Song of The Moon Artemis Lupine

by Banks, Catherine

  Ares snarled. "There are many myths that are true, but the humans forced us into hiding a few centuries ago. We have just been waiting for the right time to come out and take over."

  I stared at him in shock. "You are killing all of these innocent humans because of what other humans did centuries ago? How can you do that? They had nothing to do with it."

  Ares frowned. "You think these would be any different? You think that if I were to show myself to the humans of this century that they would not hunt us down? You are very naïve and it is your father's fault for not teaching you our history."

  Darren sighed. "I just wanted her to have a normal life. I had no idea when you would be returning. I had hoped that she could live out her life until she was an adult without changing, but when she saw the news, she started showing the signs. And then you had to call her and speed up her process. I had to force her change back once."

  Ares bowed his head. "My apologies for that. But I had to know if she was my match or not."

  I took a step down the porch towards Ares. He smiled at me, but Darren growled making me stop moving. Ares ran up the porch in a blur of tan skin grabbing Darren by the throat and holding him up, choking him. "I warned you already. I am the alpha here, not you. Do not hinder her again."

  I ran to them and pleaded, "Please don't kill him!"

  Ares dropped Darren back into the chair and smiled. "I would not kill him. He is your father and just needed a small reminder."

  I stared at his handsome face and couldn't help but look over his muscular body. His light tan skin was the color of caramel and his perfect blue eyes were like a June sky. I reached out toward him, and almost touched him, when I heard the wolves behind us snarl. I turned around and saw Bret standing on the side of the house with his rifle aimed at the wolves. Ares snarled and the two wolves moved towards Bret.

  I screamed, "NO!" and ran as fast as I could to Bret, standing in front of him.

  He dropped the gun down immediately and stared at me in shock. "Artemis, what the hell are you doing? Don't you see the wolves? They are the same as the ones that have been killing people."

  I looked back at the wolves still moving forward and Ares close behind me. I turned to Ares. "Tell them to stop moving. He won't shoot them. Please."

  Ares sighed and held his hand up. The two wolves stopped moving, sitting on their butts, staring at Bret angrily. I reached for Bret's gun, but he backed up. I shook my head. "Bret, give me the gun or they will kill you."

  Bret reached towards my face and asked, "Why are your eyes purple?"

  I heard Darren speaking to Ares. "I made her wear contacts because they changed when she hit puberty."

  I ignored Darren, and turned to Bret. "Look Bret, there is a lot of shit I can't explain right now, but if you don't give me the gun, they are going to kill you."

  Bret stared at Ares and the two wolves and shook his head. "They are going to kill me anyway. I can see it in his eyes."

  I turned to Ares and snarled. "You won't touch him."

  Ares snarled back at me. "You are not dominant enough to make such statements."

  I shook my head. "I don't care about dominance. If you try to hurt him, I will die protecting him."

  Ares shook his head. "Do not threaten me, pup."

  I sighed. "Please Ares. I am asking you as a submissive. I am pleading with you as the one who answered your call."

  Ares smiled. "Only if you promise to leave with me."

  I looked up at Bret's shocked face and turned back to Ares. "Only if you and all of your people leave this town unharmed." Good thing he doesn't know that I was already planning on leaving with him.

  Ares sighed and rubbed his temples. "I should have known you would be smart. Very well, if you leave with me, we will leave this town unharmed including this boy."

  I reached down and grabbed Bret's gun out of his hand before he could react. I ran over to the gun case, and locked it inside before Bret could reach me. He spun me around and shook me. "What have they done to you? Have they brainwashed you?"

  I felt the tears falling down my face and shook my head. "I'm sorry, Bret. I had no idea about any of this. I have to go though."

  Bret stormed towards Ares and glared at the shorter man. "Who the fuck is he that you would leave me for him?"

  Ares smiled up at Bret. "She's my one and only, destined since she was born to be mine."

  Bret spit on the ground beside Ares. "That's a bunch of shit. We've been together since we could walk. She is mine, not yours."

  Ares smiled wider, but it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. "Would you put it to a test?"

