Kiss of a Star Artemis Lupine

by Banks, Catherine

  I was still bothered by Matt’s lie and in wolf form I especially felt awkward around him. Ares draped his head across my neck and sighed in contentment. How are you feeling today?

  Fine, thank you. I said quietly as I enjoyed his warmth and the smell of his fur. I noticed another slightly different, but familiar smell underneath Ares’ fur, against his skin, but I couldn’t place it.

  Koda trotted over, licking his lips clean. Okay, I’m done.

  Ares pulled away and we all ran back towards the house. I changed forms at the door and ran inside and up the stairs. I stepped into the bedroom and stopped in my tracks. A slim, beautiful black haired woman was lying, naked on the bed.

  She sat up when I walked in and glared at me. “Where is Ares?”

  I growled loudly and squatted down, preparing to attack. “Why are you on my bed, naked?”

  She stood up and glared at me. “I do not need to speak to you, girl. I came to see the Prince. Now, step aside.”

  Ares walked up behind me and stared in shock at the woman. “Natasha? What are you doing here?”

  She smiled seductively and posed against the bed post. “I was waiting for you.”

  I growled again and Ares sighed. “Oh. I see. Natasha, you need to leave.”

  Natasha’s beautiful smile wilted as she looked from me to Ares. “You would reject me for this…this child?”

  Koda walked up the stairs and pulled me backwards, away from Natasha. Apparently he guessed I was about to pounce on her.

  Ares took a step towards Natasha and speaking in a soothing tone said, “You need to leave, Natasha. This is not your home, nor is this your pack. Leave.”

  She stuck out her bottom lip in a pout and took a step closer to Ares, running a fingertip over his chest. “Ares, you know you would rather have me.”

  Anger boiled up in me, tinting my sight red. I wanted to change forms, but I held the change and instead charged at Natasha, knocking her to the ground and punching her in the face before Ares pulled me away. “Let me go!” I yelled as I struggled to attack her again.

  Koda knelt down beside Natasha’s still body and then turned to smile at me. “You knocked her out cold. I’m impressed.”

  Ares wrapped his arms around me and exhaled. His magic wrapped around me like the warm hug he was holding me in and calmed me. “Artemis, relax. You know I would never, could never, cheat on you. Especially not with a trashy woman like Natasha.”

  I turned around slowly and asked, “Is she one of your former flings?”

  “Yes, but I never felt anything for her.”

  Natasha moaned and started to sit up. “You bitch. You’ll pay for that.”

  Koda picked Natasha up and started carrying her downstairs. “Time to go.”

  Natasha struggled against him, but decided instead to turn towards me. “You don’t deserve Ares! You don’t deserve to be in this pack! I challenge you! Accept, you coward!”

  Ares opened his mouth to speak, but I spoke up before he could. “A challenge for what?”

  Her eyes brightened happily. Ares shook his head, Koda’s mouth gaped open and Achilles walked inside the front door, staring at our group. Natasha pulled out of Koda’s arms and glared at me. “A fight to the death. Winner gets Ares and his pack.”

  “Artemis, stop this, you can’t…” Ares began.

  “I accept,” I said over Ares’ words.

  Ares stared at me in complete and udder shock, as did Achilles and Koda. Natasha nodded her head. “In three days at noon, meet me at the fountain.” She winked at Ares and then jogged out of the house.

  Ares’ anger had been building since I had accepted and as soon as she was gone he turned on me and yelled, “What are you thinking?! Do you realize what you just did?!”

  He’d never been mad at me before and it took all of my courage not to cower. “I’m protecting my place. All of the women here don’t believe I should have you as a mate. I’ve been attacked and insulted and I’m tired of it. I’m going to prove, once and for all, that I’m your mate and I’ll die to keep that title.”

  Ares roared in anger, “Did you think what would happen if you lose?” He stormed down the stairs without looking at me again.

  Achilles was glowing and glaring at Ares. “You let her accept?!”

  Ares moved faster than my eye could track and suddenly had Achilles pinned to the wall of the entryway. “I DID NOT LET HER! SHE DID IT HERSELF!”

