“Complaining won’t change anything. No matter what you say, Ares is going to keep a guard on you.”
The shower head groaned for a minute before turning on. My body suddenly felt very cold and the steam rising from the shower head was more than inviting. “Do you think Ares is going to come back?” I asked as I stepped into the shower and relaxed under the hot water.
“He’ll come back. He’s just blowing off some steam.” Koda assured me.
I quickly showered and then dried my hair. Outside, a large crash sounded, making me jump. Koda rushed over and picked me up in his arms.
“Put me down, Koda. Why do you guys always pick me up and carry me? I’m not an invalid.”
Koda set me on my feet and frowned down at me. “We pick you up because, as you’re aware, touch helps soothe us when we’re feeling upset. Plus, it’s more effective to pick you up and hold you while we run somewhere to protect you.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you,” I said softly.
Koda kissed my cheek. “It’s alright. I forgive you. It was probably just Ares knocking over a tree anyways. Come on, we better get dressed so we can start training.”
“Training? For what?”
He turned to me and all of the humor that usually lit Koda’s eyes was gone, leaving them a dull blue. “You have to train for your fight. I won’t lose my pack mate just because we were mad at you and didn’t train you properly.”
I followed Koda to the room and quickly dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. He dressed in only a pair of sweats and shook his head at me when I reached for shoes. “I need to teach you some tricks about changing to your wolf form. Put some sweats on instead.”
“Ares didn’t buy me any sweats,” I whispered, feeling Ares’ absence like a weight on my shoulders.
Koda handed me a pair of his sweats. “Cinch the string as tight as it will go on your waist and then roll the waistband so the legs are shorter for you.”
I did as he suggested and then followed him back down the stairs. As we opened the front door to leave, Achilles walked out of his room. “Where are you going?”
“I’m taking her to the woods to do some training.” Koda answered.
Achilles was frowning hard, but only a faint line creased his perfect brow. “I’ll accompany you.”
Koda looked like he wanted to object, but shrugged instead and pushed me towards the door. “Come on. We’ve only got three days to train you.”
The three of us walked in silence through the woods. I felt nervous, but I knew Koda wouldn’t hurt me. Although, I wasn’t sure of Achilles’ intentions, but I doubted he would hurt me either. Koda led us to a small circular clearing filled with grass and wild flowers. It was beautiful and yet I could smell dried blood on the ground. “This is our training field,” Koda explained to me. He walked to the center of the clearing and motioned at me to come towards him. “I want you to attack me, but do not use your Sidhe powers, or change to your complete wolf form.”
I nodded and walked to stand a few feet away from him. I took two deep cleansing breaths before moving forward as fast as I could and punching at Koda. He spun around me and, in an instant, had an arm wrapped around my throat, choking me. “You’re too slow. You need to move faster. You also need to pay more attention to your opponent. As soon as you see me moving to go behind you, you should turn. Again.”
For the next few hours, Koda drilled me again and again. He then started teaching me how to properly hit and kick and then how to use my elbows. My body was sore, and I was dripping with sweat when he said, “Now I’m going to teach you to half-shift.”
Achilles stood from the spot in the grass where he had been sitting. “She’s not ready for that.”
Koda ignored Achilles and in a blink of an eye his body changed from Koda the man to Koda the man-wolf. His body was bulkier, but he could still walk on two legs, his hands were now paws and his entire body was covered in short fur. His face was more wolfish with a slight snout instead of just a nose and fangs in his mouth. It took him two tries before he could speak and when he did it sounded more like a growl than a human voice. “This is the best form to take when fighting because you have the benefits of the wolf strength while still being able to move on two legs. It’s difficult to maintain though and so most of us prefer to simply take wolf form.” He changed back to his human shape and leaned forward a little. “I need to practice more often. I’m getting rusty.” He shook his entire body, like a dog flinging off water and waved his hand at me. “Your turn.”
