Read Kiss of a Star Artemis Lupine Online

Authors: Catherine Banks

Tags: #Fiction, #Romance, #Vampires, #Adult, #Fantasy, #Magic, #Witches, #werewolves, #teen, #fairy, #Fairies, #Fae, #YA, #young, #sidhe, #dhampir, #ares, #artemis, #lupine

Kiss of a Star Artemis Lupine (2 page)

BOOK: Kiss of a Star Artemis Lupine
10.88Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

“I do not have any suggestions as of yet,
but we may be able to come up with something,” Achilles said
softly.

Ares looked at me. “Do you have any
ideas?”

I laughed loudly. “Me? I just met this guy,
the first of my mother’s kind, and he tells me I’m his fiancée, but
how can that be since I’m already yours? He says he won’t give me
up, yet he doesn’t have me. What do you want me to say? Kill him?
No, we can’t do that because for some reason that would start a
war. Give me to him? Hell no! No offense, Achilles, but I love Ares
and my pack. I’m not going anywhere. So, I have no ideas.”

Matt spoke for the first time, making me
jump. “Maybe you could cut her in half, like that story of the
children fighting over the doll?” Ares growled at Matt, who raised
his hands in the air and took a step back with his head lowered
submissively. “I was just kidding.”

Ares closed his eyes and took a deep breath
to calm himself. “Artemis, don’t worry. Achilles is the Prince of
the Sidhe, so a war won’t start, unless we tried to kill him, which
we won’t. Let’s get to the village and we’ll discuss it more
there.”

Matt growled and asked, “How do we know he’s
telling the truth?”

Achilles looked insulted. “I’m not a
pixie
and I wouldn’t lie about this. Besides, I didn’t know
she was Ares’ match or mate.”

I held up my hands. “Stop. Can we please
just get to the village? I’m hungry.”

Achilles nodded his head. “Alright. How far
is it? Should I fly?”

I gasped. “You can fly?!”

He frowned and looked at me as though I’d
asked what a nose was. “Of course I can fly. You should be able to
as well. Though, I suppose it depends on how strong your wolf
is.”

He was looking over my body, which made me
realize that I was naked. A blush rushed to my cheeks
instantaneously. “Enough talk. Let’s go,” I said as I tried to hide
my embarrassment.

Achilles laughed. “She blushes? How
endearing.”

Ares, Koda and Matt started running towards the
village, leaving me and Achilles to catch up with them. Achilles
ran beside me, watching me closely. I tried to ignore his stare,
but my body began itching. I turned to him and was about to ask
what his problem was when a tree appeared in front of me. I tried
to stop, but couldn't slow down. At the last second I dodged to the
right.

"The trees are very interested in you," Achilles
said from beside me.

"What do you mean?"

"The trees are alive, Artemis. That one that
you almost hit was determined to get closer to you. I have not seen
one do that in quite a while."

I groaned. "Great, now trees are out to get me. Why
does my life have to be so strange? A few days ago I was just
another teenage human going to school and worrying about boys. Now
I'm a half werewolf, half fairy, sidhe, thing that is the mate of
the Prince of the Werewolves and engaged or whatever to the Prince
of the Sidhe. And
now
trees have decided they find me
interesting. I would ask if it could get weirder, but I'm betting
so."

We reached a clearing and Ares growled at us
in his wolf form. I dropped to my hands and knees and changed
forms, rushing over to him and rubbing my head against his
chest.

Don’t let him touch you.
Ares
whispered through my mind.

Matt and Koda, also in their wolf forms,
walked to stand beside us. Darius, King of the Werewolves and the
most frightening man I’ve ever met, walked towards us from around
the side of a nearby house. The presence of him sent my hackles up
and made me back up underneath Ares until my head was below his
chest and his body completely hid mine from sight.

Ares cocked his head to the side and looked
at me questioningly, but Darius spoke, making him look away from
me. “What is
he
doing here?” The hate was evident in Darius’
voice as well as his defensive posture.

Ares looked at Darius intently for a moment
and then Darius snarled. “You should have told me that he was
coming with you.”

Ares’ body was completely still as he looked
at Darius. I realized after a moment that he was communicating with
Darius telepathically.

“Fine. Come meet with me in an hour,” Darius
said angrily before walking away from us.

You can come out now.
Ares said to
me.

I crawled out from under him and sat on my
haunches.
He scares me.

Ares sat down on his butt beside me.
You
don’t have to be scared of him. He wouldn’t dare hurt you now that
you’re my mate
.