  Darren stood up and walked quickly to Ares. He dropped to his knees and begged, "Please don't do this to him. He does not know anything about us. Please, Ares."

  Bret stared at Darren in shock. "Why are you groveling to him? He's just another man."

  Ares laughed. "Just another man! How funny."

  I grabbed Bret's hand and pulled him to me. "Just leave, Bret. You have to move on. I'm sorry, but I won't be here. It's for the good of the town."

  Bret shook his head. "You're not making any sense. Why would you leaving benefit the town?"

  Ares smiled and motioned at the two wolves. "Because your town is just another one to be destroyed. She has bargained for your lives, can't you see that?"

  "I won't let you leave with him." Bret said angrily.

  I smiled and hugged him standing on tiptoe and whispered, "I have always known you were my best friend, but this is bigger than us. I have to protect everyone, including you." I pulled away and backed towards Ares.

  Bret shook his head. "No, don't leave me. I am the one who is supposed to protect you, remember?"

  I smiled. "We always knew it would end with me protecting you, Bret. You just never wanted to admit it."

  Ares extended his hand to me smiling, "Come, my Moon Goddess. Let me take you away and show you your true nature."

  I smiled back at him and took his hand. The instant our skins touched an electric shock went through our bodies. I collapsed forward falling into his arms. He picked me up and held me against his bare chest. "I'll treat you like a Queen."

  I looked one last time at Bret's distraught face then relaxed as Ares began running. I heard the two wolves following closely behind us. I expected his running to be bouncy, but it was smooth. It was like we were standing still, with the air whizzing past us. They ran for a few hours taking us into a thick forest. When they finally stopped running Ares set me down on the ground. I wrapped my arms around myself and sighed. Tears escaped from my eyes before I could stop them. Ares sat down beside me and wiped the tears away with his thumb while he rested the rest of his hand against my cheek. I leaned into his hand enjoying the warmth. He whispered, "You will be happy again soon. I promise."

  I nodded my head and turned away from him. The two wolves stared at me with curious expressions on their faces. I turned to Ares and asked, "Why are they looking at me like that?"

  He smiled. "They want to know how it's possible that you do not know what you are. And why you have not changed."

  I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know. My father never changed in front of me, so until you changed I had no idea."

  One of the wolves shook its head, I heard popping and snapping. It sounded like bones breaking. I cringed as I watched his head reform into a human head. His green Mohawk was a dead give away. I smiled. "Koda!"

  He smiled at me as I stared at his human head on the giant wolf body. "Hey, Artemis."

  I smiled. "I should have known you would be here. Why aren't you changing back all of the way?"

  Ares rolled his eyes. "He is trying to save you from embarrassment. If he changes completely, he will be naked and we have no clothes with us for him to change into."

  I blushed. "Oh."

  The other wolf shook his head and changed it to human. He looked exactly like Koda, but had a blue Mohawk and spoke with a British accent. I recognized him as the oth
er man from the hotel. "She's blushing. That is very cute, Love."

  I turned away from them and walked a few steps away. Ares snarled. "Nice job, Matt."

  "What? You can't tell me that it's not cute that she blushes like a human." Matt said.

  I turned around and snarled at them. "I am a human!" I clamped my hands over my mouth and turned away again. Holy shit. What is happening to me?

  Ares whispered, "It's okay that you are scared."

  I shook my head. "I'm not scared. I just want to know what's happening." Okay, I was scared, but I didn’t want to admit it.

  Ares spoke softly to me. "You are going to change for the first time when the full moon rises tomorrow night. Your body is going through your transition phase and during that phase you can be a little bit temperamental."

  "Great! So it's like getting your period all over again."

  Ares smiled. "Sort of. How old are you, Artemis?"

  I looked at his face and gauged him at about twenty three. "Seventeen. Well, I’ll be eighteen tomorrow."

  Ares smile fell slightly at the corners. "You're turning eighteen?"

  I nodded my head. "Yep. I'm hoping to make it a couple more years too."

