Song of The Moon Artemis Lupine

by Banks, Catherine

  Ares rolled his eyes. “You should have eaten before we left and Bosnia wasn’t my fault. Koda bit me.”

  Koda sat down in an empty seat across from us. “I was only ten and you were being rude.”

  Victor scoffed. “It took me three days to heal from that crash and my father spent five thousand dollars on outside help to finally convince the humans that it had been a lightning strike.”

  Ares rolled his eyes. “That’s pocket change to your father and besides it would have been fine if you had eaten before we got on the plane with two hundred humans.”

  I looked at Victor as the pieces of what they were talking about fit into place. “You ate two hundred humans?”

  Victor shushed me and whispered, “No, I tried to eat Ares and he changed and the humans freaked and I killed the two hundred humans.”

  I looked at Ares. “You killed them?”

  Ares shook his head. “No, I was fighting with Koda because he was trying to eat the humans. Victor killed them.”

  Koda shrugged. “I’d only changed twice and humans smell very good when you’re a pup.”

  I wrinkled my nose in disgust. “If you say so.”

  “You don’t think they smell good?” Asked Koda.

  “They smell like humans, not food.” I said seriously.

  Ares smiled at me. “Really?”

  I blushed and looked down. “Something else that makes me not normal?”

  Victor was tapping his chin with his finger loudly. “It must be because she was raised around them and that boy was so close to her when she was fighting the changes so many times. She must have just associated their smell with friends. You know the wolves’, friend, foe or food mentality.”

  Koda scoffed in the seat across from us. “Food can be foe or friend also.”

  I looked up at him in shock. “You’d eat a friend?”

  Ares shook his head smiling. “Not a friend as in another wolf, but like a friendly dog.”

  I stared at Ares then saw the smile Victor had to the side of me. “That’s really not funny.”

  Victor and Ares laughed loudly and the overweight woman in front of us turned her head and shushed us. I stuck my tongue out at her and she turned back around whispering loudly to the balding man beside her about “disrespectful youth”.

  Ares reached across me and my heart sped up instantly at the nearness of his body to mine. His smile widened as he pushed up the window cover so we could see outside the plane. I closed my eyes as he and Victor looked out the window. Ares whispered, “Artemis, just look. It’s very beautiful.”

  I shook my head and squinted my eyes closed harder. “No thanks. I’ll pass.”

  Victor sighed. “And here I thought the Great Ares would get an adventurous mate, but it looks like he got a wimp.”

  I nodded my head with my eyes still closed. “Yep, sorry Victor, not falling for the bait.”

  The plane bounced around as we hit a patch of turbulence and I gripped the arms of the seat and squealed in fear. The arms began moaning in protest of my grip and Ares pried my left hand off the arm between us and held my hand. “Artemis, do you think I’m a liar?”

  I turned my head towards him and opened one eye. “What?” The plane was jolted again and I closed my eyes squeezing tightly on his hand and the right chair arm.

  He whispered, “I told you that I wouldn’t let anything happen to you and yet you’re destroying the plane in your fear of the plane falling. Do you think I’m lying when I tell you that I’ll protect you?”

  The pain and sincerity in his voice made me open my eyes and loosen my grip. I looked at him and it caused my stomach to knot up at the sight of his pain. “I don’t think you’re a liar, but you couldn’t possibly protect me from everything.”

  Ares frowned. “So you do think I’m a liar? I’ll just have to prove it to you.” He leaned towards me and cupped my face with his hands. His skin was warm and his breath was hot as he kissed me on the lips. Fire exploded in my body and I wrapped my arms around his neck. He pulled away from the kiss and whispered, “Nothing matters to me now except you. This plane could fall on my mother’s house and my only worry would be your safety. Trust me to protect you.”

  I nodded my head and licked his cheek. “I’m sorry.”

  He smiled. “You licked me again?”

  I shrugged. “I am a wolf.”

  He whispered, “Will you accept your place in my pack now?”

  I frowned. “What do you mean?”

  Matt whispered from behind me, “He means will ya’ accept him as yer’ mate and me and Koda as yer’ packmates?”