Now?
I asked in shock.

Achilles spoke softly, “Could you please
stop communicating in wolf form? It’s rude.”

Matt growled softly at Achilles, his lips
pulled back in a threatening snarl. Ares grunted and Matt stopped,
but I could still see the hate in Matt’s eyes as he stared at
Achilles. Ares nodded his head once and started walking. I followed
close to Ares’ side as we made our way through the town of log
cabins. Men and women looked at us from the porches and from
windows. Koda stayed close by my other side, scanning the houses as
we past them. Matt walked behind us with Achilles behind him.

We continued down the dirt road and past
shops selling clothes and food. A small group of children stood
outside one shop with ice cream cones. I stopped and stared at the
cluster of toddlers and elementary aged kids.
Children?
I
mean, I knew they had children. I’d seen the ones at the first
werewolf village I’d been to, but so many young ones, just walking
around?

Did Ares want children? Would he want me to
have a child? A werewolf child?

Artemis?

I looked at Ares and shook my head.
Nothing.

He looked towards the kids and lifted his
lips in a wolfish grin.
Yes, we do have children here, just like
at the other village.

I moved away from him.
Can we just get to
wherever it is that we’re going? I want to change.

Ares shut his mouth and looked upset, his
tail tight against his body.
Alright.

He led the way in silence as we passed more
houses and more people. I couldn’t believe there were so many
werewolves in one place. If the humans knew about this, it would be
chaos. Of course with the preternaturals taking over the world the
humans already had plenty of chaos to deal with. Ares finally
stopped at a two story log cabin with a wraparound porch on both
floors. It was beautiful, warm and inviting.

Ares changed forms and signaled for me to do
the same. Koda and Matt changed forms and walked into the house
without looking back at me. Achilles stepped onto the porch and
spoke to Ares over his shoulder, “I’ll wait inside.”

Ares watched him walk inside with a fierce
look on his face. He turned to me and his face softened. “Come on,
Artemis.”

I closed my eyes and pictured my human body.
My body rippled and I stood up in my human form. It still amazed me
how easy it was to switch between forms. It also made me wish that
I’d known about it sooner.

“Welcome to Lyngvi,” Ares said.

“Lyngvi?”

Ares nodded his head. “That’s the name of
this town.”

He picked me up in his arms and started
walking up the stairs. “Ares!” I gasped.

He smiled and stopped in front of the door.
“I want to carry you over the threshold.”

“We’re not married.” The words left my mouth
before I thought of the repercussions.

Ares’ smile vanished and he looked at my
face with pain pinching the corner of his eyes. “Artemis, you’re my
mate. That means we’re married. How many times do we have to go
over this?”

I had to fix the pain I’d caused him. I took
a minute to plan out what to say before starting. “I’m sorry. I
didn’t mean it like that. I just meant that taking me over the
threshold is only done when humans get married.”

“This is my house, well ours now. You
accepted my last name, ‘Lupine’, like a human married couple would
have. Why can’t you accept this?”

“Alright. You win. Take me into
our
house,” I said quietly.

He kissed my cheek and smiled victoriously.
“I always win.”

He stepped over the threshold and then ran
up the stairs, to the right and into a bedroom. He set me down on
my feet slowly just inside the door. A large bed with luscious
purple silk sheets took up most of the bedroom. A door across the
room led to the bathroom where I could see his and her sinks. A
second door to the left led into a walk-in closet. The room was so
welcoming and warm, that I instantly felt safe. I walked to the bed
and ran my hand along the sheets. “It’s beautiful.”

He was still standing in the doorway, but
was smiling, the full smile he so rarely wore. “I had the sheets
sent from Paris specifically for you.”

He started to walk into the bedroom when
someone called from downstairs, “Ares.”

Ares sighed loudly. “He’s going to be a
pest.”

I walked quickly to him, feeling his
irritation. “Ares, I love you and…”

Ares shook his head and kissed my lips,
stopping me from continuing. “Don’t worry, Artemis. It’ll be fine.”
He rested his hand against my face and gave me his full smile
again. “You’re so beautiful.”

A blush covered my cheeks, which made him
laugh. He kissed my cheek and then yelled, “Koda!”

Koda bounded up the stairs, taking them two
at a time. He stopped at the door. “You rang?”

Ares stepped away from me slowly and stared
at Koda. “You’ve been reassigned.”

