Kiss of a Star Artemis Lupine (7 page)

I kissed his lips and then rested my head
against his chest. “I love you too.” Ares wrapped his arms around
me and sighed happily.

“Excuse me.” a female said softly.

My hackles, figuratively, rose and I turned
to the doorway, snarling. The young girl flinched and took a step
back. “Sorry,” I said softly.

Ares grabbed two towels and wrapped his
around his waist. I wrapped mine around my body. “What is it,
Lauren?” Ares asked in a soft voice.

“Darius wishes to speak to you,
immediately,” she said in a soft voice. Her strawberry blonde hair
was naturally curly and hid her face from my view.

“I’ll put pants on and be down in a moment.
Wait downstairs for me,” Ares said. Lauren curtsied and then rushed
out of the room. Ares whispered, “She seems innocent, but she’s
been Darius’ assistant for twenty years. I wouldn’t be surprised if
she was as cunning as he is.”

I adjusted my towel. “I’m glad you’re the
one that has to deal with all of the political crap. I couldn’t
even stand listening to people in town debating about the
presidential elections. Boring.”

Matt walked in and smiled at us. “Who’s
boring?”

Ares blurred as he moved from the shower to
the door in an instant to grab Matt around the throat. “Where did
you go? You were supposed to be protecting the back entrance!” Ares
yelled.

Matt’s lip twitched for a moment as though
he were thinking about snarling and then he whined. “Sorry. I saw
two vampires attacking a child and so I went to help, but then got
ambushed.” He looked towards me and asked, “Did something
happen?”

Ares released Matt’s throat. “Artemis was
attacked.”

Matt looked at me with an almost sad look on
his face. “Are you alright?” Was he sad I was attacked or that I
survived?

I nodded my head. “I’m fine.”

Matt smiled. “Good.”

Ares looked at Matt a moment longer before
yelling, “Koda!” Koda ran into the bathroom and looked at our
faces. Ares looked at me. “Koda, guard Artemis.”

Koda nodded his head and Matt walked out of
the room with Ares. “What happened?” Koda asked.

“Nothing,” I said as I walked to the closet
to change.

Koda leaned against the doorframe while I
changed clothes. “Achilles said you used your sidhe powers to fight
the vampire.”

I looked up at him in shock. “How did he
know that?”

Koda smiled. “We can feel magic from those
of our kind when they’re being used in significant enough
quantities. He said it’s been a long time since he felt such a
large pull.”

“Well, she was trying to kill me,” I said
defensively as I buttoned my pants.

“Ares is having Victor come here to speak
with Darius and Ares about this attack. They swear that it wasn’t a
sanctioned attack and that they had no idea it was going to
happen.”

I looked at Koda’s tight face. “You don’t
believe them?”

Koda smiled. “I believe Victor, but I’m not
sure about Maurice.”

Matt’s attitude and response still bothered
me, so I decided to tell Koda. After I’d finished Koda sighed.
“I’ve been noticing it too,” he said quietly, “something’s
bothering him, but I’m not sure what it is.”

“Do you think he lied about why he stopped
guarding the back entrance?” That part was bothering me the worst.
I couldn’t explain why, but I knew he was lying about why he
left.

Koda sighed and ran a hand through his
Mohawk which I noticed wasn’t gelled up for once. “I don’t know.
I’ll have to speak to Ares about it.” He looked at my face for a
moment before sighing. “Come on, you should lie down. You’ve had a
lot happen to you."

I laughed and climbed onto the bed. “I never
thought my life would be so crazy.”

Koda laid down beside me and rubbed my back.
“Don’t worry, things will calm down and we’ll be able to show you
the good side of life as a werewolf.”

“I can’t wait for that day,” I mumbled as I
relaxed and took comfort in Koda’s touch. “Thank you,” I whispered
as I started to lose consciousness.

“For what?” he asked.

“For being you.”

“Artemis?”

