“I believe the healer will be coming today to tell you the gender. I would wait until Ares is here though,” Koda said.
Of course, I would wait for Ares. Why did he think I would do something so rude?
“Where is my eldest?”
“Seeking out a sacrifice,” Victor said from his chair.
“Good,” she said as she stood up. “It is about time he took charge of this.”
I laid down again and closed my eyes. “Why am I so tired?”
“You are growing a being inside of your body,” she said. “It takes up a lot of your nutrients and energy. In fact, Koda, would you get us some food?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a bow of his head and left the room.
Beatrice looked at Victor. “May I have some privacy to speak with my daughter-in-law?”
Victor frowned. “Normally I would leave, but Ares asked me to protect her.”
“I am not going to hurt her,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him.
Victor shrugged. “I don’t know that for sure. Besides, I would rather not leave her alone with anyone but Ares. She is very vulnerable right now and needs as much protection as possible.”
“And you think that I would not be able to protect her? You forget that I am older than even you, Victor of the Vampires. I could be Alpha still, if I so desired.”
“I do not doubt your strength. I am simply refusing to leave Artemis without me as an additional defense,” he said adamantly. I had never seen him so serious about anything before.
She glared at him, but finally relinquished and turned to me. “The mind reading vampire already knows this so I might as well discuss it in front of him. Have you talked with Ares about Koda’s feelings for you?”
“I only found out about his feelings yesterday,” I said uncomfortably. Was it just obvious to everyone that he had feelings for me, or had he talked to his mother about it? Which was worse? “And I did not think it was a good idea to bring it up to Ares due to his recent mood.”
She sighed. “My sons have mostly gotten along, but I fear this might ruin the bond they had formed. Koda looks up to Ares and loves him like any younger brother should, but his feelings for you have only escalated since your disappearance and then death.”
“He told me that it was enough just to be in my life,” I said. “I’m hoping that he keeps that mentality.”
“He might for a while,” she said, “But his jealousy might also grow and…” She stopped talking and then the door opened as Koda entered with food.
He smiled at me and set a tray of food on the bed beside me with a glass of water. “Sorry it took so long. I got sidetracked on my way to the kitchen.”
“Thank you,” I said and then picked up some food and started eating.
“You have always been the politest of my sons,” she said with a smile at Koda.
He took a seat in a chair next to Victor and then sat very still. It was weird looking, and I was about to ask what he was doing when Ares flung open the door and charged inside. “Why do I smell Apollo?”
He was seething with anger and I could almost see a red cloud encircling him. “Ares, what’s wrong?” I asked as I stood and started towards him.
“Get in bed,” he said. “Stop moving around,” he growled. He had never growled at me or been seriously mad at me before. I continued walking towards him and he growled again. “I order you to get in bed,” he snapped, his order as alpha pressed against me like a net pulling me backwards.
I growled back at him and held my ground, trying my hardest to slide my feet forward.
“Stop, Ares. You’re going to hurt her,” his mother said.
“I wouldn’t be hurting her if she would obey,” he said. “For once in your life, obey.”
“Come here, Ares,” I ordered him in my best alpha voice and using as much of my dominance as I could.
His body jerked towards me and his eyes widened. He apparently did not know that I could order him around just as he could me. He held his ground and gnashed his teeth together.
“Even if you prove your point,” Victor said, “You will only feel bad about hurting her afterwards. We all agree that Artemis needs to start taking some orders.”
“I just want to touch you,” I said to Ares. He was being obstinate, but I was much better at it.
“Why was Apollo here?” he asked me again.
“He came to visit me,” I said. “He wanted to check on me because he had heard that I was ill.”
“Who let him in here?” Ares screamed.
He was getting too worked up and soon would let his bloodlust take over if he was not careful. I had never seen him in such a fit before. I had to do something, but what could I do to diffuse the situation?
“Victor,” I said softly. “Teleport them out of here so I can speak to my mate alone.”
“No one is going anywhere until I get answers,” Ares said.
“I let him in,” I said. “Victor was guarding me, so I was perfectly—”
“You let him in here with my sick mate?” Ares screamed at Victor as he walked towards him.
Victor stood and I could see the slight worry in his eyes and the tension in his body. “Artemis allowed him in and I stood between him and her and forced him to keep his distance from her. She was not in serious danger.”
Victor was the only one who saw the punch coming because he turned to mist, and Ares’ fist went through him.
“Ares,” I yelled. “Stop it!”
Victor drifted away and reformed across the room. “I know you are upset, but you do not want to fight me.”
Ares shifted into warrior form and charged Victor. Koda tried to grab him, but Ares flung him across the room. Koda spun at the last second, bouncing off the wall with his feet instead of slamming into it. He ran forward and kicked Ares in the back of the knees, making him stumble as he lunged at Victor who was teleporting around the room trying to stay out of his reach.
“Ares, calm down,” Victor said in a soft voice. “I understand that you are stressed out, but you do not want to hurt me.”
