Song of The Moon Artemis Lupine

by Banks, Catherine

  Our group stopped in front of the largest house and the men changed from wolves to human. I kept my face burrowed in Koda's fur as they walked inside so that I wouldn't have to look at their naked bodies. Koda turned his head to me and nudged my arm. I looked up and he snorted. I slid from his back and walked forward until I was on the steps of the house. I could hear Koda's body popping and snapping and cringed with each sound. He made a stretching noise and said from very close behind me, "Come on. Everyone went to get clothes so that they wouldn't embarrass you anymore."

  I felt the blush on my cheeks and was glad that I didn't have to look at him. I walked into the house quickly before anymore naked men showed up. When I was inside the doorway, I stopped. The house had a very warm feeling. The entryway had rows of pictures of people and wolves with a chandelier made of deer antlers hanging over the doorway. The living room sat off to the left, the bedrooms to the right, and the kitchen was straight ahead. I frowned at the set-up and then shrugged. Not my house to decide how to set it up. I loved how normal everything looked and hoped that my life wouldn't have to change too much.

  Ares walked out of one of the bedrooms in a pair of blue jeans and nothing else and I stared at him as he walked towards me. His flawless caramel skin begged for me to lick it and his piercing blue eyes would be perfect staring down at me while he...

  I broke the thought off and turned away as a burning blush roared up my cheeks. I felt Ares behind me and desperately wanted to turn around and touch him, but I stayed still, digging my fingers into my arms to hold myself together. You don’t even know this guy and you're already thinking about doing things you have never done with any other man before. I swallowed hard. Man. He was definitely a man.

  "Artemis." Ares whispered behind me. If his voice was a physical element, it would be velvet.

  I swallowed hard. "Yes?"

  He moved closer to me so that a large thought would make us touch. "Are you alright?"

  I nodded my head quickly then sighed. "I...I..."

  Ares wrapped his arms around my waist and I moaned at the feel of his burning skin against mine. He placed his lips next to my ear and asked, "Would you like me to give you some space?"

  I tried to say yes, but my mouth said, "NO!" I spun around in his arms and stared at his gorgeous face. His rugged physical features reminded me of the men who often camped in the nearby mountains. If he had wanted to, he could have been a model. I felt the muscles of his arms against me and his chest muscles as he wrapped his arms around me. My eyes rolled in the back of my head. He laughed quietly and set me down in a chair walking across the room. I stared after him and fought my body to stay in the chair. He smiled and I smiled back at him.

  Matt whistled from the doorway and spoke in his thick British accent, "Wow, she really is all bonkers fer ya. I can't believe you have a passt genau."

  Ares smiled and nodded his head. "She's perfect. Well, except that she hasn't changed yet."

  I frowned. "I'm not going to change."

  Ares shrugged and smiled. "Whatever you say."

  I smelled steak and licked my lips. "Are we going to eat soon? I'm starving." Ares started walking towards me and wicked thoughts about parts of him I wouldn't mind nibbling on instantly sprang to mind. I shook my head trying to clear it and asked, "Did you put some type of spell or something on me?"

  He whispered from behind me. "No. It's just how we are together."

  I groaned. "Great. Just great."

  Matt and Koda walked into the room and sat down on the love seat. They were both wearing only pants like Ares and it took all of my willpower to look away from their bodies and stare at my hands as I sat down on the farthest seat of the couch. I pressed myself into the corner trying to hide and disappear even though I knew it was impossible. I stayed staring at my hands even when someone sat down next to me on the couch.

  Matt whispered, "What's wrong, Love?"

  I looked up slowly making sure to avoid staring at his body and go straight for his face. "I don't really want to answer that truthfully."

  Matt smiled. "Is it because of how we're dressed?" I looked back down at my hands as another blush spread over my cheeks. Matt laughed. "It's alright. We won't get mad if we catch you looking at us."

  "It's not that, well it sort of is, but that's not completely it." I said quietly.