  I turned my head so I could see Matt through the crack in the seats. “What happens?”

  Matt smiled. “We go on a hunt and you finally sleep with us.”

  My eyes widened and Matt shook his head. “Love, your mind is filled with dirty thoughts. I only meant that we sleep in the same bed with you, not sleep with you.”

  Ares growled. “No, not the latter.”

  Koda sighed. “Ares has never been good about sharing.”

  Ares sighed. “We hadn’t eaten in four days and I killed it! Besides I apologized the next day.”

  I smiled and asked, “What happened?”

  Koda leaned around Ares and talked just loud enough for me to hear, but not for the humans on the plane. “We were running through Germany and hadn’t been able to find a house or food for a few days. Well as you can imagine we were ravenous. Ares here sees a lone stag and takes off after it killing it in like three seconds. I walked over to eat my share and he attacks me!”

  I gasped, “No!”

  Matt stood up and leaned over the tops of our seats. “So, while Ares is chasing Koda around, I run over and started eating off the stag. As you can imagine that wasn’t alright with Ares. So he leaves Koda and charges after me!”

  Koda laughed and shook his head. “We had to keep drawing him away and then sneaking into eat like that for two hours before we got our fill and then we both ran off and let Ares eat.”

  Ares sat back in his seat and frowned. “I apologized afterwards. Besides I’m supposed to eat first and you both know it.”

  Matt asked, “When are we going to test the new dominance layout?”

  “It depends on how she feels. I don’t want to push her too soon.” Ares said softly.

  “You’re talking about me like I’m not here.” I scolded.

  Ares smiled and rested his hand on my knee and closed his eyes. “Sorry, baby.”

  I smacked his hand off my knee and snarled, “Don’t call me baby!”

  Ares opened one eye and looked at me with a completely calm, neutral face. “What would you like me to call you?”

  I frowned. “I don’t know, but not baby or darling or…well I can’t think of anything you could call me.”

  Ares closed his eye again and replaced his hand on my knee. “I’ll think of something.”

  Matt smiled. “Glad I took Love already.”

  Ares scoffed. “Yeah, thanks.”

  I relaxed back into my seat and noticed the window still open from the corner of my eye. I closed my eyes and reached over searching along the wall for the window cover. I finally found it and pulled the cover down and then opened my eyes again, only to find Ares, Koda and Matt watching me. I blushed and looked down at my hands in my lap. Koda sighed. “You think she’ll ever stop blushing?”

  Ares rubbed his thumb across my kneecap. “I hope not.”

  More blood rushed to my face and Victor whispered from behind Ares, “I can smell her from here. Knock it off.”

  Ares laughed softly and pulled his hand off my leg. “My apologies, Victor. We should all rest. It’s going to be a long night once we arrive.”