  Koda and Matt laughed, but Ares just regained his full smile. "It would be a truly amazing feat for you to hold off your change on your eighteenth birthday, but I do not think it will be possible. You’re getting a double whammy of full moon and eighteenth birthday."

  I shrugged. "Can't hurt to try."

  Matt laughed again. "I like her. She has a much older soul than her human years."

  Ares nodded his head. "It has to do with the fact that she is my match."

  I sighed. "I don't understand this whole match thing. I mean, I don't even remember answering your call or whatever. I started having convulsions after I saw you on TV and my dad stopped them by throwing me in the creek. I went to sleep, and when I woke up, I could smell wolves. When I went outside, you were there."

  "You must have answered before your dad threw you in the creek."

  The memory of my wolf self howling played in my mind and my eyes widened. I asked, "So, what happens now?"

  Ares stood up and held out his hand for me. I stood up without his hand brushing off my pants. Ares smiled at me and walked towards Koda and Matt. "Now we continue moving towards our destination. Once there, we will take you to a special place to wait for your first change."

  I shook my head. "I won't change tomorrow night."

  Ares smiled. "We'll see about that, but we must hurry."

  I looked at Matt and Koda in their wolf bodies and human heads, and at Ares, and sighed. "Why is this happening to me? Why couldn't I just have a normal life?"

  Ares frowned. "Your father said you were an outsider anyway."

  I laughed. "An outsider to everyone but Bret and Billy."

  Ares snarled. "You have to forget about them. You will never see them again."

  I stared in shock at him. "What? Why? You promised not to kill them!" I felt my anger boiling up and my skin started to turn hot. I took a step towards him and growled. A deep wolf growl came from my throat, but I didn't cringe.

  Ares growled back. "Do not try to fight me Artemis. You are completely human until you change, and I don't want to hurt you."

  “Then answer my questions." I snarled at him.

  Ares snarled back at me, taking a step towards me. I fought my body and stayed still, not stepping back from him even though I could feel the pressure building against me. "I will only let your aggressive gestures last so long. I understand that you are not used to the werewolf way, but I am your dominant, and you must treat me as such. Your friends will be alive and fine, but you will not be allowed to visit them or anyone else. After you have your first change, your food instincts are a little off."

  I stopped snarling and stared at him in shock. "You mean that I might end up trying to eat them?"

  Ares nodded his head. "Exactly.”

  I frowned. “Aren’t humans the top of the food chain?”

  “Humans were never the top of the food chain,” Ares answered angrily.

  “What is?” I asked.

  “We are.” Ares answered.

  I decided to leave the food chain topic alone, and walked towards Koda and Matt. "How old are you three?"

  Koda frowned. "You don't want to know."

  "Try me."

  Matt laughed. "Just wait until you know everything about us before we tell you our age."

  I sighed. "Fine, be secretive. See if I care! Now let's go. I'm starving."

  Koda smiled. "Me too."

  I looked at him and realized he was trying to make a joke. I laughed and turned to Ares. "So I guess you'll be carrying me again?"

  Ares shrugged. "Would you rather ride one of them?"

  I looked at Matt and Koda and asked, "Would one of you let me?"

  Koda stepped forward and nodded his human head. "Of course. Hop on." He coughed and I cringed as his face snapped and popped and extended into its wolf form.

  I shook my body. "At least you look natural again, but that's disgusting to hear."

  "Wait until it's your body doing it." said Matt.

  Ares snarled and Matt quickly changed his head back to wolf. I reached out towards Koda and stopped mid way. I looked back at Ares. "Are they still them?"

  He tilted his head to the side in a very canine like manner. "You mean are they still thinking like themselves or are they thinking like a dog?"

  I nodded my head. "Yeah. If I pet him is he going to try to bite me?"

  Ares shrugged. "Depends on what kind of mood he is in."

  I looked into Koda's eyes and said, "Don't bite me." I reached forward and stroked his fur with my hand. "It's so thick."