  Someone else sat down on the couch beside Matt. Koda asked, "You can't tell me you haven't seen your guy friends with their shirts off before."

  I felt my blush deepen and shook my head. "I didn't really have any friends besides Bret and I never paid attention to the guys anyway." And I guarantee none of them had bodies like yours.

  Matt snarled. "Was Bret the one trying to shoot us?"

  I sighed and looked up at him. "Yes. You can't hate him for that, though. I’ve never seen wolves your size until we watched the videos on TV and then to see two of them at my house.” My throat constricted as I thought about never seeing Bret again. After taking a deep breath I continued. “Bret has always vowed to protect me, and he was just worried for my safety. He didn't shoot you, right?"

  Matt shrugged. "I didn't say I hated him. I just don't like humans in general."

  I grimaced. "You don't like me?"

  Matt smiled sweetly. "Love, you aren't human. Your father made you believe you are, but you are a werewolf." He stared at my eyes and shook his head. "And something else, because I have never met anyone with purple eyes before."

  I frowned. “What are you talking about? I don’t have purple eyes.” Koda and Matt stared at me in shock. I shook my head. "I don't know what you are talking about."

  Koda called, "Ares." Ares walked over and stood in front of me. I stayed staring at Koda. Koda said, "Ares, you need to take her to the bathroom."

  I looked up at Ares' face, waiting for his reaction. Ares frowned. "Why? Are you not feeling well?"

  Koda shook his head. "Ares, she doesn't know what her eyes look like."

  Ares looked down at me in shock. "What color are your eyes Artemis?"

  I shrugged. "Brown. At least that's what Bret always told me. Darren never had a mirror in the house and I never really thought about it. Whenever I walked by a mirror I just never looked into one."

  Ares picked up my hand then turned it over staring at the burn from the wolf necklace. “What happened?” He asked softly.

  I sighed. “Billy gave me a necklace with a wolf pendent and the wolf burned my hand.”

  Ares asked, “Silver?” I nodded my head and he whispered, “Don’t touch silver.” He pulled me to the bathroom down the hall. We passed Gregory, who stared at us in shock. Ares pushed the bathroom door open and pushed me in front of the mirror. I stared at him, not sure what he wanted.

  Ares sighed. "Look in the mirror."

  I turned my head and looked at the mirror and gasped. I put my hand up to my face and rubbed my cheek. I knew I looked like my mother because Darren had told me, but I hadn't realized how much I looked like her. I stared in shock at my dark purple eyes. I turned to Ares and asked, "This isn't some illusion is it? Is this really what I look like?"

  "Yes, Artemis. That is what you look like. Didn't you own a mirror?" I shook my head and ran my fingers through my thick black hair. I felt the tears running down my face before I saw them in the mirror. I turned away from the mirror and sat down on the floor holding my face in my hands. Ares sat down next to me and wrapped his arms around me. "It's alright Artemis. Everything will be alright."

  I stopped crying and rubbed my eyes with my arms. "I'm sorry. It's just that I haven't seen my face before and I didn't realize how much I look like my mother. I thought this whole time that I was just ugly and that's why everyone treated me like an outsider." I stopped talking because I felt like I was being arrogant to say that I thought I was beautiful.

  Ares tilted my head up with his finger under my chin and smiled. "You're very beautiful Artemis. I'm sure the reason they treated you like an outsider has nothing to do with your looks.
I'll explain it to you later, but we need to eat."

  I nodded my head and stood up. I turned to him and asked, "Do you know of anyone else who has purple eyes? And why is it that I feel like I have known you my entire life, when I have only known you a few hours?"

  He smiled and ran a fingertip along my jaw line. "I keep telling you that you were destined to be with me. I'm not making it up. And yes, I have met someone with purple eyes, but it has been a very long time since then."

  I asked, "Does everyone have someone to answer their call?"

  He shook his head. "No. The one that did had to wait a long time to find the person who answered."

  I asked, "How long did you wait?"