Koda’s eyes widened in shock and his voice
rose a few notches higher. “What?! You’re reassigning me?! What did
I do?”

Ares placed a hand on Koda’s shoulder and
smiled reassuringly. “Brother, calm down. I’m reassigning you to be
Artemis’ guard.”

Koda exhaled and put a hand against his
chest. “Oh thank the Mother. I thought you were kicking me out of
the pack!”

Ares shook his head. “I couldn’t kick you
out of the pack. Besides, I trust only a few with her. Guard her
while I speak to Achilles.”

Ares kissed my cheek one more time and then
walked quickly down the stairs. I watched his naked backside as he
took the stairs. Koda cleared this throat. “Earth to Artemis.”

I blushed again. “Sorry, Koda.”

He walked into the bedroom and hopped up
onto the bed. “They’re going to be talking for a while.”

“Why does Ares hate Achilles so much?” I
asked as I sat down next to Koda on the bed.

Koda leaned back against the pillows and
headboard. “That is a long story that Ares is better to tell you.
I’m not trying to hide anything from you, but there’s a lot to the
story that I don’t know.”

“Is he bad?”

Koda laughed. “Bad? Well, it depends…he’s
not evil, if that’s what you mean.”

“What do you think they’re going to decide?”
I asked as I leaned back against the pillows next to Koda. His
closeness was comforting, his scent, a mix of wolf and forest, was
relaxing.

“I don’t know,” Koda said honestly. Koda
stood up off of the bed and walked through the door that led into
the closet. “You seem to be adjusting quickly,” Koda said from
inside the closet.

I looked down at my naked body and shrugged.
“It just seems natural. I mean, I’m not going to walk around town
naked or anything, but you, Matt and Ares are going to be seeing me
naked a lot and, well, I just feel different now. It’s like the
connection with Ares has made me more mature in some ways. I’m not
saying I’m completely mature, but in some aspects I think I am. I
don’t know, you probably think I’m being ridiculous.”

Koda walked out of the closet and tossed me
a fluffy white robe. “I don’t think you’re being ridiculous. I
think you’re right. It may be your connection, or it may just be
Ares.”

I raised an eyebrow at him as I slipped the
soft robe on. “Ares?”

“An alpha male has an intense effect on
those of his pack. The alpha who cares for you after your first
change, shapes you. Ares is a supreme being. He’s kind, loyal,
sympathetic and good. Sure he can be intense, angry and scary at
times, but overall he’s smart and level headed and very
mature.”

Ares stepped into the bedroom, wearing a
pair of pants. “You flatter me.”

Koda rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t saying it
for your sake.”

Ares leaned against the bed post with his
arms crossed. “We’re still at a stalemate. I’m not sure what we’re
going to decide.”

I crawled across the bed to sit beside where
he was standing. “It’s alright.”

He smiled and kissed my cheek. “I’ve got to
go speak with the King. Promise to stay away from Achilles?”

I nodded my head. “I’ll stay here in the
room with Koda.”

Ares looked at Koda. “Don’t let him near her
and don’t let anything happen to her while I’m gone.”

Koda bowed at the waist. “Of course.”

Ares rolled his eyes at Koda then kissed my
lips. “Before I go, I want to show you something.” He took my hand
and I hopped down from the bed to follow.

He led me into the walk in closet and I
stared in shock at the size of it. I’d thought it would be the size
of a normal closet, but the room was as big as the living room at
Darren’s house. He led me past rows of pants, shirts and suits for
men and to a back section that was recently added on. I knew it had
been added on because there was still sawdust on the floor from the
cabinets being put in.

Ares opened the doors to the cabinets,
revealing rows of dresses, shirts, pants, undergarments and shoes.
“Whose are these?” I asked in shock as I touched a soft white dress
that stood out among the others.

“It’s all yours,” he said softly.

I turned to face him in shock. “Mine? What
do you mean mine?”

“When I started dreaming about you I called
here and had this area built for you. Then, when we were in Paris,
I called again with your size and had these clothes and other items
placed here.” He looked at the dress I was still touching. “I
bought that for you in Paris.”

BOOK: Kiss of a Star Artemis Lupine
10.88Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Follow a Star by Christine Stovell
The Mermaid's Knight by Myles, Jill
Plague: Death was only the beginning! by Donald Franck, Francine Franck
Just for You by Rosalind James
Point Apocalypse by Bobl, Alex
Incognito by Eagleman, David
SODIUM:6 Defiance by Arseneault, Stephen