“Where’s Victor? Are you going to invite him to Miami?” I asked.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Ares mumbled.
It was always strange to hear someone mumble inside your head. The telepathy we shared was extremely convenient for the most part, but it had taken a long time to get used to. “I can call him when I get in town,” I offered.
“Okay,” Ares agreed.
The edge of the forest came into view so I slowed down to say goodbye to my brothers before heading into the town. “Any specifics that you would like?” I asked them.
“No, torn jeans,” Ares said. “Stupid fad these kids are having in the ‘90s.”
Torn jeans were definitely the fad right now. “Matt?” I asked. “No fishnet,” he growled.
Ares and I laughed and then I jogged away. The sun was just cresting the mountain when I made it down to the city and shops were just beginning to open. I slowed to a walk and acted like I was taking an early day stroll through the town. The shop I was heading for was owned by the witches and run by them as well. It was the farthest shop on Main Street which meant I had to take my stroll past a bakery that smelled like heavenly sugared bread, a coffee shop with fresh roasted coffee beans and the butcher’s shop. My stomach was growling fiercely when I finally made it to the witches’ spice and herb store and I was sure Janice, the witch behind the counter, heard it when I walked in.
“Koda,” she said with a pleasant smile, “How can I assist you?” She was beautiful, but not as beautiful as Selene. Where Selene was dark and mysterious, Janice was light and sweet.
I leaned against the counter and smiled sweetly at her. “Ares and Matt had a little mishap and need some clothes.”
Janice laughed and asked, “When don’t you guys have mishaps with clothes? You should just call your werewolf towns, nudist colonies.”
“We tried that once, but a lot of weirdos came and tried to join us,” I admitted to her.
She laughed even harder and then turned around to walk in the back. “We’ve got some clothes back here you can go through. Your kind drifts through here a lot so we keep spares in case you need them.” She showed me the boxes of clothes in various sizes and walked back to the register in case a customer came in.
“You’re the best,” I praised her.
She winked at me and said, “If you only knew.” If I hadn’t been so fond of Selene I might have taken her up on that offer.
The clothes were pretty normal, jeans and t-shirts, but I wanted to find something annoying or embarrassing for Ares to wear. I pulled out jeans in Matt and Ares’ sizes and then searched through the box until I found a ridiculous Hawaiian shirt for Ares and a tie dye shirt for Matt.
She gave me a small backpack and said, “Selene asked me to give this to you when you came by.”
“Thank you,” I said as I walked out of the store. I opened the bag and a smile split my face. She had put cash, jerky and a note in the backpack. I opened the note and laughed since it only said, “xoxoxo Selene”. I was going to have to thank her next time I saw her.
“What took you so long?” Ares asked when I came back. He and Matt were lying on the ground dozing.
“I had to find clothes in your sizes,” I said, “There wasn’t much to choose from.”
I dropped the clothes in front of them and Ares growled. “This is the best you could find?”
I shrugged and said, “Beggars can’t be choosers.” They changed forms and then got dressed quickly. “You’re still here?” a voice asked behind me.
I didn’t need to turn around to find out who it was because I could smell his and his brother’s stench from here. The Justinson brothers.
“We’re on our way out of town,” Ares said, “Not that it is your concern what I do.”
“Of course you’re running away,” the youngest one scoffed. That was probably the dumbest thing he could have said to
Ares. My brother never ran away from anything, especially not a being so pathetic when compared to him. I knew better than to intervene and so did Matt. We both walked a little way off and turned around to watch the carnage.
“See, even your brothers are afraid of us,” the oldest sneered. “No, we just don’t feel like getting your blood on us,” I
explained.
They looked at me dumbly and I almost felt bad for them. They were pretty high level within the werewolf society, but no one was higher than Ares, even the current Alpha who hated that fact.
“You have one chance,” Ares said calmly, “Apologize for insulting me or I will have to punish you.”
The brothers looked at each other and laughed. “Apologize to you?” the oldest asked with a scoff. “You’re not as tough as you think you are.”
Ares kept a tight lid over his power so that very little of his true dominance leaked out. When he let it go it was like a boiling pot of water was poured over you and if you did not fall to your knees instantly you would be boiled alive. These idiots were about to find out what it felt like to be boiled alive.
Ares took a deep breath and then the men in front of us fell to their hands and knees. Matt and I were unaffected because Ares was shielding us, but I winced anyways, remembering the feeling. “Do you submit to me?” Ares asked.
The men groaned and the eldest even tried to stand up, but it was impossible. No one could withstand him. “Submit!” Ares roared.
The men fell flat on their stomachs on the ground and both whispered, “We submit.”
Ares inhaled and the world started moving again. It was funny how you didn’t notice that everything had gone quiet until the animals started moving and making noise again.
We left the men lying on their stomachs and started our journey towards the airport. It was about fifty miles away, but it was good to walk and get some of our energy out before we got there, especially for Ares since he so rarely took that lid off.
“Well that was fun,” Ares said with a smirk. “Did you tell Matt?” I asked him.
“Tell me what?” Matt asked nervously. He hated surprises. “Ares has a passt genau,” I answered instead of letting Ares. “What!” Matt screamed.
“Easy,” Ares said in a soothing tone.
“So, you have a match? Somewhere out there?” Matt asked, motioning out to indicate the world.
Ares nodded his head. “Yes.” “How do you know?” Matt asked.
“I can’t explain it very well,” Ares admitted, “But I felt something in my heart that was exciting and loving and peaceful and when I went to the brothel down the way I suddenly…didn’t want anything to do with them.”
Matt stopped walking and I could feel his jealousy. He had volunteered to be part of our pack and to give up the chance of having a mate to properly guard Ares, but he still craved a mate as much as he denied it. “So why aren’t you going out to find her?” Matt asked.
“I believe she may have just been born,” Ares admitted sheepishly.
“Woah. Woah. Woah!” I said in shock. “What do you mean?” “Why would I just now get the feeling if she had been alive all
this time?” he asked angrily. “If she had been alive for years wouldn’t I have felt her before now?”
“Maybe she just hit puberty or just changed for the first time,” I suggested.
“Everyone I have talked to said that you feel your match as soon as you or they are conscious enough to understand it,” Ares explained.
“So, you have to wait eighteen years?” I asked softly. Ares sighed. “Yeah.”
“You can’t even just go see her or check up on her occasionally?” Matt asked.
Ares shrugged. “There really isn’t a standard protocol for this, but I don’t want to freak out her family or her. Plus, I don’t know if I could watch someone grow up knowing that eventually she was going to be my mate. I will just wait until she is eighteen, an adult, to go see her.”
Ares had a passt genau. How much would our lives change once we met her? I could only hope for great things and pray that
my pack stayed together for eternity. Only eighteen years to wait until we met the mystery girl. I hoped she was worth the wait.
About the Author
Catherine Banks is a USA Today bestselling fantasy author who writes in several fantasy subgenres and has multiple pseudonyms. She began writing fiction at only four years old and finished her first full-length novel at the age of fifteen. She is married to her soulmate and best friend, Avery, who she has two amazing children with. After her full-time job, she reads books, plays video games, and watches anime shows and movies with her family to relax. Although she has lived in Northern California her entire life, she dreams of traveling around the world. Catherine is also C.E.O. of Turbo Kitten Industries™, a company with many hats including being a book publisher and Etsy store full of nerdy fun.
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Artemis Lupine- The Complete Series Page 78