“How do I take that shape instead of my wolf shape?” I asked. Usually I just closed my eyes and let the wolf side of me take over to become wolf, or pictured my human self to become human.
“You just focus on keeping half your body human.”
My body began to tingle all over in anticipation of changing. Okay, only change part way. I felt my bones shifting and then opened my eyes, but I was on all fours and, after wagging my tail realized, a complete wolf.
Koda shrugged. “We’ll keep working on it. It’s hard to do.”
I changed back and sighed. “I’m sorry.”
Koda smiled. “Don’t be. Only a few are able to master this technique. Come on, let’s get you some food.”
Achilles followed behind us as we walked back to the house. Why had he come? He hadn’t talked except when he thought I wasn’t ready to learn the half-shift. Was he just worried about me? Was he spying on me? I shook my head and ignored all of the questions. I wouldn’t know unless I asked, but I didn’t want to. He still unnerved me in that weird, good way and I wasn’t sure how to feel about that.
Ares stood on the front porch with Matt when we came up. He looked at my sweat covered body and ripped sweats and then at Koda’s ripped sweats. “What were you doing?”
Koda smiled sweetly at Ares. “Nothing.”
Ares frowned at Koda, but didn’t press him further. I walked past him, knowing he was still mad and continued to the kitchen where Koda had already taken out three steaks. I sat down on one of the stools at the island and laid my face on the cold tile. “I’m sore.”
Koda laughed. “Good.”
I whispered, “Am I supposed to keep what we do a secret from Ares?”
Koda shook his head. “No, I just like irking him.”
Ares walked in and looked from me to Koda. “What are you two whispering about?”
Koda turned on the stove top and put oil in a pan. “How I should prepare the meat.”
Ares rolled his eyes. “You’re the worst liar I know.”
The closeness of Ares, but lack of touch made my skin itch. It’d been hours since we’d had physical contact, and I needed it bad. My arm started to reach out towards him, but I quickly pulled it back and closed my eyes. I didn’t want to push him if he was mad at me.
He sat down beside me and when I opened my eyes, I found his head lying on the island next to me. “Are you feeling alright?” he asked.
“Tired,” I whispered as a lump formed in my throat. The sight of his handsome face still sent butterflies whirling in my stomach.
He frowned for a second and then exhaled loudly before putting one of his arms around my shoulders. “Aw. Much better. Wasn’t your skin tingling?”
“As if one thousand ants were crawling on it,” I said honestly.
He moved his face closer to mine. “Then why didn’t you touch me?”
I closed my eyes before answering. “You’re mad at me. I didn’t want to make you angrier by trying to touch you. I was letting you decide when we touched again.”
He kissed my nose, shocking me and making me open my eyes. “Artemis, if you need to touch me, then touch me. If you need me to hug you, then tell me. No matter how mad at you I may be, I don’t want you to suffer.”
My shoulders relaxed and after scooting my stool closer to his, I rubbed my cheek against his. “Thank you.”
Koda cleared his throat. I pulled away from Ares and took the plate Koda was holding out to
me. Koda sat on the stool across the island from me and ate his food in silence, keeping his gaze down. Ares handed me a knife and fork and I quickly cut up the meat. Ares put his arm around my waist and I ate with my two favorite men. I tried to offer Ares a piece of the steak, but he just shook his head.
When the steak was gone, I leaned against Ares and sighed in contentment. “I love you both.”
Ares kissed the top of my head and Koda smiled at me.
“Where’s Matt?” I asked curiously.
Ares exhaled. “With a female, I believe. He asked for leave and since I don’t need to go anywhere and I don’t actually need a guard, I let him go.”
Koda shook his head. “Something’s not right with him. He’s been different since we came back from the vampires’ place.”
Ares nodded. “I know. I’ve been trying to figure out what’s different, but I don’t know.”
“Ares?”
“Hm.”
“How’d you get the name ‘God of War’?” I asked. I’d been wondering about it since the men who had kidnapped me for the vampire queen had discussed it.