  Achilles shoved Ares back, flinging him into the other wall. “You should have stopped her!”

  Ares screamed and charged at Achilles, who charged at him, glowing brighter and brighter. The sound of their hits was like a jack hammer on concrete and soon I was covering my ears. Koda and Matt rushed into the fight and tried, unsuccessfully, to stop them. The metallic taste of blood hit my tongue from the air and my senses finally returned. I rushed down the stairs and threw my self between the two men. Ares’ fist stopped an inch away from my face and both men took a few steps away from me.

  “Stop it. Both of you! I chose this and none of you could have stopped me. Stop fighting!” The words came out loud and strong, like a drill sergeant ordering their cadets. I looked from one angry set of eyes to another and noticed that both had a split lip, but no other damage seemed present. “Please, don’t fight.”

  Ares growled and stormed out of the house, walking towards the forest. Matt jogged after him silently. Achilles walked away from me and towards the room he was staying in. My legs started to give and only my arm reaching out and hitting the wall saved me. Koda rushed forward and picked me up. “Artemis?”

  “I messed up, didn’t I?” I asked in a small voice.

  Koda nuzzled my cheek. “They’re just worried.” Koda shut the front door and walked up the stairs, keeping a tight grip on me.

  “Are you mad at me too?”

  He kept looking straight ahead, avoiding looking at my face. “I don’t think you should have accepted her challenge and I’m worried about the consequences. I am not mad at you though. Just worried.”

  “Is she that strong?” I asked nervously.

  Koda nodded his head. “She’s one of the strongest females.” He set me down and pushed me towards the bathroom. “Go take a shower. I’ll keep guard.”

  I groaned as I started walking towards the shower. “It’s ridiculous that I have a guard. I’m capable of protecting myself. I’m not a helpless female in need of a big man to protect me all of the time.” Sure, sometimes it was nice to have backup, like when vampires and dhampirs attack, but I can hold my own.

  “Complaining won’t change anything. No matter what you say, Ares is going to keep a guard on you.”

  The shower head groaned for a minute before turning on. My body suddenly felt very cold and the steam rising from the shower head was more than inviting. “Do you think Ares is going to come back?” I asked as I stepped into the shower and relaxed under the hot water.

  “He’ll come back. He’s just blowing off some steam.” Koda assured me.

  I quickly showered and then blow dried my hair. Outside, a large crash sounded, making me jump. Koda rushed over and picked me up in his arms.

  “Put me down, Koda. Why do you guys always pick me up and carry me? I’m not an invalid.”

  Koda set me on my feet and frowned down at me. “We pick you up because, as you’re aware, touch helps soothe us when we’re feeling upset. Plus, it’s more effective to pick you up and hold you while we run somewhere to protect you.”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you,” I said softly.

  Koda kissed my cheek. “It’s alright. I forgive you. It was probably just Ares knocking over a tree anyways. Come on, we better get dressed so we can start training.”

  “Training? For what?”

  He turned to me and all of the humor that usually lit Koda’s eyes was gone, leaving them a dull blue. “You have to train for your fight. I won’t lose my packmate just because we were mad at you and didn’t train you properly.”<
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  I followed Koda to the room and quickly dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. He dressed in only a pair of sweats and shook his head at me when I reached for shoes. “I need to teach you some tricks about changing to your wolf form. Put some sweats on instead.”

  “Ares didn’t buy me any sweats,” I whispered, feeling Ares’ absence like a weight on my shoulders.

  Koda handed me a pair of his sweats. “Cinch the string as tight as it will go on your waist and then roll the waistband so the legs are shorter for you.”

  I did as he suggested and then followed him back down the stairs. As we opened the front door to leave, Achilles walked out of his room. “Where are you going?”

  “I’m taking her to the woods to do some training.” Koda answered.

  Achilles was frowning hard, but only a faint line creased his perfect brow. “I’ll accompany you.”

