The wolves’ knees trembled as they fought against his command. Being third in the werewolf hierarchy made Koda’s commands very difficult to ignore. I released my wall of fire and turned to see how Ares was faring.
Ares’ left arm bled from three cuts he must have received from Darius’ claws. Darius was the worse for wear as he had cuts littering his body and a pool of blood forming at his feet in the sand. Both were fighting fiercely however, so Darius wasn’t hurt enough to be slowed down.
I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and turned just as one of the wolves jumped at me. He knocked me to the ground, snapping his jaw at my throat. I shoved him off and stood up. “Thanks for the warning, Koda,” I said as I looked for him.
“Sorry, I sort of have my hands full and didn’t see that one slip away,” he said where he was sitting on top of a pile of five men all whining and whimpering.
I turned and grabbed the wolf by its throat as it charged at me again and held it up. “Charging madly will not win the fight. You must learn to be stealthy and silent.”
I tossed him towards Koda who grabbed him and forced him to change back to man. “Lie down and be still like the rest of your brothers,” commanded Koda.
I laughed and shook my head as the five men lay down and remained still. Perhaps Ares was not the only one capable of being Alpha. With the wolves taken care of, that only left Ares and Darius left to battle it out. I returned to Hera and sat down on the ground beside her. “How has the fight gone?”
“Darius has opened a few cuts and landed a few hits, whereas Ares has opened at least a hundred cuts and has landed as many hits. Unfortunately, Darius does not seem to be slowing or weakening.” She closed her eyes a moment and then opened them to stare intently at Darius. “I wonder if there is some type of spell keeping him from feeling pain or from weakening. He should be slowing by now.”
“I don’t see anything,” I said as I watched Darius and Ares exchanging blows.
She frowned. “It could be a talisman or a stone enchanted with the spell.”
I watched as Ares and Darius fought and sighed. “I can’t tell from so far away. Ares! He’s got a talisman or stone that’s keeping him from weakening! You have to get it away from him before you can defeat him, short of ripping his head off!”
Ares growled and slashed at Darius’ throat, but Darius stepped back in the nick of time, missing Ares’ claws. “Can’t even fight me fairly, can you Darius?” Ares yelled as he attacked him. Darius swung at Ares, and Ares dropped to the ground, picking up a spear shaft. He swung the shaft into Darius’ upper right leg and then into his left. Darius growled and tried to grab the shaft, but Ares swung it up, connecting with Darius’ jaw and making him fly up into the air. Darius landed on his back on the ground and started to get up, but Ares straddled his chest, pinning his arms with his legs and shoving the shaft against his throat. Ares ripped a necklace off of Darius’ neck and tossed it towards me. “Is that it?” he asked as he punched Darius’ face again and again. Blood sprayed from Darius’ nose as Ares broke it, but Darius just continued to struggle against Ares.
Hera took the necklace and shook her head. “Nope.”
Ares spun around Darius in a wrestling move I’d often seen humans in the mixed martial arts competitions use and grabbed Darius’ leg in a leg lock. He reached up with one hand while Darius struggled to free his leg and stuck it inside Darius’ pocket. Darius yelled and tried to grab Ares’ hand, but Ares held him down with his leg across his chest and tossed the stone to us before he could reach him.
Hera caught the stone and gasped. “Yes, this is it. You can kill him now.”
Ares stood up off Darius who was now lying on the ground gasping in pain and moaning. “You thought you could defeat me with a cheap stone? A stupid spell! I could have just ripped your head off when I had you pinned on the ground, but that’s too swift a death for you.”
Darius shifted to his human form and whispered, “You’re not wolf enough to be Alpha. They will not bow to you.”
Ares laughed. “You can’t even hold your form and you say I’m not wolf enough? I’m more wolf than you could ever hope to be!”