  The absence of his hand was like a bee sting. I pushed up the middle arm, scooted closer to Ares and leaned my head against his shoulder. I closed my eyes and reveled in the happy electric current thrumming through my body. Ares kissed the top of my head and then laid his head on to
p of mine.

  ~~~~

  Chapter Eight

  I pulled myself out of a dreamless sleep as I heard the stewardess talking quietly to Ares in another language. Instnatly my anger began to well up. I opened my eyes and found myself inches from her breasts. I sat up quickly and was about to snarl when Ares grabbed my hand and the anger disappeared. I stared at his hand as though it were a bear trap and asked, “How’d you do that?”

  The stewardess handed me a pillow and then walked away. Ares whispered, “I wasn’t doing anything with the stewardess and I very politely explained that we were getting married. I had no idea she would start discussing it with me and then she insisted on getting a pillow for you even though we’re about to land.”

  The pillow fell off my lap as I moved back into my own seat and faced the closed window. “I didn’t say anything.”

  Ares whispered, “You didn’t have to. I could feel your anger like a growing forest fire.”

  I looked at him and asked again, “How’d you do that?”

  He smiled. “I took your anger from you. It’s a handy trick you learn when you become an alpha.” The stewardess stood in the front of the plane and picked up the intercom. She began speaking in fluent French and I felt my anger rising again. She was pretty and thin, model thin. Ares sighed. “I would never cheat on you.”

  My anger rose at the thought of Ares with another woman and my body temperature began rising. Matt growled softly behind me and Ares growled back. Koda whined softly and I took a giant breath then let it out slowly. The anger vanished and my body cooled down. Matt snorted and Koda sighed. Ares thumped my arm softly. “Cool down.”

  I smiled and looked at his golden eyes. “I am. You seem to be upset still though.”

  Ares shook his head and the gold faded. “To feel your strong emotions is hard on me. Our connection is still new and not finished yet. The connection between our emotions is designed this way to keep you safe, but you’re a little more volatile than most your age.”

  His words stung as I deciphered between the lines and got the unspoken word of “immature”. The light to put your belts on chimed over our heads giving me a chance to look away from Ares and put my belt on. The plane began to descend and I gripped on to the arm rests tightly. Ares held out his hand, but I ignored him by closing my eyes and leaning back against the seat as the plane landed on the runway. I kept my eyes closed until the attendant got back on the intercom and I could hear people beginning to stand up. I unbuckled my seat belt and stood up facing the front of the plane.

  Koda walked up from the back, where his assigned seat had been, carrying my backpack. I held out my hand and he shook his head smiling. “I’ll carry it.”

  I wanted to argue, but Ares was watching me and we were next to walk out of the plane. “Thanks.” The desire to touch Ares was growing stronger, but I refused to give in. There was no reason I had to touch him all the time. Victor led the way out of the airport and to a waiting limousine. I smiled at Victor. “I’ve never gotten to ride in a limo before.”

  He smiled at me. “Well then get in.”

  I ducked into the limo and climbed over on the seat to look out the large side windows. The others climbed in behind me and the driver started the limo. I moved from one side of the limo to the other as we drove through France. The Eiffel Tower loomed over us as we drove by it and I asked, “Do we get to go see it?”

  Ares frowned. “If we have time.”

  I was about to pout when Koda said. “Matt and I will take you tomorrow while Ares is in meetings.”

  Ares shook his head and folded his arms across his chest. “Absolutely not. She’s not to be away from me while we’re here.”

  Matt glared at Ares. “You think we wouldn’t be able to protect her?”

  Ares growled. “I think there are too many leeches, no offense Victor, in this city.”

  Victor frowned. “Why would any vampire want to bother Artemis? There are only a few people that have seen her and those are either in America or my father.”

  Ares shook his head. “I’m alpha of this pack and I say that I don’t want her out of my sight.”

  “Ares you’re being overprotective. No one would want to take Artemis or hurt her. Gregory was just psycho and an exception and Darren was supposed to have killed her years…uh oh.” Koda stopped talking, looked down at the ground and rubbed the back of his neck.

  My eyes were bulging out of my skull as I looked at each of the four men who were quickly averting their gazes from me. “What do you mean Darren was supposed to have killed me?”

  Ares looked up. “You’re a mixed blood, Artemis. Mixed bloods aren’t supposed to be made let alone allowed to live. Your father was ordered by the king at the time you were born to kill you. As we can see he never did though.”

  The words sunk in slowly until the painful truth hit. “He’d been planning it for after Bret left.”

