Artemis Pov
Don't run, it's time to pay for your crimes.
I jerked and tossed the blanket aside when I heard a loud scream. Damn it. Another bad dream, and they become scary everytime. It's even worse this time because I felt a hot liquid being poured on my head. A voice which threatened to make me pay for my crimes preceded the torture. Sitting upright, I contemplated for a while. My forehead littered with drops of sweat as I continued to wonder.
A man like me has many enemies. I've made enemies over the years that I can barely keep count of—most of which are dead.
I found my feet when I heard the scream a second time.
This isn't a dream anymore. This must be real and I recognized the voice.
But what the hell happened this time?
And I'm about to find out when I dashed to the elevators. I didn't even realize I got down naked except the pair of pants hanging from my waist. And I only became aware of this when I saw the eyes staring at me. But none of that mattered when I saw her holding the book—my book.
But this isn't just any book.
Just to set the record straight, I'm a man of record. I like to keep track of events and every other happenings around me. I like to control things as much as I can, but I took this zeal to another level when I attempted to control time by keeping track of every event, documenting every ritual, and of course every killing and parks I've wiped out.
So that's the story when I said it isn't just a book. It contains my deepest secrets. But how the hell did she get hold of it and who the hell allowed her in there?
That's a reserve area. And only the beta and I have access to it and Iris should better have an explanation for this. It's still too early to make her doubt the mate thing, or start giving some goddamned explanation.
"Iris!" I called. Who else should I call if not him. Iris happens to the beta of Waterfall, the park I ruled over. Not only that, he also doubled as the supervisor in charge of seeing Waterfall Corporation, the multi-billion dollar company I killed to establish years ago. But iris won't do any good right now. I'm in deep shit seeing her with the book, the very book that contained my adventure, my conquest, my exploits, and the book that contained every detail about how I wiped out the Snow Moon park. And of course Dimitri, its alpha, who happens to be her father.
I bet she must have seen the name 'Dimitri' but I still need to figure something out or some dumb explanation if I must save the day.
Is the Moon goddess trying to punish me, because it's way too soon.
I just got back, and it's way too soon. The clock is ticking.
"What the fuck is this," she cried. My wolf cursed for causing her pain. Her tears didn't go down well with him but this isn't the for aggression but smart thinking.
"I can explain. It's not what you think. I can explain if you would listen," I pleaded like a child who has just been singled out for talking in the class. "I can explain. Just hear me—"
The book rammed on my face before I could finish my words.
Well, the thing about werewolves is this. Despite being weak, they are known for their anger, and they can be very deadly when angry. So I need to tread carefully.
Not that I'm scared of her. I've wiped out entire parks of her kind but my wolf is ready to do everything possible to make her stay, even if it means going on his knees.
But it hasn't got to that yet. I'm an alpha, and alphas do not bow or yield, except the weaker ones, which I wasn't part of.
"I don't want to hear anything. How could you? How could you?" she cried, dropping to her knees. My wolf dropped to its knees within me, begging her to get up. It's way too early for this. Damn that moon goddess. While my eyes watched the tears as they flowed seamlessly, my brain couldn't figure out a plausible explanation.
Doomed.
"Iris!" I growled this time. The stupid beta still hasn't shown up. Where the hell is he?
"Alpha, Iris is in the company. There appeared to be some situation that needs his—"
"Go fetch him! " I snapped, not minding that it's Oslo, my gamma who just spoke. The real problem is my mate who continues to cry on her knees. She felt betrayed, and I know that. But I have no apologies to offer.
Her dad—the alpha of the snow moon park—and every other soul I sent to the afterlife deserved their fate. But I'm not about to drop that bomb before her.
I dragged my feet forward as my brain searched for explanations. Finally, I found one when I took hold of her arm. Now is the time to explain myself if she would let me.
"Go away!" She pushed and continued the tears. My wolf snarled at her. Even though I'm at fault, the wolf felt hurt to have been pushed away.
But I wouldn't give up.
"Alpha, you asked to see?"
I recognized my beta's voice but his case would be dealt with later. Besides, if he had done his job, I would not be in this mess right now. The book he is meant to safeguard, now lay on the floor.
"It's not what you think, everything you read and believe happened centuries ago," I explained.
That seemed plausible. That's the best my brain could conjure. Even though it's a lie I felt comfortable telling it. I just want to get out of this damn situation.