Ares kicked him in the ribs. “That is for frightening my mate.” He grabbed Darius’ arm and bent it backwards, breaking the bone. “That is for ordering me around the world on stupid missions simply because you couldn’t stand seeing all of the females crawling all over me.” He grabbed a spear and snapped off the tip. He sat down and with skill that suggested he’d done this many times before, cut open Darius’ chest and tore his heart from it. “And that’s for giving Matt’s female to the vampires to assist in his treachery and death!”
The crowd exploded in cheers and began chanting, “Ares!” over and over again.
Ares threw the heart up into the pulpit at Maurice’s feet. “A gift from the new Alpha of the Werewolves to the King of the Vampires. Don’t say I never gave you anything.”
Maurice glared at us from his seat. “You’ve won this time.”
Ares smiled and touched his pointer finger to his forehead in a mock salute. “We’ll see you soon, Maurice.”
We walked back to my mother, and she grabbed onto us, teleporting us back to the training ground. I looked down and sighed. “I’m covered in blood and dirt.”
Ares shrugged, motioning to his own body. “I’m worse.” He shifted back to full man and looked around expectantly. “Where would they have taken her?”
Bret dropped to his knees on the ground, winced, and grunted. “Thank you.”
Ares pushed him on to his back and started examining his wounds. “You’re welcome, but I didn’t do it for you. I did it for Artemis. She would have been very upset if you were dead.”
“Artemis? She’s here?” Bret asked eyes widening, trying to stand up.
Ares pushed him back down. “Stay still. Yes, she’s here, but she’s sleeping. You need to lie still for about an hour for your wounds to heal properly.”
“I need to get back. I need to find my people,” Bret said as he tried to sit up again.
“Lie still!” Ares commanded. Bret stilled, unable to ignore Ares’ command. “What people? Tell us how you got into the Games in the first place.”
“I found the villagers from the town Artemis and I grew up in. They all had your brand, but they were living in the middle of nowhere on the run from vampires who had apparently tried to kill them. I’ve been protecting the descendants for the past hundred years.”
Ares groaned. “Artemis is going to want to run out and find them when she hears of this.”
“Do we have to tell her?” I asked.
Ares smiled. “As much as I would like to keep it from her, we should tell her. Besides, Bret won’t lie to her about it. Bret, we will wait until after tomorrow’s battle to tell her though. I do not want to have her focus waver during the battle. Do you understand?”
Bret nodded. “Yes, Alpha.”
“I’m going to clean up. Ares, you should probably do the same so Artemis doesn’t faint when she sees you.” I started for the main building where my quarters were.
“You don’t think she would view it as sexy?” he asked as he stood up and flexed his biceps.
Koda laughed. “Artemis would if she had been in the battle with you, but since she was left behind she would only be worried.”
Ares fingered his left arm where Darius had scratched him. “I hate when it’s healing and it starts to itch. If you scratch it too hard you reopen it and it has to re-heal which then makes it itch again.”
Koda smacked his hand. “This is why you have to suffer through it until it doesn’t itch anymore.”
“You’d be scratching it too if you were covered in dirt and blood and had cuts that were healing,” Ares grumbled as he headed towards the main part of town where a public bathhouse was run by Poseidon, a blue Sidhe who loved water.
I looked down at Bret who was still lying on the ground. “You can’t move, can you?”
H
e shook his head. “I can’t sit up at least.”
“I’m going to wash up and change quickly and then I’ll be back. Just relax and let your wounds heal.”
“As if I can do anything else,” Bret grumbled.
I ignored him and continued to my room. I really wished to soak in a bath, but I felt bad leaving Bret alone. I would feel much better once the blood and dirt was washed off my skin.
20
Artemis
My eyes opened slowly as I regained consciousness. I was surprised that I did not dream while I had been asleep, but being put in a spelled slumber was not the same as falling asleep. The room was dark, no lights anywhere. I sat up and was met with three pairs of eyes watching me from chairs in front of the bed. My night vision kicked in and as I looked around, I recognized my surroundings as Achilles’ chambers. “Have they returned?” I asked nervously.