I smelled Achilles as he walked to stand by the kitchen entrance. Ares shrugged and then said, “I was a good warrior and, because of my genetics, to the humans I appeared as a god.”
Achilles scoffed from the doorway. “You withhold much from her. Why?”
Ares growled. “Go away, Sidhe.” He said “Sidhe” with such malice that it made me pull away from him.
Achilles was rubbing his temples. “This hatred you have towards me is wrongfully placed. It was not my fault.”
Ares stood and growled louder. “It was your fault! You could have prevented it! Instead you sat by and let it happen!” Ares had gone from irritated to ready to kill in two seconds.
“What happened?” I asked softly.
Ares shook his head and turned away. “I won’t discuss it.” He held out his hand towards me. I looked at him for a moment before realizing that he was playing a power game with Achilles. He wanted me to put my hand in his so Achilles got the hint that I was Ares’ and Achilles couldn’t do anything about it.
“Ares, why do you hide so much from me? I’m your mate.” I whispered the words so that he wouldn’t take them as a challenge.
His eyes glistened as though covered with a film of unshed tears. “This is not a topic I wish to discuss. Maybe at some point I will talk with you about it, but not now and not while he is here.”
“You’re just as stubborn as Father,” Achilles said angrily.
Ares spun around and glared at Achilles, baring his teeth. “I have no father!” Spinning on his heel, Ares marched out of the kitchen and stomped up the stairs. I looked at Achilles apologetically and rushed up the stairs to the room where I found Ares staring out the window at the woods. “I’m sorry, Artemis. That was childish of me,” he said quietly.
I wrapped my arms around him from behind and lay my head against his back. “Achilles does an excellent job of upsetting you.”
Ares laughed softly and turned around to hug me. “That he does. So, what were you and Koda really doing?”
“Koda’s training me,” I answered honestly.
Ares grip tightened and his words came out clipped. “So. You’re still going forward with the challenge?”
I nodded.
“You could die, you know this?”
I nodded again.
He pushed me back gently and looked at my face. “Why then? Why are you doing this?”
“I have to prove myself, Ares. Since I’ve met you, you all have been fighting for me and protecting me. It’s time that I protect myself and prove to the rest of the pack that I’m not helpless.”
Ares relaxed his grip and sighed loudly. “You could have just battled someone. You didn’t have to do a fight to the death that would result in forcing a new mate on me if you lose.”
“She challenged me, Ares. I couldn’t refuse. Would you have refused if it were a man challenging you for me?”
Ares laughed softly. “No, I suppose I wouldn’t have, but then again, I’m a veteran at fighting. You aren’t.”
I rubbed my sore shoulders. “I know.”
Ares poked my shoulder, making me wince. “Come on, let’s get you into the nice spa.”
“Mm, the spa sounds wonderful,” I said wistfully. Ares laughed and steered me towards the bathroom. He started the water while I stripped out of my dirty clothes. It hurt to raise my arms above my head, but I got my shirt off with only a little groaning. Ares tested the water in the giant spa and then stripped out of his own clothes. He climbed into the spa and held out his hand to help me in. I let him help me as I climbed into the hot water and then slid down against the wall of the spa, sighing happily.
Ares moved to sit down beside me and held one of my hands in his. “I love you, Artemis.”
I snuggled against him as the hot water relaxed my sore muscles. “I love you, too. Have you thought of any ways to get Achilles to give up?”
Ares shook his head. “No. You?”
“No.”
We sat in comfortable silence as we enjoyed the closeness of each other and the pleasantness of our contact. My eyes started to droop closed when Ares leapt out of the spa and growled loudly. I spun around and stared in shock at a woman with a dagger pinned against the wall by Ares. She struggled against his hold, her eyes fixed on me. “Female! Female, look at me!” Ares yelled at her, but she didn’t take her eyes off of me or stop trying to get away from him. He closed his eyes for a second before shaking his head. “She’s turning.”
