Artemis Lupine- The Complete Series

by Catherine Banks

  One of the witches in my coven told me that he had interfered with something the Queen of the Sidhe had been planning for months because he had been intoxicated, so they sent him to operate the store. He hated every moment of it, especially since the vampires refused to let him decorate the interior in a more pleasing, non-sterile manner.

  I walked to the first shelf and grabbed three vials of ingredients I needed. I should have grabbed a basket from the stack sitting beside the door, but I moved on to the next shelf instead, grabbing another vial and cradling them all in my arms.

  “Hello,” said a voice like bottled sunshine.

  I jumped in surprise and caught three of the four vials I’d had in my arms. I could have grabbed the fourth, but I was supposed to be playing human so I couldn’t use my preternatural speed. I waited for the sound of shattering glass, but was greeted with only soft laughter.

  I turned around and made my way past leg muscles straining against jeans, to an incredibly muscled stomach and torso to a smile that stole my breath and to eyes that made my knees wobble. To say that the man standing in front of me was handsome was like calling the ocean a puddle. His blue eyes sparkled like a clear summer’s day. I dropped to my knees and bowed until my forehead touched the ground.

  “I’m s-s-sorry, s-sir,” I stuttered fearfully. “I didn’t m-m-mean to l-look upon your f-face.” I hated it when I stuttered, but it was a side effect from having been in wolf form for over ten years straight. Selene, the leader of the witch coven I lived with, had found me and helped recuperate me back into a human, or at least as much of one as I could be considering I was half Sidhe and half werewolf.

  He sighed. “Broken. How can you be so broken?” My wolf snarled softly and as I feared he’d heard. “Did you just snarl?”

  I swallowed. “N-n-no Sir.” Words were still hard to say at times for me, especially when I was nervous.

  He scoffed. “Stand up, Chandra. I’m not going to punish you. As if that would work anyways. Are you here to shop or browse?”

  I stood up slowly and whispered, “Shop.”

  “How could this have happened? Doesn’t even recognize me!” I kept still since he was obviously talking to himself and I had no clue what he was talking about.

  My body trembled softly as I stood near him. He was the most dominant male wolf I’d ever met, and he was calling to every fiber of my wolf side. The urge to rub my face against his was almost overpowering for a moment as I fought with my animal urges. I knew he wouldn’t be able to sense my wolf since Selene had given me a necklace with a charm which concealed my true genetics, one so powerful, no one except the most dominant of each race could break it, but I was worried. If he guessed for one second that I was a halfbreed, he would take me captive. I’d heard awful stories of halfbreeds seized from their home, their work, or even from the arms of their lover to be taken away and never seen or heard from again.

  “Is this all or are there more items you need to shop for?” he asked, taking a step closer to me.

  I stepped back from him and bumped into the shelves. “I have m-more.”

  “Very well. Finish shopping.”

  I waited until I heard and felt him walk away before looking up at the shelves again. I’d never felt somebody like I felt him. It was as if we were connected somehow. I shook my head and dismissed the ridiculous notion. I looked back up at the top shelf where Dionysus had placed my ingredient. I couldn’t jump up and get it. I looked toward the register where the alpha watched me.

  Why was one of the most powerful alphas working in a magic shop? Why did I feel so strongly towards him when I’d never met him before? How did he know my name?

  “S-sir?”

  He lifted a brow. “Yes?”

  I pointed up. “I n-n-need that item. The usual clerk likes to t-toy with me by placing them out of reach. Could you perhaps…retrieve it for me?” The longer I talked with him, the less I stuttered and the surer of myself I felt.

  He walked around the counter and towards me. I felt my heartbeat pick up as I watched his graceful movements, his feet light on the floor, barely making a sound as he stalked towards me. I forced myself to remain still as he walked up to me and stopped inches away. “Which item?” he asked softly. I inhaled the smell of him and closed my eyes as a memory of lying against him and inhaling his scent played across my closed eyelids. A memory or a fantasy? I wasn’t sure.