Her green eyes shot up at me, only that they aren't that green this time. Green is their default color but she has been crying all this while. So their color stood between red and green. But none of that mattered when she found her mate.
Thank goodness.
A wave of relief that washed over my body. It's working at least. I sigh
Thank goodness it worked.
The moon goddess seems to have smiled upon me when he found her feet. I signaled to Iris who quickly dashed forward with the book. I shot him a look with the corner of my eye, and that told him to get ready for the consequence of negligence.
"Here, look," I pointed to a certain page she must have read. " Look, it says… "
I was fortunate to have written the events in a very inconspicuous manner but I still spent the next hour explaining how the book was passed down to my father, and then me. I also explained how I had nothing to do with her father's disappearance and I prayed the whole time for her wolf to detect the lies I fed her.
"The rest of you, don't you have better things to do with your time?" I yanked. I guess I'm too busy to have noticed that we aren't alone. I bet some enjoyed seeing their alpha in such a vulnerable position.
"Not you, iris, we have some unfinished business. What is it about the company this time?" I winked. We have some serious things to discuss. Not even about the company but the book she stumbled upon. But this isn't the right place so I changed the conversation.
"Just some minor trouble…but I have it under control."
My eyes followed as she turned the pages. Iris just stood there. I didn't pay him any attention even though he just spoke. I'm relieved that my mate seems to be buying the whole thing but I felt uneasy because she hasn't said a word.
I nodded at Iris and he saw himself out.
She flipped for another half hour after which she released a huge sigh. We both sighed because we felt exhausted with the whole thing. Maybe I'm more exhausted considering the fact that I dashed down with my pants after waking up from a nightmare.
I felt relieved and proud. My wolf screamed for me to touch her but I pulled back. Her silence made me uneasy and it's a bad move to conclude she bought the whole thing. I couldn't tell how she felt but every bit of my body wanted to take her—just like the other night.
No, Artemis, Not now. Not today.
I pulled back. My wolf, on the other hand, roared.
Silence, only interrupted by the flipping pages. And at that moment, my guts told me something was wrong. But only time would tell what it is. And I must tread carefully, think faster, if I must beat her at her game.
Freya’s povAs he explained to me with every tremor and fear in his body, I couldn’t help but admire him. It was evident in his eyes that he cared what I thought, he cared for the light in which I saw him. He tried to repair that reputation for me. He didn’t want me to see him in a bad light, and someone that didn’t mind for what my perception of him was wouldn’t mind how I saw him.. so the fact that he rushed down here, held me and tried to explain showed exactly how much he cared for me.It only proved to me that the mate bond was in full effect and that I wasn’t the only feeling this pull. He appeared so vulnerable and weak for me.“So it was your father’s?” I asked not to completely let him see that his act was getting to me and melting me like a candle wax.“Yes yes,” he affirmed.It was just he and I now in the room, call it intuition or my inner guts but I wasn’t totally buying all that he had today me. Yes it was heart softening, to see the alpha whom everyone addressed as the
Freya’s Pov As those words flew from my mouth, the air around me got chilly and I stood frozen in time, not moving, my mind in a steady frenzy.The room fell silent, so quiet that anyone would mistake it for a graveyard. The atmosphere was portentous and I began wishing at the last minute that I had shut up.My back was still to him, the grey shirt firmly held in my hands. Holding tightly to it like it would take me back in time to undo the words that I had said.He was quiet, I was equally silent, the only sound being his breathing and my erratic beating heart. I turned slowly to him.Fear had of course engulfed me like a fog, but nonetheless, the need to look him in the face would satiate me and at least, reduce the terror in me.He didn’t say anything, I wished he would say something, a word perhaps. Even a facial expression would heavily be needed but he was emotionless and stoic which only increased my worry.What was I thinking? Freya!!This was as a result of fear, why did I b
Freya’s povRunning into the hard string surface, it sent me back. I yelped as I lost my balance and was going butt down on the ground. Just as I was about to make contact with the floor two large arms had their arms around me, catching me just in time.My hands by reflex went up and were wrapped around my savior's neck. He balanced me and I gazed into his gold coloured eyes.I saw where his infatuation or should I say his obsession for gold came from. Even his were good and they were pretty.But before I started drooling and dreaming about his looks, it wasn’t time for that.His hold was posited on me and so was his gaze. Eluding a quizzical feature, probably wondering why I was running in the hallway like someone that was being chased by a ghost.Yes I was being chased, but I never saw the face of my follower nor did I get a glimpse of his silhouette. All I heard were footsteps and I was already on my heels.Horror movies had portrayed a lot of foolish characters that I would fall v
