at me. I smiled. “Hey, Dad.”

  “What did he tell you?” He asked with a big frown on his face.

  “Nothing really. He said that if I had known about our past that I would probably be with them right now. Then he said that they would be coming to visit in a few weeks, and we would know for sure in the next week.”

  Darren frowned. “Why would they visit? They have no reason to come here.” He groaned. “Unless it’s to discuss a punishment for me not telling you. Dammit.”

  I shrugged. “I’m not worried about it. He said that mist won’t be harming our town so I’m not scared anymore.”

  Darren smiled. “The mist would never come near our town with me here. Bastards.”

  I frowned. “You say that like the mist are people. What the hell is it?”

  He shook his head. “If you knew, they would definitely come for us.”

  Darren’s evasiveness proved that he was hiding something big. I needed to find a way to get out of the town and soon. Someway, somehow, I would leave. He was trying to keep me here, hidden, and I wasn’t sure why.

  I took out a frozen bean burrito and popped it in the microwave. I heard Darren come in and ignored him as he sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. The microwave dinged, scaring me. I took out the burrito which had split open and hurried to my room. I sighed and ate my burrito slowly. A quiet chiming made me stop eating. I looked down at my pants and remembered I had the cell phone still. I took it out and stared at the number. “Koda.” I smiled then frowned wondering why he was calling. I flipped open the phone and answered, “Hello?”

  The person on the other end was silent for a second and then sighed heavily. His voice made me shiver in delight. “I thought you were a figment of my imagination at the hotel, but everything is the same.”

  My hands shook, and my heart beat pick up as I recognized the voice. “Who is this?”

  He laughed softly. “Do you really need to ask?”

  “No. I…I’m just confused.”

  “I know you are, and it’s your father’s fault. You would be able to understand the connection an alpha male has with a new female if he had told you.”

  “Alpha male? You mean like wolves? What are you talking about?” I asked. He wasn’t making sense.

  He scoffed. “That’s what I mean. You have no idea! I can’t talk long because Koda will have a cow if he finds out that I am talking to you since it breaks all the rules, but I had to hear your voice. I had to know that you weren’t just a girl in my dreams that I made real at the hotel.”

  I gasped. “You’ve been dreaming of me?”

  He laughed quietly. “Yes, every night for the past ten days. I can’t explain what’s going on between us because I’m not completely sure. Has Koda told you that we are coming to get you?”

  “Get me? Where are you taking me?” I asked, suddenly nervous, though I wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad nervousness.

  “We are taking you with us to where you belong. You do not belong in that town with those…people. I’m not sure how long before we get there, but I will come for you. I have to go.”

  I felt my heartbeat becoming frantic. “Wait! Don’t go. Please.”

  “Don’t worry. I will speak with you again, and I will see you soon as well. Sweet dreams, little wolf lover.”

  “Bye, Ares,” I said quietly. I’d wanted to say more, but it didn’t seem right. I turned the phone off and tossed the leftover burrito and plate in the trash can. Paper plates are very convenient sometimes. I took my pants and bra off and climbed into bed under the covers. I played his voice over in my head and smiled knowing he was coming for me.

  Chapter Three

  The rest of the week went by quickly with Billy coming for breakfast every morning in place of Bret and us spending the entire day together. He was extremely understanding and fun and luckily hadn’t tried to kiss me again. Darren grumbled a lot, but didn’t say anything to us. The news stories continued on the television with no new leads. Darren watched the news and told me that he would let us know if anything new came up. I didn’t worry because I knew Ares was coming for me. I never told Darren, because it seemed like he didn’t like Ares. I had gone without worrying almost a full week until Friday night, when Bret ran into our house. It was just before eight o’clock and the sun was starting to set, casting purple and red hues across the sky. I could feel night coming like a chill creeping up my arms to my neck. Bret spoke quickly to Darren and Billy, and then turned and ran from the house.

  Darren sighed and faced me, “Apparently, there is new information we need to hear. Everyone is gathering at the pub.” We walked quickly from the house towards the pub.

  The town’s streets and buildings sat deserted with an unnatural silence. The only light and noise was coming from the pub. Children were placed in a separate room, left to play, so that they wouldn’t watch what was happening. I stood in front with Darren as the news reporter began talking. Billy had walked to the back with the other teens.

  The reporter, a man with a deep voice and salt-and-pepper hair, sat in front of a stone wall, wearing jeans and a t-shirt. He whispered and looked around warily, “The scene here in Washington is chaos and devastation. Some are calling it the end of the world. Revelations and doomsday. I don’t know what to call it, except gruesome. It started three hours ago at full dark. People started falling down, their thro
ats cut or ripped out by something with claws. Some found in dark alleys with their blood completely drained from their bodies and two small puncture wounds on their necks. No one has been able to catch a glimpse of the attackers as they move faster than the wind and just as quietly.”

  The cameraman crept forward showing the hundreds of bodies littering the streets of Washington. Blood ran down the drains like rain. Cars were turned upside down and some were even on fire. The street lamps cast a halo around a group of three teenagers’ bodies lying on top of each other.

  The reporter cleared his throat making the cameraman turn back to him. “It appears to be the same situation as what is happening all over the world, but we appear to be the only survivors in town. We don’t know if the attackers are moving on, or have stopped. I wish we could be more help, but…” The reporter suddenly flew through the air, screaming as he sailed into the side of a building, smacking it with a solid thud.

  The cameraman panned around frantically, trying to see what had done it, but nothing was visible. We all watched as he stared down a dark alley, his breathing speeding up. He swallowed hard and whispered, “Fuck.” The mist sped forward and wrapped around him, but the camera fell and the screen went black as we heard his screaming begin.

  Darren turned off the television and turned to everyone with sad eyes. “We have to start our plan.”

  Glen, the oldest in town, nodded. “Darren’s right. Something killed those people and it’s getting closer.”

  Darren spoke before any of the others could. “Tomorrow morning, meet at my place at five. Bring your guns. If we all know how to use a gun, we might stand a chance against them. Or at least go down swinging.”

  I headed to the rest of the teenagers who sat in the back of the room, whispering quietly. “Hey guys.” The three girls and four boys looked up at me. I sighed. “Come on. It’s not that bad. We are in such a small town that I doubt these things would come after us, whatever they are.”

  Trixie, Skankzilla’s youngest sister, shook her head. “No. Did you see what happened? Whatever it is will find us. It was like fog. How can fog hurt you?!”

  Bret sighed and stood. “Artemis is right. We just have to get ready and prepare for any possibility. Nothing is invincible.”