  All of the men looked at me in shock. Ares asked, “What do you mean?”

  Tears began running down my cheeks and I hugged my knees to my chest. “I heard Darren talking on the phone a few times about his plans. He would tell the person that it was going to be harder to do than he originally thought and to just give him until after Bret left. He always told me that I didn’t need to worry about trying to find friends after Bret left and I thought he meant that I’d find others, not that I’d be dead.”

  Ares growled and rushed across the limo picking me up and holding me in his lap. “He won’t hurt you now. I won’t let him.”

  I buried my face in his chest and inhaled his scent that was fast becoming familiar and comforting. In a matter of minutes the sorrow at my revelation disappeared and I was relaxed again. Deciding to ignore the news about my father, I whispered, “Can I go see the Eiffel Tower tomorrow?”

  Ares sighed. “Dammit.”

  I lifted my face and licked his cheek. “Please.”

  Ares groaned. “Alright! But you have to stay with Koda and Matt at all times, even bathroom trips.”

  I kissed his lips quickly and jumped across the limo to look out the window. “I can’t wait!”

  Matt turned on the seat beside me and started pointing out places we would visit as the limo drove on. The city faded into countryside and I sat down in my seat sighing loudly after thirty minutes. “When are we going to be there? I’m hungry.”

  Victor smiled showing his fangs. “Care to make a bet on who’s hungrier?”

  Ares growled. “Don’t test me Victor.”

  My legs began to go numb from sitting so long and I slid to the floor kicking my feet. “Dangit, my legs are falling asleep.”

  Victor smiled. “We’re almost there. I’d say five more minutes, tops.”

  I folded my legs into my body and asked, “What’s it like?”

  Victor shrugged. “You’ll see.”

  Ares held his hand out towards me and I took it giving into the pain I’d been trying to ignore for the last hour. He pulled me up on to the seat beside him and I laid my legs across his lap. He started massaging my legs and I moaned in pleasure. “Wow, you’re really good at that.”

  “I’m very good at a lot of things.” Ares winked at me and I blushed, closed my eyes and enjoyed the massage.

  Koda asked, “Do we have to dress up tomorrow?”

  I opened my eyes to see the interaction. Ares nodded his head. “Of course. I don’t want to go before them dressed in Darren’s clothes.”

  Koda sighed. “I know. I just hate wearing a jacket all the time.”

  Victor shrugged. “You could wear dress casual instead.”

  Matt shook his head. “If we dress at all we will dress formal. It’s how Ares likes it.”

  Ares shrugged. “If I’m going to try to look good I might as well look great.”

  “When don’t you look great?” I gasped as the words slipped out of my mouth. I yanked my legs away from Ares and curled up into a ball trying to hide my blush.

  Ares picked me up in my ball pos
ition and set me on his lap. “Thank you.”

  I mumbled, “You’re welcome,” from inside my ball.

  Ares rested his head against my shoulder and whispered into my ear, “You always look great too.”

  Part of me wanted to climb out of Ares’ lap, but a larger part of me enjoyed his arms around me. I gave into the larger part and relaxed out of my ball to wrap my arms around his shoulders and rest my face in the crook of his neck. The temptation to bite him gnawed at me so I nipped his throat lightly. He growled, “No.”

  I whined and nipped his neck again letting the wolf instincts take a little bit of reign over my human ones. Ares growled at me again and bit my shoulder hard enough to make me gasp, but not hard enough to really hurt. I nipped his chest and jumped out of his arms to crouch on the floor of the limousine. Ares was crouched on top of the seat smiling at me and I swore I could see an image of a tail wagging behind him. Koda yipped excitedly behind me and jumped towards me. I rolled away from him and Matt jumped on top of me. I nipped his arm and rolled away from him running into Ares who bit my bottom. I snarled and jumped around biting his shoulder and then jumping on top of the seat beside Victor. Victor shook his head and sighed. “Wolves. You’re all so silly.”

  I looked down at the crouched position I was in and plopped down on my butt sitting like a human and blushing at the things I had just done. Ares was staring at me with golden eyes. “You don’t want to play anymore?”

  I shook my head and blushed. “No.”

  Koda whined. “Play.” Matt nodded his head vigorously.

  Victor sighed. “Point a sharp object at them and they’ll rip your head off without a second thought, but offer to play tag and they become children pouncing around like fairies.” Ares growled and Victor smiled “You know what I meant.” A large rod iron gate with swirls and flowers decorating it came into view and Victor sighed. “Finally.”

  Ares, Matt and Koda shook their heads and sat down on the seats normally. Koda and Matt folded their arms across their chests angrily and Ares stared out the window ignoring me. They were mad at me. The gate opened and we drove past rows and rows of grapes. “The vampire capitol of the world is in a vineyard?” I asked.