“Night Koda.”

~~~

The sun rose earlier than I wanted, but
waking up to Ares’ arms wrapped around me definitely made it
better.

“Morning, Sunshine,” Ares whispered against
my neck.

I shivered and asked, “Can’t we sleep
in?”

Ares chuckled and nipped my ear. “We need to
go on a hunt. Come on. Everyone is waiting for you.”

I groaned and rolled over until my face was
pressed against Ares’. “I think we should stay in bed all day.” I
opened my eyes and stared at the handsome man looking at me.
“You’re too handsome for me,” I sighed longingly.

Ares kissed my lips and rolled us over until
he was lying on top of me. “Achilles left a couple minutes ago. He
won’t be able to tell that we’ve mated if we do it before the
hunt.”

He started kissing his way down my neck and
it took all of my willpower to form conscious thoughts. “Ares, I
thought you said Koda and Matt were waiting?”

“They can wait a little longer.” He growled
as he tried to work my shirt up.

“Ares, I know you don’t like Achilles, but
it really isn’t fair. What if the situation was flipped and he’d
claimed me first. What would you want him to do?”

Ares groaned and pressed his forehead
against mine. “Fine, but we need to figure out a solution soon.
It’s torment to be near you and not be able to mate with you.”

I kissed his cheek softly. “I know. It’s
hard for me too, but we’ll figure something out.”

I climbed out from under Ares and hopped
down from the bed. It took my body a moment to change, but it was
painless when I finally took my wolf form.

Matt and Koda yelled through my head.
HURRY UP!

I jogged down the stairs and opened my mouth
in a wolf-grin at the two giant wolves sitting on the porch.
Morning.

Ares walked out in front of me.
Come on,
let’s hunt. I need to kill something.

I giggled, but the strange wheezing sound
that came out of my wolf throat bothered me too much to continue.
Ares glared at me with a tight mouth.
That’ll teach you to laugh
at me.

Ares jogged away from the house and the rest
of us followed behind him as he led us into the forest. We jogged
for twenty minutes before smelling another animal. I twitched my
nose in frustration.
What is it?
I couldn’t figure out what
animal I was smelling.

Deer.
Ares said. He tilted his head
to the right then turned to face in that direction.
There.

We all turned slowly and stared at the herd
of deer two hundred yards away. A ten point buck stood a little to
the side of the herd. My mouth instantly started watering. Ares
snorted softly and Matt and Koda took off at a run. I started to
follow, but Ares blocked my path.
Watch. You need to learn how
to take down a buck first.

Matt snapped at the buck’s heels and Koda
grabbed onto the distracted buck’s throat. In only a few seconds
they’d killed the buck. Ares trotted over and started eating. I sat
down beside Matt and Koda who were sitting a few feet away.

Ares finished and looked at us.
Artemis
eats next.
Matt growled and Ares growled back, his lips pulling
up in a menacing snarl.
I’m alpha. I decide when my mate eats.
She eats after me. You and Koda decide who eats after that.

Matt stopped growling and then snorted in
irritation. I trotted forward and took a bite out of the deer.
It’s delicious!
It took only a minute for me to fill up on
the deer. I licked my muzzle clean and trotted over to Ares who was
licking one of his paws clean.
That was great.

Ares licked my cheek.
Glad you like
it.

Matt whined.
There’s another herd up
ahead.

Ares nodded his head once.
Let’s go. This
time, I take down the buck.

Koda, Matt and Ares took off running before
I could react. I watched as Ares ran, his muscles stretching and
his fur pressed against his body. The buck lifted his head from the
grass he was eating and then Ares was on him. I walked slowly
towards the rest of my pack and laid down in a sunny spot a few
yards away from the dead buck.
That was great.
I said
quietly as Ares ate.

Koda snorted.
You’re easily
impressed.

Ares finished eating and nodded at me.

I’m full. Thanks.
I lifted my lips in
a grin and rolled on to my back so the sun could warm my stomach.
We should have done this sooner.

Ares laid down, placing his head on top of
my stomach.
I’ll make sure we take more time to hunt
together.

Matt walked towards us and I felt uneasy,
not wanting to be on my back anymore. I rolled over and sat up next
to Ares. Matt looked at me quizzically, but didn’t say anything as
he sat down and waited for Koda to finish.

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.