  Koda looked like he wanted to object, but shrugged instead and pushed me towards the door. “Come on. We’ve only got three days to train you.”

  The three of us walked in silence through the woods. I felt nervous, but I knew Koda wouldn’t hurt me. Although, I wasn’t sure of Achilles’ intentions, but I doubted he would hurt me either. Koda led us to a small circular clearing filled with grass and wild flowers. It was beautiful and yet I could smell dried blood on the ground. “This is our training field,” Koda explained to me. He walked to the center of the clearing and motioned at me to come towards him. “I want you to attack me, but do not use your sidhe powers, or change to your complete wolf form.”

  I nodded my head in understanding and walked to stand a few feet away from him. I took two deep cleansing breaths before moving forward as fast as I could and punching at Koda. He spun around me and in an instant had an arm wrapped around my throat and was choking me. “You’re too slow. You need to move faster. You also need to pay more attention to your opponent. As soon as you see me moving to go behind you, you should turn. Again.”

  For the next few hours Koda drilled me again and again. He then started teaching me how to properly hit and kick and then how to use my elbows. My body was sore and I was dripping with sweat when he said, “Now I’m going to teach you to half-shift.”

  Achilles stood up from the spot in the grass where he had been sitting. “She’s not ready for that.”

  Koda ignored Achilles and in a blink of an eye his body changed from Koda the man to Koda the man-wolf. His body was bulkier, but he could still walk on two legs, his hands were now paws and his entire body was covered in short fur. His face was more wolfish with a slight snout instead of just a nose and fangs in his mouth. It took him two tries before he could speak and when he did it sounded more like a growl than a human voice. “This is the best form to take when fighting because you have the benefits of the wolf body while still being able to move on two legs. It’s difficult to maintain though and so most of us prefer to simply take wolf form.” He changed back to his human shape and leaned forward a little. “I need to practice more often. I’m getting rusty.” He shook his entire body, like a dog flinging off water and waved his hand at me. “Your turn.”

  “How do I take that shape instead of my wolf shape?” I asked. Usually I just closed my eyes and let the wolf side of me take over to become wolf, or pictured my human self to become human.

  “You just focus on keeping half your body human.”

  My body began to tingle all over in anticipation of changing. Okay, only change part way. I felt my bones shifting and then opened my eyes, but I was on all fours and, after wagging my tail realized, a complete wolf.

  Koda shrugged. “We’ll keep working on it. It’s hard to do.”

  I changed back and sighed. “I’m sorry.”

  Koda smiled. “Don’t be. Only a few are able to master this technique. Come on, let’s get you some food.”

  Achilles followed behind us as we walked back to the house. Why had he come? He hadn’t talked except when he thought I wasn’t ready to learn the half-shift. Was he just worried about me? Was he spying on me? I shook my head and ignored all of the questions. I wouldn’t know unless I asked, but I didn’t want to. He still unnerved me in that weird good way and it bothered me.

  Ares was standing on the front porch with Matt when we came up. He looked at my sweat covered body and ripped sweats and then at Koda’s ripped sweats. “What were you doing?”

  Koda smiled sweetly at Ares. “Nothing.”

  Ares frowned at Koda, but didn’t press him further. I walked past him, knowing he was still mad and continued to the kitchen where Koda had already taken out three steaks. I sat down on one of the stools at the island and laid my face on the cold tile. “I’m sore.”

  Koda laughed. “Good.”

  I whispered, “Am I supposed to keep what we do a secret from Ares?”

  Koda shook his head. “No, I just like irking him.”

  Ares walked in and looked from me to Koda. “What are you two whispering about?”

  Koda turned on the stove top and put oil in a pan. “How I should prepare the meat.”

  Ares rolled his eyes. “You’re the worst liar I know.”

  The closeness of Ares, but lack of touch made my skin itch. It’d been hours since we’d had physical contact and I needed it bad. My arm started to reach out towards him, but I quickly pulled it back and closed my eyes. I didn’t want to push him if he was mad at me.

  He sat down beside me and when I opened my eyes, I found his head lying on the island next to me. “Are you feeling alright?” he asked.