  He shook his head. "Not yet. Wait until we explain everything about our culture to you."

  I sighed. "Fine. But can you explain it soon?"

  Ares laughed. "Of course." He walked from the bathroom back to the living room where everyone was sitting. I followed him and sat down in my spot in the corner of the couch.

  Gregory brought out three plates of burgers and set it down on the coffee table. Gregory smiled. "Dig in!"

  Matt and Koda jumped from the couch and grabbed two burgers each. Ares stood up and grabbed two also then all three sat down on the floor and began eating. I stared at the normal setting of guy friends eating burgers in a living room and wondered if all things about werewolves were the same. Well except for the body changing part. Ares looked up from his burger and frowned at me. "You need to eat."

  I sighed and stood up grabbing one burger and sat back down pressing myself harder into the corner of the couch. I took a small bite from the burger and groaned in pleasure. "This is the best burger I have ever tasted!" I ate the burger quickly then grabbed another from the table scarfing it down too. Gregory handed everyone cups of soda then sat back down. I swallowed mine quickly sighing in happiness when I was done. I felt a burp coming and fought to hold it down, but Koda burped loudly below me so I let mine out. I burped loud and long and laughed when I was finally done. "Excuse me."

  All of the men stared at me in shock then started laughing loudly. Matt said, "Koda, she beat your burp like you were still a pup."

  Koda smiled. "Looks like we may have a good burping contest with her around." I blushed and looked down at my hands. Koda groaned. "You embarrass too easily. I know you don't know us, but we really aren't bad, and we aren't trying to embarrass you. Just treat us like we're your friends.

  I stayed looking at my hands, no longer embarrassed, but now sad. I wonder what theory Ares has about why I didn’t have any friends.

  Koda sighed. "What did I say wrong?"

  I looked up at him and smiled. "Nothing Koda. I just didn't have any friends besides Bret, so I don't really know how to act around a group of people."

  Koda frowned. "But your friend was the all star football player. You would go everywhere with him."

  I stared at him in shock. "How did you know that?"

  Koda smiled. "I can recognize the type."

  "Sure I went with him everywhere, but he was the only one that wanted me there, and no matter how hard I tried to fit in, it never worked." I laughed bitterly. "I'm sure they are ecstatic that I'm gone."

  Ares shook his head. "They might be, but Bret won't."

  I smiled. "I wish I could see their faces when they make a comment and he tears their heads off. Well, for the next day or two, until he leaves." I sighed. "He was always sticking up for me." I looked at Ares. "It wouldn't be possible for me to go back and explain everything to him, would it?"

  Ares smiled. "Maybe someday, but not soon. You are in for a long couple of weeks of dealing with the transformation and the new things that come with it.

  I nodded my head. "Sure. Will you explain everything now?"

  Ares nodded his head then looked at Gregory. Gregory asked, "What do you know about werewolves?"

  I shrugged. "Only what I've seen in movies."

  All of them groaned. Gregory shook his head. "I don't understand why your father was so stupid not to tell you about what you are. Alright, I'll explain from the beginning. There are three ways to become a werewolf. One is to be bitten, which injects the Lycanthropy disease. The second is to be cursed by a witch, which sort of implants the disease in your body. The third is genetic, where you receive the disease from either the sperm or egg."

  I stared at him in shock as he continued his editorial. "You were born which means that either one or both of your parents were werewolves. We obviously know your father was one, but aren't sure about your mother what with your purple eyes and all." Ares cleared his throat and Gregory continued. "Werewolves are special from humans not only in the fact that we can change shape, but also that we move fast and heal much faster than humans. We don’t live forever, but if we find someone who will tie themselves to us, then we will live an endless number of years. Basically, if one of you dies, the other dies, too. Luckily, it’s difficult to kill us. It's really the only drawback."

  I felt my jaw drop open and looked around at the men around me. "You...you're all old aren't you?"

  They all frowned at me as I looked at all of their handsome faces and sculpted bodies. I looked at Ares last and asked in a voice barely louder than a whisper, "How old are you?"