  Koda laid down so I could get on to him easier. I climbed up and grabbed a fist full of his fur enjoying the feel of it in my hands. He stood up slowly and started walking. I tucked my legs up slightly to get a better hold, since he was too large to ride like a horse. Koda crouched down and then sprang forward in a full run. I held on tightly, leaning forward so the wind and branches wouldn't hit me. We ran much faster than before and came out of the forest in a few minutes to a flat grass field. Koda slowed, and Ares walked to stand beside us. He looked around, then nodded his head. Matt walked forward into the open field and looked around carefully. He got to the middle of the field and howled loudly. I watched as five wolves ran from the trees on the other side of the field, and walked up to Matt. They smelled each other's faces and then sat down on their butts. Matt turned back to us and nodded his head. Koda and Ares walked together towards the group. I lay down flat on Koda's back trying to hide as much as possible in his fur.

  We reached the group and Koda sat down making it harder for me to hang on, but I gripped his fur tighter not wanting to fall. Ares still in his human form said, "Greetings, fellow wolves. We come to seek shelter in your town."

  Another man who had changed forms answered, "Greetings, Prince Ares. Of course you may stay with us. You need not even ask our permission."

  "Thank you, Gregory, but I wanted to be polite and not insist you let me stay with you." Ares said in a lighthearted tone.

  My grip slipped through Koda's fur and I hit the ground making an "oomf” sound as I landed. The other man growled. "What do you have with you?"

  I peeked around Koda and Ares smiled at me. "It's alright Artemis. Come here."

  I walked slowly toward Ares eyeing the other wolves cautiously. "Are you sure they aren't going to hurt me?"

  Ares smiled and held out his hand. "You are one of us, and you are mine. They will not harm you." I took his hand and hurried the rest of the way to his side. He said, "Gregory, I would like you to meet Artemis, my passt genau."

  Gregory, the only naked man, shook his head in disbelief. "Your match? I did not think it was possible for a wolf to find a match."

  Ares smiled and kissed the back of my hands sending chills up my spine. "Neither did I, but we had been dreami
ng of each other. I sent out a call and she answered from a state away. Her father did not tell her about our kind and kept her away. She has yet to change though."

  Gregory stared in shock at me. "How old?"

  "Seventeen, eighteen tomorrow."

  Gregory shook his head. "Amazing. It must have something to do with her not being around our kind."

  Ares nodded his head staring at my face. "That's what I assumed. Her father has even refused to change in front of her. She had no idea that werewolves even existed until a few hours ago when I came to her."

  I couldn't help but look at Gregory's body. He was muscled like Ares and naked. I started to look lower, but Ares tapped my face making me look at him. He whispered, "I assure you that there is nothing special for you to look at on him."

  I blushed and turned away from both of them. "You can't get mad at me. I hadn't seen a naked man before you changed at my house."

  Ares snorted. "Don't lie. I could tell that you have slept with that boy."

  "Define slept with. I have been asleep in the same bed with him, if that is what you mean, but I have never even kissed him, more than a kiss on the cheek."

  Ares sighed. "Now is not the time to discuss this. We must hurry to your place. The full moon comes tomorrow, and she will need her rest."

  I nodded my head. "Especially if I'm going to stop the change."

  Gregory shook his head. "You can't stop it."

  I glared at him, no longer unable to meet his eyes. "Do not tell me what I can or cannot do."

  Ares laughed. "See Gregory. She is perfect."

  Gregory smiled. "She is something, great Prince. Hurry and follow me then."

  He changed back to a wolf, his body popping and snapping as it changed. I cringed at the sound and moved towards Ares, but he was changing too. I ran to Koda and hopped up on his back as he started to stand up. I clung to him as he ran with the others.

  ~~~~

  Chapter Four

  We ran for a few hours through the trees before coming to a clearing. The large clearing was filled with little log cabin houses and one large concrete warehouse building. Adults and children of various races walked around smiling, talking and laughing as our pack of wolves ran by them. I stared in shock, not believing that this sight wasn't scaring them. How can this be normal? Are all of these people werewolves? I shuddered at the thought of so many werewolves being in one place. Aren't werewolves supposed to be angry and bloodthirsty?