Ares roared at Victor--logical thought gone as he tried to attack him. Koda jumped onto Ares’ back and tried to wrap his arm around Ares’ throat, but Ares simply grabbed Koda by his arm and tossed him across the room, straight into Victor who thankfully misted before Koda hit him.
“Ares,” Beatrice said. “Calm down, son.” He turned and growled at her and she took a step back, fear emanating from her. I wondered why she was so afraid when she was older than him.
I approached Ares and set my hand on his forearm. He jerked away and spun towards me, ready to attack me until he saw my face. He lowered the hand he had raised at me and instead snarled at me. I took his clawed hand and gently set it against my face. His hand flexed and the claws bit into my skin just enough to draw blood.
Koda growled, and Ares started to turn towards him, but I grabbed Ares’ other hand and set it on my stomach where the baby was kicking up a storm. He looked down at my stomach and his lips lowered, closing over his teeth and his body slowly started to return to his human form.
“Everyone out,” I whispered.
Koda started to protest, but Victor grabbed him and teleported before he could move.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Beatrice whispered.
“Mate,” I whispered, drawing Ares’ attention back to me and away from his mother as she walked slowly out of the room.
He looked up at my face and growled. “Mate.”
I took a step backwards, towards the bed, holding onto his wrists and keeping them on my face and stomach. “Artemis,” I whispered, hoping that he could slowly regain his control.
“Artemis,” he whispered back as he looked down at my stomach from another of the baby’s kicks.
“Baby,” I whispered. “Your baby.”
“My baby?” he asked.
I nodded and sat down on the edge of the bed, keeping his hand on my face. “Your baby. Your
mate. Artemis.”
The gold melted out of his eyes and he plopped face first down onto the bed on his stomach. “Artemis. Sorry.”
I kissed his cheek and wrapped myself up in his arms and whispered, “Sleep.”
He nodded, and we fell asleep together.
12
Artemis
I woke up the next morning alone. Completely alone. I got out of bed, changed and peeked my head out the door. The hallway was empty too. “Hello?” I called, but only received my echo back. I walked down the hallway, running my hand along the wall in case I had a dizzy spell to keep from injuring myself and made my way out of the castle. I looked in each room that I went past, but all of them were empty, which was very strange considering that there were usually servants running around everywhere. Where was everyone?
I pinched myself and growled at the pain. I was definitely awake. My stomach grumbled, and I sighed. I was definitely hungry.
“Victor!” I called, hoping he would be listening or would be nearby. “Victor, where are you?” He did not appear in front or behind me, so I continued towards the front doors. I pushed them open, straining with the weight a moment. The doors opened and bright sunlight blinded me. I blinked my eyes until I could finally see and felt my heart drop at the sight before me.
Hundreds of beings were gathered in a circle in the field in front of the castle where Ares and Koda were standing in the center facing each other. I saw elves, wolves, Sidhe, halfbreeds and even a couple of dwarves and ogres standing in a circle around them, waiting. Koda was shirtless and judging by the amount of amber in his eyes, very angry. Victor was standing between Ares and Koda, talking quietly and quickly. No doubt he was trying to calm them down and talk sense into them.
“Victor,” I whispered urgently.
He looked towards me and his eyes widened. He said something to Ares and then Victor teleported to me and picked me up. “Why are you out of bed and walking around?”
“I was alone,” I said, “I’m never alone so I was worried. What is going on?”
He teleported so that he was standing between Koda and Ares again. “Koda, Artemis is here.”
Ares reached to take me from Victor, but Koda growled at him and swatted his arms away from me. “You do not deserve to touch her.”
“Set me down,” I ordered Victor. He obeyed but gave me an irritated look so I apologized silently. “Koda, what is going on?”
He pointed at Ares and said, “He hurt you yesterday. He does not deserve to have you as his mate.”
“Do not do anything that you will regret, brother,” Ares warned him.
“Koda, he was experiencing bloodlust. It happens to even the best wolves. You cannot blame Ares for losing control once in over a couple hundred years. He has a lot on his plate right now and—”
“It is inexcusable that he hurt you,” Koda roared, cutting me off mid-sentence.
“I am not hurt,” I said, “It is not his fault—”
“He cut your face with his claws,” Koda roared again. “I challenge—”
I punched him in the stomach as hard as I could, making him gasp for breath and stop talking. “Shut up before you do something you will regret.”
He got his breath back and whispered, “He is letting you die for him. He is going to kill you.”
“I am not letting her die,” Ares growled.
Koda stood up straight, pushed me to the side into Victor’s arms, and then charged Ares. I tried to move towards them, but Victor held on to me and due to my weakened state, I was unable to break free.
Ares blocked Koda’s punches and kicks but did not hit him back. “Stop this,” Ares said. “Let’s talk about this in private.”
Koda growled and shifted into his warrior form. “I challenge you for the position of Alpha of the Werewolves.”
“No!” I screamed. “Koda, don’t do this. If you kill Ares, I will never forgive you. Do you hear me? If you take him away from me, I will kill you myself!”
“Listen to her, Koda. She isn’t bluffing,” Victor urged.
Ares stayed where he was, watching and waiting for Koda’s decision. I could see the tension in his body as he waited and knew that if Koda attacked him that he would not hold back.