  I shook my body and cleared my throat before saying, “The bottle on the top shelf.” I took two steps back to give him room and watched as he jumped up and grabbed the bottle easily.

  He held the bottle out to me. “Anything else?”

  You. No, you in wolf form, running with me in my wolf form. I bit my lip as I stopped the whine trying to escape. I’d been a lone wolf since Selene found me and being this close to a male wolf hurt. I wanted a pack mate. I wanted a wolf to run with me.

  I bit my lip harder, drawing blood into my mouth, which helped clear my head. “I just have a few more things to pick up.” I turned away from him and quickly grabbed the six other items I needed and set them on the counter in front of him.

  He put the items in bags and set the bags on the counter. Since every preternatural group had slaves that contributed to the world, we no longer used currency. Basically, since everyone contributed, no one owed each other money. It was the vampire’s ideal society, utopian socialism where they weren’t the ones who had to contribute, only their slaves did.

  I reached out for the bags, but instead of pushing them towards me, he carried them to the door and pushed the door open for me. Warm air blew into the store and his scent into my face. I inhaled and rememorized his scent. Rememorized? When had I memorized it before?

  “Are you feeling alright?” he asked softly.

  “Y-y-yes. Thank you.” I took the bags from him, being extra careful not to touch him.

  “Broken. I don’t understand how she can be so broken?” he said angrily as he gripped his black hair.

  I should have been afraid, but instead I turned around and demanded, “Why do you keep calling me broken?”

  His face went completely blank, becoming the type of mask people wear when hiding their true emotions. “I did not mean to offend you.”

  I scoffed and rolled my eyes at him. “Right, because calling me broken shouldn’t offend me. I know you’re a bigwig in the werewolf community, but just because you’re powerful doesn’t mean you can go around calling people broken, especially when you have no idea what kind of crap they’ve been through!” I was yelling by the end of my tirade and my face was red with anger.

  He smiled and bowed at the waist. “My apologies.”

  I thought I’d seen it all, but I never would have imagined that the Prince of the Werewolves would be bowing and apologizing to me. He straightened, and in doing so, spied the charm sitting at the base of my throat. Before I could react, he grabbed it and growled. I gasped as his eyes changed to golden wolf’s eyes and a blanket of some invisible force surrounded my body. I’d felt power being used on me before, but it had never been so much and as strong as his. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t breathe. I was dying and he wasn’t even touching me.

  Spots began to cover my vision as he fought to break the spell Selene had placed on the charm, and his power continued to suffocate me. A spark of lightning burst from the charm to his hand, making him yell out in pain and drop the charm. His power disappeared, and I was able to breathe once again. I fell to the ground on my hands and knees, gasping and coughing for breath.

  “Selene,” he growled softly.

  I looked up at him and could suddenly see the ghost outline of his wolf’s face around his human face. Only werewolves could see the image, when a fellow wolf was close to changing. Against all warnings in my brain, I stood up, reached out, and touched the muzzle of the ghost wolf. “Black. You’re a black wolf.”

  He spoke so softly I barely heard him, even with my enhanced werewolf hearing, “Yes.”

  I ran my
hand along the ears of the ghost wolf and swore I saw him shiver. “I…I’ve had dreams about a black wolf, but I was told there was only one pure black wolf in existence.”

  His wolf side was close to taking over, and his words were short and clipped as though he was having trouble forming them, “Only one black wolf. Only me.”

  “Are there any white wolves?” I asked. I knew I shouldn’t be asking him, but I had to know.

  “Only one,” he said. I looked up into his eyes and saw the smile I thought I’d heard in his voice. “Only you.”

  Before I could jump back, he grabbed my wrist. I gasped as he covered me in his power again. It felt like I was drowning in a sea of fire, making it impossible for me to breathe. The spell Selene had placed around me broke, the talisman around my neck shattered, and the world went black.

