“Thank you.” I stood on tiptoe and kissed his cheek. We started walking again and I couldn’t get the look of pain she had had out of my brain. I stopped Ares. “How many women have you been with?”
He frowned. “What?”
I sighed. “How many, Ares? How many women am I going to have to deal with like Sally?”
He sighed. “I’m not sure.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat and fought the tears away. How can you not know for sure? “More than fifty?” He nodded. I asked, “more than a hundred?”
He groaned. “I’m not sure.”
Tears started to leak out, and I wiped them quickly. “At least I know.” I walked away from him as quickly as I could towards the SUVs. My stomach growled loudly, and I scolded it, “We’ll eat soon enough, just wait.”
Ares spoke from beside me. “I didn’t know I was going to have a match until you were born.”
“I’m sure that stopped you.” I frowned, crossing my arms over my chest.
He grabbed my arms and turned me towards him. I looked to my right to avoid making eye contact with him. He whispered, “Artemis. Artemis look at me.” I turned my face and looked at him with the best frown I could muster. “I’ve been alive a long time and only when you were born, did I know that you might be my match. It wasn’t even a positive thing then, either. Once I felt you, I couldn’t be with another woman again.”
I frowned. “What do you mean—felt me?”
He smiled. “The instant you were born my heart no longer looked at women. It was like they stopped being female and were just another wolf. I didn’t know what was happening, until I talked with Darius.”
I looked at Koda. “Is he telling the truth?”
Koda nodded. “He wouldn’t even go to strip clubs with me.”
Matt sighed. “We left Germany for America so he could get away from the females he had been with.”
I frowned. “So, they think you’ve deserted them for eighteen years, but are hoping that you will come back, and then they can start up with you again?”
“I’m afraid so. If I had been positive about you, I would have told them the reason, but at the time, it was easier to just leave. Women can be very aggressive when they think you’re choosing another over them.”
I shrugged. “I guess I understand.” I walked to one of the SUV’s and climbed into the middle seat. I kept looking out the side window, not wanting to talk to Ares anymore. I knew it wasn’t his fault, but it didn’t hurt any less to know that he had been with so many women. We drove in silence through the smaller towns until we reached a drive-thru window.
Ares asked, “What do you want?”
I sighed. “Don’t laugh. Five cheeseburgers, extra ketchup and a large chocolate shake.”
Ares smiled. “Why would I laugh?”
Victor ordered food for everyone and Ares handed him money from my bag. Koda poked my arm from the back seat. I turned around, and he smiled. “How are you doing?”
I looked from Ares to him and shrugged. “Fine.”
Koda sighed. “Come on. We’re pack now.”
I frowned. “Pack?”
Ares nodded. “Koda, Matt and I are a pack. And now that you are my mate you are part of our pack.”
I furrowed my brow. “You only have one female in your pack and that’s only because it’s me?”
Ares shrugged. “Matt and Koda haven’t found mates yet.”
Matt snorted. “Not looking either.”
I frowned. “Isn’t it like a natural instinct to find a mate?”
Matt shrugged. “You can fight your natural instincts. I don’t feel like being with a crazy female just because my instinct says I should.”
Victor tossed back the bags of food and handed Ares the drinks. I grabbed my burgers and shake and dug in, no longer wanting to engage in conversation. Victor continued driving, and after I was done eating, my eyelids started to droop. Ares put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me against him, pushing my head against his shoulder, “You need to rest.”
I shook my head. “All I do is sleep or eat.”
He kissed my forehead. “Your body is adjusting. It needs time to rest and recuperate.”
I looked down at the wolf burn on my hand. “How come this hasn’t gone away?”
Ares rubbed the small burn on my palm. Then he picked it up and kissed it, making the spot tingle. “Silver permanently scars us.”
I groaned. “Great.” I closed my eyes as I leaned against Ares. He hugged my shoulders and rubbed his chin against my forehead.
We drove with the radio on for a few hours and then Victor groaned, “Traffic.”
I looked up and saw the line winding into the airport. “Where are we going?”
Victor turned around and smiled. “France.”
I gasped and turned to Ares. “France! Do we get to visit the Eiffel Tower?”