Theseus smiled. “They returned a few moments ago and are waiting for you in the training grounds. We are to escort you there.”
“I’ve no need of an escort.” I closed my eyes and focused on the image of the place I wanted to go and summoned my power.
Nothing happened.
“You cannot teleport while restrained in magical chains,” said Erebos in his deep voice.
I opened my eyes and sighed. “Fine, escort me.”
“You know we do not like doing this. We were ordered to guard you,” said Heracles as he came to unchain me.
I sighed. “I know. I do not blame you or hold anger towards you.”
Surrounded by the men who had been holding me prisoner, I now walked in a circle of protection. I knew that Ares and Achilles had forced me to stay behind to try to protect me and not having to wring my hands in worry had been good for my nerves, but I felt betrayed.
We walked through the halls of the main building of the Sidhe court and out through a set of large doors to the open grassy area used for training. Our pack of halfbreed wolves was all around Ares with eyes intently fixed on him. Ares looked up and smiled at me. There was something different about him. He seemed bigger somehow. I shook my head at the ridiculous thought. He couldn’t have gotten bigger. So what was it?
The closer I got to him, the more I felt like bowing to him. That was a feeling I had not had in quite a long time around him. The pack made a path for me, but as I walked by, those nearest reached out to touch me. I smiled at them and held my hands out to touch some as I walked. The touch of the pack was even more reassuring than ever before. Had I changed somehow? Had Hades done something that permanently affected me?
I finally made it to Ares and looked over his body for marks. I couldn’t see any, but then again, he was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. He leaned down and kissed me deeply, winding a hand through my hair and around my hips, pulling me against him. I melted into him and felt the fire building within me that Ares always ignited. He pulled back from the kiss and smiled at me. “Did you have a nice nap?”
“Yes.” I wanted to be mad, but I couldn’t even feign it while I was still high on the kiss. . I looked into his eyes and asked, “Why are you more, more wolf than normal? No, it’s not that you’re more wolf it’s just that your aura is stronger. What changed?”
Ares said, “I’ve always been like this, but now that I’ve claimed my proper title it’s more evident to you.”
“Your proper title? What do you mean?” I asked, my nerves growing.
“I killed Darius. I’m the new Alpha of the Werewolves,” he said with a wide grin.
“Alpha,” said the pack behind us.
“You killed Darius! When? Where? How?” I asked. I stopped my questions and asked the question I should have asked first, “Did you save Bret?”
Ares grabbed my shoulders and turned me around. “See for yourself.”
Bret stood from where he had been kneeling among the pack and walked slowly towards me. He stopped in front of me and smiled nervously. “Hey, Chicky.”
Varying emotions warred with my mind, but I ignored all of them and threw my arms around his shoulders. Bret stiffened a moment and then wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug. We inhaled each other’s scents, and I whispered his name. I pulled out of the hug and smiled at him. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
He picked up my hand and traced one of my vines. “You look even more beautiful than the last time I saw you.”
I cringed, waiting for my power to release from his touch and my life to be even more chaotic and stressful than it was, but nothing happened. I exhaled in relief and heard Ares do the same behind me. “Thank you,” I said softly.
Koda cleared his throat from beside us. I jumped, having not heard him walk up. I turned to him and hugged him. “Are you unhurt as well?”
He nodded as he hugged me. “I am. I also brought you a present.”
“A present?” I asked as I stepped back from him.
Koda stepped to the left and motioned at the line of men who had been standing behind him. “Darius brought them to fight Ares, but I made them submit to me instead. They’re our newest pack members and as Alpha Female I thought it appropriate that you meet them.”
“Alpha Female?” I asked in shock. I turned to Ares. “What about your mom? Isn’t she Alpha?”
Ares shook his head. “When a new Alpha male takes the position he either takes the former Alpha’s mate to be his, or his current mate takes the position. Obviously, I’m not going to take my mom as a mate, so you’re now Alpha Female of the Werewolves.”