Koda turned to me with hurt in his eyes. Part of me felt bad for threatening him, but I knew he needed to hear how I felt. I loved him as a pack mate, but Ares was my mate and the man I loved unconditionally. I would never forgive anyone that took him from me. “Why do you want him when he treats you poorly?” he asked. “I would treat you like the queen that you are.”
“I love him, Koda. He is my passt genau, my one true love and the father of my unborn child. He treats me well and you would see that if you were not blinded by your emotions. No one can replace him.”
“Fine, a fight to yield for the position of alpha,” he said.
“I will not be your mate,” I told him sternly.
He growled. “I am not fighting to take you as my mate, Artemis. I am fighting to take his position as Alpha.”
“Why?” I asked. “Why is it suddenly so important for you to be alpha?”
“Because I have lived in his shadow for too long. It is time that the world knows me for who I am, and the wolves have a leader that will lead them properly,” Koda said.
“I accept your challenge to yield for Alpha of the Werewolves,” Ares said.
“What are you doing?” Victor asked, releasing me and walking towards Ares.
I looked around at the crowd, hoping to find a Sidhe who was manipulating Koda like Achilles had done before.
“He wants to take over as alpha, so I am willing to let him try. If I do not accept his challenge it will make me look weak and now is not a time that I can appear weak,” Ares said angrily. “He has wanted to do this since Artemis went missing and I will let him.” Ares looked at Koda and said, “I will not hold back just because you are my brother. If we go forward with this challenge, I will fight you with all of my strength and power.”
“I would have it no other way,” Koda said.
“This is ridiculous,” I said angrily.
“What’s going on?” Theseus, Koda’s son, asked as he walked up to us.
“Your father is challenging Ares to become Alpha of the Werewolves,” I said, trying to portray how ludicrous it was and hope that he would talk some sense into his dad.
Theseus folded his arms across his chest and said, “I wondered how long it would take him to do this. I guess your health finally pushed Dad over the edge.”
My jaw dropped to the ground. “Are you serious? Aren’t you going to try to stop him?”
He put his arm around my shoulders and squeezed. “It’ll be alright. Dad won’t kill him.”
I screamed in frustration and stepped away from the idiot brothers and said, “I refuse to watch this.” I teleported to the dragon’s hive, letting Victor know where I was heading. I knew Ares would be mad, but I was safer in the hive than anywhere else in the world. I popped into the hive, in the tent where I had slept while waiting for the dragons to help me unlock my memories and found it empty, thankfully. I stepped out of the tent to be met by the Dragon Council.
“Greetings, Artemis Lupine,” they said in unison.
I bowed to them as well as I could with my enlarged stomach. “Greetings, Council.”
“What do we owe the pleasure of your company to?” they asked.
“Werewolf quarrels that I have no desire to witness. I came to see Blu, I mean Draco Blu, if he is available and to seek your counsel regarding some issues.”
“Draco Blu has been missing for several days,” the Council said. “We sent Fira to contact you, but due to your lack of knowledge we must assume he is now missing as well.”
“Missing? What do you mean missing?” I asked in shock.
“We do not have the ability to speak telepathically over long distances,” they said.
I paced back and forth in front of them nervously. “What could have hap
pened? Do you think it is possible that he was taken hostage or killed?”
“All things are possible,” they said.
I refrained from rolling my eyes and asked, “Did the dragons acquire any enemies recently?”
“No.”
Could Maurice have found out that the dragons were going to assist us, and would he have been able to capture Blu, or kill him? I shuddered at the thought but could not believe that the dragon would be easily taken down. Fira was a smaller dragon, but almost as strong as Blu and not easily killed either.
“We had planned to send scouts, but…”
“But you did not want them to disappear as well,” I finished for them. “I will investigate myself,” I said, “It is the least I can do after everything the dragons have done for me.”
“You should not travel alone in your condition,” they said.
“If I return, my mate will not allow me to go search for Draco Blu. I cannot return there to find someone to go with me,” I said as I resumed pacing.
“Then I will go with you,” Victor said from behind me. I spun around, angry that the vampire had gotten the drop on me again. He bowed to the Council. “Greetings, Dragon Council.”
“Greetings Victor, Prince of the Vampires,” they said.
“I will accompany you while you search for the dragons so that you are protected and so that I can teleport you to a healer if your condition should worsen,” he said to me.
“Are Ares and Koda alright?” I asked.
He shrugged. “They were still fighting when I teleported to check on you, per Ares’ request.”
Of course, he had sent Victor to check on me. “Fine, but just remember that I can teleport just like you can so if you teleport me away and I am not ready to leave, I will just teleport right back.”
He smiled. “I know, Artemis.” He turned to the Council and asked, “Can you give me the specifics of your last communications with the two dragons who are missing?”
“Draco Blu left three days ago to head for the Sidhe’s ground opening. He usually contacts us by magical reflection once he has arrived at his destination to check on the status of the hive while he is away. This is not the first time that he has not contacted us, but it is very rare.”
Artemis Lupine- The Complete Series Page 71