Freya’s Pov I took her in one final time, my eyes roaming her body like a security camera. She was emitting a negative energy and directly gave off the vibe of Evelyn.“I’ll wait for you. You should wash up because you look like a mess, then we can head out to the mall,” she told me sweetly.My eyes bulged and my mouth fell open as I gaped at her. This was how I reacted within myself while discreetly cursing for making such quick and rash judgment of her.Her attributes were not sitting well with me. I’ve never been wrong before about a person's character. It was not like I had made many judgments on people in the past but I was always right when it came to Evelyn.Deep down my heart was tugging at me to believe that she was a nice sweet girl just like her voice but I strongly agreed otherwise.Her character was off and she looked like she rolled her eyes and grumbled when she was assigned the assignment.I don’t believe it. For all I knew she could be a sly. A snake. She was playing
Freya’s Pov We arrived at the mall and I was surprised that I was still in one piece. No bone broken, no injuries and no one was reported, ‘anyone’ would have been me though.Halfway into the mall I recalled something very important. Credit card. How were we going to pay for the stuff?Noticing that I stopped halfway, Racheal turned to me and gave me the look of ‘why did you stop?’“We don’t have a credit card, how are we going to pay?” At my question she let out a hysterical laugh.“You did not think of this at home!” She almost yelled.Her reaction got me panicking. I totally forgot and since Artemis was in a bad mood, I didn’t dare mutter up the courage to ask. Now we had to return without shopping.A wave of disappointment crashed into me. Why was I always so careless and always never paid attention to the little things that matters.All of a sudden she let out a shrieking sound that instantly snapped my head to her direction. She was laughing hard, stomping her foot and at the s
Freya’s Pov I was back at home in the pack house. Just as I walked in, Artemis followed immediately after me. His steps were fastened, they abruptly came to halt at my presence.“Freya,” he called and I moved to him.He pulled me for a hug and I blushed. My hands came up behind his broad back and went around him.“You’ve missed me,” he stated in a matter of fact tone. What a cocky wolf, like he didn’t miss me also.I tilted my face up and peeped at him through my lashes, “well I did and I’m not afraid to own it like some people,” referring to him.He smirked, “who said I didn’t miss you,” I blushed and hid my face in shame. His direct compliment always took me off guard.“How was shopping?” He asked, letting free from his grasp but not completely only so that he could look at my face.“It was awesome, I enjoyed it. But I did not get everything, I was planning on doing that later,” I left out the part where Racheal panicked and where I also thought that I might be followed.“So…,” I
Freya’s Pov “I’m going to go,” Racheal said almost in a whisper, stumbling like a headless chicken as she saw herself out. Ignoring my question.For the main time I’m graced with the presence of after showered Artemis. His hair was still dripping wet and a towel was wrapped on his neck. His damped hair was dishevelled on his face, his shirt loose giving him a boyish look.He tilted his body a little to the left as Racheal passed. He smirked and closed the door. His smirk slowly broke into a mischievous grin as he approached me.When he got to where I stood, my brain was already a cloud of fog. He used one hand and pulled me close to his strong hard muscles. Years of hard work. His hand was around my waist in no time. My body, the lower part, my stomach and abdomen made contact with his chest. We were in a position so that my upper body was a few inches away from him as a result of his sudden action which left me startled and speechless. My face looked shocked.When I had relaxed, an
Artemis PovWalking out of the room, I felt a pang in my chest as I left her. My wolf didn’t want to leave her, hell! We didn’t want to leave her. To hold her close to me all day was what I yearned for but I was getting too attached. This wasn’t good for me. I had to retract a little while.My beta stood outside. He bowed when he saw me. “Alpha…”Neither he nor I got the chance to say what the order had in mind before we heard a shrieking voice. There was a knowing fear that settled at the depth of my mind. It shouldn’t be who I think it—-I didn't get to complete my wish when she came dashing out from her usual red outfit. Her heel clicking on the tiles with every step she took.“Loretta,” I called, “how many time have I t—““Oh Artemis,” she sang, “I’ve missed you,” she threw her arms over my neck in a swift motion before she completed her words and it was at that instant that Freya opened the door.It seemed as though the moon goddess was out to get me, to make me pay for all my si