  “Tired,” I whispered as a lump formed in my throat. The sight of his handsome face still sent butterflies whirling in my stomach.

  He frowned for a second and then exhaled loudly before putting one of his arms around my shoulders. “Aw. Much better. Wasn’t your skin tingling?”

  “As if one thousand ants were crawling on it,” I said honestly.

  He moved his face closer to mine. “Then why didn’t you touch me?”

  I closed my eyes before answering. “You’re mad at me. I didn’t want to make you angrier by trying to touch you. I was letting you decide when we touched again.”

  He kissed my nose, shocking me and making me open my eyes. “Artemis, if you need to touch me, then touch me. If you need me to hug you, then tell me. No matter how mad at you I may be I don’t want you to suffer.”

  My shoulders relaxed and after scooting my stool closer to his, I rubbed my cheek against his. “Thank you.”

  Koda cleared his throat. I pulled away from Ares and took the plate Koda was holding out to me. Koda sat on the stool across the island from me and ate his food in silence, keeping his gaze down. Ares handed me a knife and fork and I quickly cut up the meat. Ares put his arm around my waist and I ate with my two favorite men. I tried to offer Ares a piece of the steak, but he just shook his head.

  When the steak was gone, I leaned against Ares and sighed in contentment. “I love you both.” Ares kissed the top of my head and Koda smiled at me. “Where’s Matt?” I asked curiously.

  Ares exhaled. “With a female I believe. He asked for leave and since I don’t need to go anywhere and as you’re aware I don’t actually need a guard, I let him go.”

  Koda shook his head. “Something’s not right with him. He’s been different since we came back from the vampires’ place.”

  Ares nodded his head. “I know. I’ve been trying to figure out what’s different, but I don’t know.”

  “Ares?”

  “Hm.”

  “How’d you get the name ‘God of War’?” I asked. I’d been wondering about it since the men who had kidnapped me for the vampire queen had discussed it.

  I smelled Achilles as he walked to stand by the kitchen entrance. Ares shrugged and then said, “I was a good warrior and because of my genetics to the humans I appeared as a god.”

  Achilles scoffed from the doorway. “You withhold much from her. Why?”

  Ares growled. “Go away sidhe.” He said “sidhe” with such ma
lice that it made me pull away from him.

  Achilles was rubbing his temples. “This hatred you have towards me is ill seeded. It was not my fault.”

  Ares stood up and growled louder. “It was your fault! You could have prevented it! Instead you sat by and let it happen!” Ares had gone from irritated to ready to kill in two seconds.

  “What happened?” I asked softly.

  Ares shook his head and turned away. “I won’t discuss it.” He held out his hand towards me. I looked at him for a moment before realizing that he was playing a power game with Achilles. He wanted me to put my hand in his so Achilles got the hint that I was Ares’ and Achilles couldn’t do anything about it.

  “Ares, why do you hide so much from me? I’m your mate.” I whispered the words so that he wouldn’t take them as a challenge.

  His eyes glistened as though covered with a film of unshed tears. “This is not a topic I wish to discuss. Maybe at some point I will talk with you about it, but not now and not while he is here.”

  “You’re just as stubborn as father,” Achilles said angrily.

  Ares spun around and glared at Achilles, baring his teeth. “I have NO father!” Spinning on his heel, Ares marched out of the kitchen and stomped up the stairs. I looked at Achilles apologetically and rushed up the stairs to the room where I found Ares staring out the window at the woods. “I’m sorry Artemis. That was childish of me,” he said quietly.

  I wrapped my arms around him from behind and lay my head against his back. “Achilles does an excellent job of upsetting you.”

  Ares laughed softly and turned around to hug me. “That he does. So, what were you and Koda really doing?”

  “Koda’s training me,” I answered honestly.

  Ares grip tightened and his words came out clipped. “So. You’re still going forward with the challenge?” I nodded my head. “You could die, you know this?” I nodded my head again. He pushed me back gently and looked at my face. “Why then? Why are you doing this?”