  2

  Chandra

  I woke up slowly and realized I was in my wolf form. I opened my eyes and found myself looking into another pair of amber wolf eyes. I scurried back away from him, and he whined softly. It’s alright. I won’t harm you.

  My wolf whimpered and took control from me, running forward and rubbing our head against his chest. He licked my face gently and whined happily.

  I regained control and pulled away. It had been years since I’d had problems with control of my wolf side. I wrestled with my wolf for one full minute until I finally regained control and changed to human form. I gasped from the quick changes and curled into a ball as the sharp tingling pains wore off.

  His fur rippled like water and then he crouched before me as a man. “Are you alright?”

  I backed away from him, covering my body as well as I could. “What did you do?” The desire to touch him was burning my fingertips. My lips burned with a memory of kissing his. “How do I know you?”

  He held his hand out to me, and I backed away until my back hit the wall. He dropped his hand and I could see the pain in his eyes.

  “There is much to tell you. You and I are mates…”

  I stared at him in utter disbelief, but my wolf side acknowledged him as our mate. How could he be my mate if I had never met him before? I shook my head. “No. You can’t be my mate.” I picked up my shredded pants and shirt and ran around him. He called after me, but I ignored his calls. I stumbled into my clothes as I ran out the door and then yelled as loud as I could, “Draco-blu!”

  I heard the flapping of large wings and then the generated wind pressed down on me, flattening me to the ground. The alpha crouched down, walking slowly towards me, but I knew he wouldn’t make it to me before Draco-Blu did.

  Draco-Blu descended and I admired his beauty as he landed over me. He was the largest dragon I’d ever seen; the top of my head barely touched his underbelly. His build reminded me of a horse, four large, muscular legs which carried a sleek, but powerful body. Draco was the title given to the king of the dragons. Blu is the only blue dragon to be given the title in the history of the dragons. I asked him if there was a difference in power by their colors, but he simply answered that blue dragons were very rare. He was one of my friends and I had the special privilege of simply calling him Blu. His blue scales shimmered in the sun and the white talons resting on either side of me reflected my face.

  “Oh, shit,” said the alpha werewolf who had stopped advancing and now stood in front of Blu.

  Blu roared, but the alpha held his ground. “Ares of the Werewolves! I challenge you…”

  “Sorry, Draco, but I cannot accept. Chandra, we will see each other again. Soon,” the alpha said before turning and disappearing around the corner of a nearby building.

  Blu snorted a puff of smoke. “Well, that was interesting. Are you alright, Hatchling?”

  I shuddered as I stood up. I grabbed onto his head and he lifted it up, setting me down just in front of his shoulders, at the base of his neck. “I don’t know, Blu. I don’t know what happened. I think I might know him from before. He…he knew I was part wolf. He said we were mates.”

  “You need to speak to Selene, and we need to visit the Council,” he said. I swallowed nervously at the thought of visiting the dragon council. They were powerful and would know how to help me, but they scared me more than a horde of vampires overcome by bloodlust. I gripped Draco’s scales, which were textured enough for me to hang onto yet not overly rough and painful after long rides.

  He flapped his wings and zoomed up into the sky. I wished I could spread my wings and fly beside him instead of on his back, but if I did that and a vampire or a vampire ally saw me, they would try to capture me or just kill me. Mixed bloods were not welcome in the New Preternatural World.

  “It’s a good thing that I escorted you today and stayed just on the outskirts of the town while you shopped,” said Blu as he glided across the winds.

  I sighed sadly. “Yes, I suppose it is, although I do not like having to be protected to go out.” I lifted my arms out to my sides, enjoying the feel of the wind on my body.

  The concrete jungle that had once been the human world was gone, destroyed by the preternaturals to allow a more organic landscape to emerge.

  We flew over various small towns and villages, children waving to Blu excitedly while the adults cowered in the doorways. Blu’s massive shadow covered two buildings at once, scaring a coop full of chickens and a stable of horses at the same time.

  “Are there any other errands you need to run or are we heading straight back to the coven?” he asked as he tilted sideways, making a large circle over a crystal blue lake below.