Ares laughed. “Sure.” My wolf seemed to wake inside me and stretched. I gasped, and Ares inhaled loudly. “She wants to hunt.”
I blinked at him. “How’d you know?”
He smiled. “I could feel her and smell her.”
I frowned. “But I can’t even tell what she wants. She just woke up and stretched.”
Matt laughed. “They never wake up unless they want something.”
I lifted a brow. “Is she another personality?”
He shook his head. “No, she is you with some different instincts. She’s a more primitive version of you. Of course you still think, but sometimes her instincts will take over. Which is why you need a strong alpha nearby to help you.”
I smiled. “Which is why it’s good to have you?”
He kissed my cheek. “Yes.”
Victor finally pulled up to the front of the airport, and we all climbed out. Koda took my bag from me and we walked toward the counter. Ares held my hand and, even in the crowd of people I felt completely safe. The woman at the counter asked for our IDs. Victor handed her IDs and then waved his fingers. Her face went slack then she smiled and handed him our tickets. Ares pulled me towards the gate and when we were far enough away whispered, “Vampire powers come in handy with humans quite often.”
Victor handed me my ID and plane ticket. I stared at my ID. “Artemis Lupine? Lupine isn’t my last name.” I said.
Ares smiled. “Lupine is my last name.”
“Oh.” I said in shock. He was already making changes that married couples make. I couldn’t say my name with his last name though. It didn’t seem right yet.
I looked at the plane tickets and my hands started to sweat. Ares frowned. “What’s wrong?”
I licked my lips nervously. “I…I’ve never been on a plane and well…”
Koda laughed loudly. “She’s scared!”
I growled at him, and my wolf snarled inside me. Koda’s eyes flicked with golden specks, and he growled back. Ares grabbed both of our arms and his power hit me like a tidal wave of hot water. “Enough.”
I kept my gaze even with Koda’s, ignoring Ares as best as I could. Ares snapped his teeth at me and my wolf disappeared, leaving me weak. I started to fall forward and Ares put his arm around my waist, holding me up. I whimpered, “I…”
Ares shook his head, a golden tint to his eyes. “Be quiet.”
Ares handed our tickets to the stewardess who smiled at me. “First flight?” I nodded, and she waved. “Have fun.”
Ares led me inside the airplane and to our seats. I pulled away from him and stared out the window. Ares sighed. “Artemis, I wasn’t trying to upset you.”
I sighed. “I know. My wolf doesn’t like the idea that Koda is dominant to me.”
Ares rested his hand on mine and whispered, “All wereanimals hate enclosed metal places. It’s natural for us to hate what amounts to a flying cage.”
I looked up at his sincere face and asked, “Does it bother you?”
Ares nodded. “Very much, but when you’re as old as me, you learn to hide the things that bother you. When e
nemies learn what bothers you, they use it against you.”
The plane began moving down the runway and I gripped Ares’ hand tightly. He rubbed his thumb across my hand and whispered, “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
I closed my eyes as the plane increased speed and began tilting upwards and lifting off the ground. “Would we survive a plane crash?” I asked quietly.
Ares laughed softly. “Well, it depends, but most likely.” The plane leveled out and a high pitched ding made me open my eyes to look at the sign allowing us to move around the airplane. Ares picked my hand up to his lips and kissed the back of it softly. “You alright?”
I looked at the blood trickling down his hand and gasped. “Ares, I’m…I’m sorry.” I tried to let go of his hand, but he held on to me.
“Calm down, Artemis. Look.” He repositioned my hand in his so that he was still holding mine, but I could see the wounds I had made from my fingernails. The half circles that were filled with blood slowly stopped bleeding and then the skin closed completely with no sign of the cuts except the blood staining his hand.
Victor leaned over the back of our seats and handed Ares a handkerchief. “Would you mind? I’m hungry and I don’t think you want another incident like Bosnia.”
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 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 laced his fingers with mine. “Artemis, do you think I’m a liar?”
I turned my head towards him and opened one eye. “What?” The plane 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 falling out of the sky. 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 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 in to 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 pouted.
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 top of mine.
Chapter Eight
I pulled myself out of a dreamless sleep as I heard the stewardess talking quietly to Ares in another language. Instantly 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.”
Artemis Lupine- The Complete Series Page 21