  Ares smiled. "I honestly don’t know how old I am. I tried once to go back and figure it out, but I always lose count around the time of the Battle of Actium in Greece. I was old by human standards then, though."

  I felt my jaw drop open. "Why are you interested in a seventeen year old then? Isn't that kind of like being a pedophile?"

  Ares frowned deep, his forehead furrowing together and anger stretching his eyes tight. "I am not a pedophile! The rules are different when you live for hundreds of years. I am technically only in my mid twenties. And besides, you are the one who answered my call. No matter what your age, you would be the only one for me. If you had been an infant, I would still have taken you and cared for you until you were old enough to truly love me like we are meant to."

  I felt my face fall in shock. "Love?" What the hell is he talking about?

  Ares sighed. "You don't get it. You and I are destined to be together for eternity. We are the only couple that does not have to be bound to live forever. You and I will live an endless number of years and if one of us dies the other will not."

  I stared at the ground. "I did not mean to upset you, but fifty was old to me. How can you not expect me to be upset that you are over two thousand years old?"

  Koda cringed. "Don't tell her my age. I may be younger than Ares, but not by her standards."

  "You might as well tell me. If I am really going to live for eternity, I will find out later." I said.

  "Later. Keep going Gregory." Koda said.

  Gregory smiled. "When someone is bitten they change at the next full moon, the same as with being cursed by a witch. But when you are born, you don't change until you hit puberty."

  I stared at him in shock and shook my head. "That's wrong. I hit puberty at thirteen."

  All of the men turned and stared at me. Ares asked, "Thirteen? Have you ever stopped your transformation before?"

  I thought about it and shrugged. "I don't know. I didn't know I was a werewolf until you came, remember?"

  Ares snarled. "I'm really starting to dislike your father more and more. Have you ever had an instance where you thought you were having a seizure or heart attack or something?"

  I thought back through my childhood and then remembered everything. I felt my eyes widen and said, "Shit. You've got to be kidding me." They all stared at me waiting for me to answer. I groaned. "When I was ten, yeah ten, I had what appeared to be a seizure at school. My dad refused to take me to the doctors though, which pissed off the town. Then I kept having them. Not everyday or anything, but once every few months. The last three years I’ve had them about every month, sometimes three times a month. Like once when I was thirteen, when I hit puberty, I started getting the shakes really bad. Darren kept m
e home from school and I fought my body to stop the shaking. Then when I was fifteen, I had another seizure episode at school in the middle of the cafeteria, but obviously it wasn't a seizure. One time I was at the lake with Bret and this girl slapped me in the face. I punched her back, but then fell on my hands and knees and started seizing." Gregory's eyes were wide in fear as I continued. "Yesterday I started seizing, but Darren threw me in the creek, which stopped it."

  "Holy shit." Koda said.

  Matt nodded his head. "Love, you are amazing."

  I looked at Ares who was smiling happily at me. "What does this mean, Ares? That I have been fighting my transformation since I was ten?"

  Ares nodded his head. "I believe so. I don't know why you started before you hit puberty or why you were able to stop them for so long. No one has ever stopped their first transformation before. And it is very unheard of to stop any of them."

  I asked, "Can you stop them?"

  He nodded his head. "I can, but not all of the time."

  I shivered. "Oh, god. Why didn't Darren tell me this before? I felt like I was handicapped or something with the seizures."

  Ares snarled. "I think you may get your wish to visit your town. I need to speak with your father."

  "You aren't going to hurt him are you?" I asked nervously.

  Ares smiled. "Not if you don't want me to."

  I shook my head. "I don't. So when we go back do I get to speak with Bret?"

  Ares snarled. "With supervision."

  I snarled back. "I don't need supervision."

  Ares shook his head. "I won't let you see him alone."

  I stood up glaring at him. "You cannot tell me what to do. I may be stuck with you the rest of my life, but I don't have to bow to you just because you have some stupid title among the werewolves."