I was Alpha Female!
“Whoa,” I said as I comprehended all that had happened. I turned to the wolves in line in front of me and walked so that I could see them all. Most appeared young looking and middle level in dominance. “Whom do you serve?” I asked them.
“The Alphas,” they said together.
“Whom do you protect?” I asked as I walked down the line.
“The Alphas.”
“Who am I?” I stopped in front of them at the center of their line.
“Artemis, Alpha Female.”
I walked up to each man and inhaled his scent at his neck and rubbed my cheek against theirs to scent mark each as mine. Luckily being short let me do it without having to bend down at an awkward angle, though two of the men were so tall that I had to stand on tiptoe to reach their cheeks. When I’d finished I turned to the rest of the pack and said, “Embrace your new brothers.”
The pack surged around the men and greeted them. Ares walked to me and wrapped his arms around my waist. “You did that very well.”
“Thanks. I learned it from the real wolves. Well obviously not the talking part, but the rest,” I said as I leaned back against him. I looked around and frowned. “Where’s Achilles?”
“I’m here. I was just freshening up from our excursion.”
I watched him walk up and felt my heart flutter. How could he affect me so? My reaction to Ares was different, but Achilles still raised my pulse and made my legs wobble. It wasn’t right to be in love with two men at the same time and yet I was. Sometimes I really hated magic.
I pulled away from Ares and turned to face him and Achilles. “I wanted to show you something. I watched the dragons doing this and I’m pretty sure I can duplicate it, but I’d appreciate it if you two would stand nearby in case it gets out of my control.”
Ares frowned and Achilles sighed and shook his head. I took that as an “okay”.
I stepped out onto the field and waited until everyone else was off of the field and Ares and Achilles were relatively close. I closed my eyes. Selene had taught me to meditate to better control my powers, and I really hoped it worked now. Inhaling slowly and grounding myself with the earth around me and beneath my feet, I channeled my power to my hands. I raised them slowly up, heels of my palms touching while the rest of the palm turned up to create a funnel for the power. I pictured the one time I’d seen Blu perform this technique and opened my eyes as fire burst out of my palms in a swirling purple tornado. I focused on the energy of the element a
nd lowered the swirling fire until it formed a solid, protective circle around me. With a deep breath, I ground my feet into the ground and the fire spread out, increasing its circumference until it surrounded the entire field. Sweat began to drip down my face as the pull of controlling the wild element strained my magical ability.
“Release it, Artemis!” yelled Ares.
I shook my head and slowly and painfully pulled it all back into me. With each foot of returned element my magic returned and my body refilled with energy.
“By the Mother of All, I have never seen something so incredible,” whispered someone.
“She has to be the most powerful being on the planet,” whispered another.
“No wonder halfbreeds were forbidden. We couldn’t defeat her unless we used a large group of our top soldiers,” whispered one of the Sidhe soldiers.
I pulled in the last bit and felt completely revitalized. I turned and smiled at Ares and Achilles. “I did it!”
Hera was standing behind them, having snuck up while I was testing the magic. She snarled and started glowing. I only had a second’s notice to prepare as she shot fire at me from her palms. I formed a shield of fire around me and absorbed her shot at me. Those gathered now stared in terror at me instead of awe. Hera’s eyes turned solid white as she drew on all of her power and increased the amount of fire directed at me, but my shield simply absorbed it. Ares started to move towards her, but she released her powers and stopped the fire. Her body and eyes returned to normal, with fear in them. “Who taught you this magic?” she asked in a shocked whisper.
For a moment, I didn’t want to tell her, but Ares bowed his head slightly to me, telling me it was okay. “The King of the Dragons taught me to create the fire shield and the other he had to use once to protect me,” I answered. “A group of vampires found us in the woods together and ambushed us. One of them grabbed me by the throat before I could shift and in his anger, he used it.”
Artemis Lupine- The Complete Series Page 60