“Turning into what?” I asked.
“Turning rogue. Her wolf is taking control of her even in her human body. Artemis, run downstairs and stay there. Tell Koda to come here.”
I obeyed Ares’ instructions and ran down the stairs. Koda rushed up the stairs. “I just noticed the front door was open. We didn’t even hear it.”
I pointed up. “Ares has a woman who tried to stab me. He says she’s turning rogue.”
Koda cursed and ran up the stairs. Achilles walked towards me with a white robe in his hands.
I quickly put it on. “They have to kill her, don’t they?” I asked Achilles.
Achilles nodded. “Yes. If you are of a foul mind and you let the wolf take over, you will kill whatever is in your path. Your own children included.”
I looked at him curiously. “You talk as if you are one.”
He shrugged. “I lived among the wolves for a number of years. I’ve seen a rogue attack twice. It is not something you easily forget.”
The woman screamed and then the house was eerily silent. I shuddered at the knowledge that Ares or Koda had killed her. Even if it was necessary, it unnerved me. “Artemis, go in the kitchen and make us some dinner, please,” Ares said from the bedroom.
I knew he was just trying to save me from looking at the dead woman’s body, and I was thankful for the diversion. I quickly went into the kitchen and started pulling out steaks and vegetables to make for dinner. I even managed to find potatoes so I could make mashed potatoes. I kept my concentration on the meal and only when it was completed did I let myself step back and admire my work. The steaks smelled delicious, the mashed potatoes were perfectly smooth and buttery, and the vegetables were the perfect consistency, not too hard and not too soft. I grabbed plates from the cupboards and hurried to the dining room to set everything up. Ares and the others talked in the living room as I finished bringing all of the food into the dining room. I ran up the stairs and changed into sweats and a t-shirt and then called from the dining room, “Dinner’s ready.”
The men walked into the room, their somber faces changing instantly to smiles as they surveyed the food I’d made. Ares walked over to me, put his arm around my waist and kissed me on the lips. “It looks delicious.”
I noted the hint of surprise in his voice and asked, “Did you think I didn’t know how to cook?”
Ares laughed. “I was worried.”
We all sat down, Ares and I at the ends of the table with Koda, Matt and Achilles filling in between. Ares raised a hand as I started to reach for the food. I set my hand down and stared at him as he closed his eyes, bowed his head and whispered, “Thank you, Mother of All, for keeping us alive and allowing such a great meal to be prepared for us. We, as always, are in your debt. We ask only that you keep our fur clean, our teeth and claws sharp and a meal in our bellies.”
I looked around the table and found everyone, including Achilles, with their heads bowed and eyes closed.
The others mumbled something and then Ares opened his eyes. “Now you may eat.”
It took a moment for the shock to wear off before I started putting food on my plate. They prayed? Who was the Mother of All? Was he referring to Asena, the mother of the werewolves?
The meal was eaten in relative silence, but even with Achilles and Matt there, it was comfortable silence. As soon as I filled my stomach, I started rushing around and picking up empty plates. Ares stood up and blocked my path to the kitchen. He gently took the pile of plates out of my hands and then nodded at the other men. As one, Koda, Matt and Achilles stood and started clearing the table. Ares bumped me to the side with his hip and I stared in awe as four men, no four warriors did the dishes. Where’s a camera when you need one?
As soon as the men finished the dishes, they all walked out of the house. I followed them quickly as they made their way into the woods. Where the hell were they going? They all stopped in the training field and turned to face me. Uh oh. Ares looked grim as he stood in the center of the field. “Since you insist on fighting, I thought it would be good for us to train you, all of us.”
Achilles took his spot on the grass and leaned against a tree. I looked back at Ares, Koda, and Matt and felt a lump form in my throat. “I have to fight all of you?”
Matt laughed and then spoke in his British accent that I used to love, “We all specialize in different areas of fighting.”
Artemis Lupine- The Complete Series Page 35