  I looked longingly at the lake, wishing to go for a swim. I knew I should head straight back to the coven to report to Selene, but I was shaky and needed to do something relaxing. “I guess we could stop for a short swim,” I said finally.

  Blu roared happily and dove straight down towards the lake, folding his wings in tight against his body. As he plummeted, I wrapped my arms around his neck so I wouldn’t separate from him. The impact from slamming into the water almost dislodged me from Blu’s back, but I managed to hang on. I fought the urge to gasp at the shock of the cold water surrounding me and released my hold, kicking my legs quickly to the surface. Blu spun around under the water, heading back towards me and shoved his nose under my feet, pushing me up and through the surface of the water. I flew up into the air thirty feet and then dove back down, barely making a splash as I reentered the water.

  Blu swam in lazy circles, slicing through it with his tail. I splashed Blu’s nose with a small wave of water, inviting play. Blu skimmed his tail across the water, sending a wave to cover me, which sent me back down below the surface.

  Blu laughed hysterically, shooting fire from his nose in his delight. He was one of my best friends because he could go from being the fierce leader of the dragons to the silliest being on the planet and playing childish games with me.

  We played until the sun stood in the center of the sky and both Blu and my stomachs growled loudly.

  As we flew in the air towards the coven, I closed my eyes and enjoyed the warmth of the sun drying me. “Thank you,” I whispered. He seemed to always know what I needed.

  He hummed happily. “You are welcome, Hatchling. Now, let’s get you home.”

  We flew the last ten miles in silence, enjoying the other’s quiet, but pleasurable company and the moment of contentment. The coven came into view, and I admired my home.

  The coven was a large fortress with thirty foot walls surrounding the one thousand acres property. The walls were really only there to keep out the local wildlife and for the perimeter spell, which alerted Selene to intruders. The main building was fifty feet high and had several hundred rooms, not including the kitchen and common areas. There were three smaller buildings, the larger of which was used for teaching the younger witches. The building to the left of that was the lab which was used for experimenting with new spells. The third building was a mystery to me. Selene had told me only that it was used for the witches’ committee hearings. There was also a small stable area whe
re we bred cows for Blu and the other dragons who visited to eat.

  Two gardens took up three acres total on either side of the main building and a forest of twenty acres stood in the back corner of their property. The witches hardly ever used the forest, but I used it frequently.

  Blu dropped down into the courtyard of the coven and roared a welcoming to the witches. Several witches were outside and they bowed respectfully to him. A teenage witch walked to the stable area to catch one of the cows for him. I slipped down his side and leg and smiled at the witches who were outside. I turned to Blu and bowed. “Thank you, Blu.”

  He flicked his forked tongue out across my cheek. “You are welcome, Hatchling. I will return with a summons once I’ve spoken to the Council. I will have Fira visit you in my absence.”

  Blu gulped down the cow the teenager brought out and then burped a stream of flame into the air happily.

  He dropped his head down and I hugged his nose, laying a kiss on the tip of it. “Be safe and may the wind speed your flight.”

  He lifted one of his large front claws and brushed a scale off to land on the ground. “Take this. You may need the magic stored within it.”

  I picked up the scale and felt the power radiating from it. “This is a very precious gift. I will cherish it.”

  He rubbed his nose gently against my body once and then took to the sky. He roared a goodbye and then disappeared from my sight. I clutched the scale to my chest and raced to my room as the pain I’d been hiding intensified.

  My heart hurt and the physical pain of the absence of the alpha was like a hot iron stabbing me in the stomach. I dashed inside the main building and up the three flights of stairs to my room in the west wing. Thankfully, I made it to my room unnoticed and unquestioned. I softly shut my bedroom door and sighed in relief.

  “Who broke my spell?” Selene asked from behind me.

  I growled and spun around, ready to attack. It took a moment for me to realize it was Selene and calm myself. “Sorry. Sorry,” I apologized as I lowered my eyes and stepped back from her.