i f38de1664e17c992 (28 page)

Ares shook his head. “I’m alpha of this pack and I say that I don’t want her out of my

sight.”

“Ares you’re being overprotective. No one would want to take Artemis or hurt her.

Gregory was just psycho and an exception and Darren was supposed to have killed her years…

uh oh.” Koda stopped talking, looked down at the ground and rubbed the back of his neck.

My eyes were bulging out of my skull as I looked at each of the four men who were

quickly averting their gazes from me. “What do you mean Darren was supposed to have killed me?”

Ares looked up. “You’re a mixed blood, Artemis. Mixed bloods aren’t supposed to be

made let alone allowed to live. Your father was ordered by the king at the time you were born to kill you. As we can see he never did though.”

The words sunk in slowly until the painful truth hit. “He’d been planning it for after Bret left.”

All of the men looked at me in shock. Ares asked, “What do you mean?”

Tears began running down my cheeks and I hugged my knees to my chest. “I heard

Darren talking on the phone a few times about his plans. He would tell the person that it was going to be harder to do than he originally thought and to just give him until after Bret left. He always told me that I didn’t need to worry about trying to find friends after Bret left and I thought he meant that I’d find others, not that I’d be dead.”

Ares growled and rushed across the limo picking me up and holding me in his lap. “He

won’t hurt you now. I won’t let him.”

I buried my face in his chest and inhaled his scent that was fast becoming familiar and

comforting. In a matter of minutes the sorrow at my revelation disappeared and I was relaxed again. Deciding to ignore the news about my father, I whispered, “Can I go see the Eiffel Tower tomorrow?”

Ares sighed. “Dammit.”

I lifted my face and licked his cheek. “Please.”

Ares groaned. “Alright! But you have to stay with Koda and Matt at all times, even

bathroom trips.”

I kissed his lips quickly and jumped across the limo to look out the window. “I can’t

wait!”

Matt turned on the seat beside me and started pointing out places we would visit as the

limo drove on. The city faded into countryside and I sat down in my seat sighing loudly after thirty minutes. “When are we going to be there? I’m hungry.”

Victor smiled showing his fangs. “Care to make a bet on who’s hungrier?”

Ares growled. “Don’t test me Victor.”

My legs began to go numb from sitting so long and I slid to the floor kicking my feet.

“Dangit, my legs are falling asleep.”

Victor smiled. “We’re almost there. I’d say five more minutes, tops.”

I folded my legs into my body and asked, “What’s it like?”

Victor shrugged. “You’ll see.”

Ares held his hand out towards me and I took it giving into the pain I’d been trying to

ignore for the last hour. He pulled me up on to the seat beside him and I laid my legs across his lap. He started massaging my legs and I moaned in pleasure. “Wow, you’re really good at that.”

“I’m very good at a lot of things.” Ares winked at me and I blushed, closed my eyes and

enjoyed the massage.

Koda asked, “Do we have to dress up tomorrow?”

I opened my eyes to see the interaction. Ares nodded his head. “Of course. I don’t want to go before them dressed in Darren’s clothes.”

Koda sighed. “I know. I just hate wearing a jacket all the time.”

Victor shrugged. “You could wear dress casual instead.”

Matt shook his head. “If we dress at all we will dress formal. It’s how Ares likes it.”

Ares shrugged. “If I’m going to try to look good I might as well look great.”

“When don’t you look great?” I gasped as the words slipped out of my mouth. I yanked

my legs away from Ares and curled up into a ball trying to hide my blush.

Ares picked me up in my ball position and set me on his lap. “Thank you.”

I mumbled, “You’re welcome,” from inside my ball.

Ares rested his head against my shoulder and whispered into my ear, “You always look

great too.”

Part of me wanted to climb out of Ares’ lap, but a larger part of me enjoyed his arms

around me. I gave into the larger part and relaxed out of my ball to wrap my arms around his shoulders and rest my face in the crook of his neck. The temptation to bite him gnawed at me so I nipped his throat lightly. He growled, “No.”

I whined and nipped his neck again letting the wolf instincts take a little bit of reign over my human ones. Ares growled at me again and bit my shoulder hard enough to make me gasp,

but not hard enough to really hurt. I nipped his chest and jumped out of his arms to crouch on the floor of the limousine. Ares was crouched on top of the seat smiling at me and I swore I could see an image of a tail wagging behind him. Koda yipped excitedly behind me and jumped

towards me. I rolled away from him and Matt jumped on top of me. I nipped his arm and rolled away from him running into Ares who bit my bottom. I snarled and jumped around biting his shoulder and then jumping on top of the seat beside Victor. Victor shook his head and sighed.

“Wolves. You’re all so silly.”

I looked down at the crouched position I was in and plopped down on my butt sitting like

a human and blushing at the things I had just done. Ares was staring at me with golden eyes.

“You don’t want to play anymore?”

I shook my head and blushed. “No.”

Koda whined. “Play.” Matt nodded his head vigorously.

Victor sighed. “Point a sharp object at them and they’ll rip your head off without a

second thought, but offer to play tag and they become children pouncing around like fairies.”

Ares growled and Victor smiled “You know what I meant.” A large rod iron gate with swirls and flowers decorating it came into view and Victor sighed. “Finally.”

Ares, Matt and Koda shook their heads and sat down on the seats normally. Koda and

Matt folded their arms across their chests angrily and Ares stared out the window ignoring me.

They were mad at me. The gate opened and we drove past rows and rows of grapes. “The

vampire capitol of the world is in a vineyard?” I asked.

Victor shook his head. “It’s a winery.”

I rolled my eyes. “You know what I meant.”

Victor smiled. “There are hundreds of miles of tunnels below us and we earn money from

the winery to sustain a comfortable way of life. The humans get great tasting wine and we get a place of solitude. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.”

I frowned. “Except the people you eat.”

Victor shrugged. “Eat a few, release a thousand. It’s still a good deal.”

The mansion we pulled up in front of was easily three times the size of any of the

celebrity’s in the United States I had ever seen on TV. Two muscular men stood beside two giant wooden doors that must be the front entrance. I looked closely at their bodies and noticed the low percentage of body fat and extra ounces of muscle. I turned to Ares. “The vampires use werewolf guards?”

Ares smiled. “I’m surprised you could tell they are wolves from here.”

“Low amounts of body fat and high amounts of muscle suggest steroids or inhuman

metabolisms. I figured the vampires would feel safer with werewolves than steroid using

humans.”

Victor laughed making me shiver in delight. “You are very perceptive.”

Ares frowned. “You need to eat, Victor.”

Victor cleared his throat. “Sorry about the voice thing. As Ares said I need to eat or…

well let’s not discuss that.” The driver opened the door for us and Victor climbed out first, smiling at the driver flashing his fangs and walked up the steps towards the werewolf guards and the entrance. Koda and Matt climbed out next waiting a few feet away from the limousine.

Ares smiled at me. “It’ll be alright. No one will harm you, especially not with me beside you.” I nodded my head, but licked my lips nervously. Ares asked, “Would you let me hold your hand? It’ll make me feel better.”

He climbed out of the car before I could answer and I sighed in relief.
All I want is for
him to hold my hand
. I climbed out of the car and reached for his hand. He squeezed my hand reassuringly and we started up the steps. The two guards at the door placed their fists over their hearts and bowed at the waist to us. Ares mimicked their gesture and smiled. “Greetings

brothers.”

The guards smiled and spoke in unison, “Greetings Prince.”

Ares pointed at me. “My
passt genau
is with me during this visit. If she needs anything you come to her aid. Her needs are the most important out of anyone’s here.”

The guards sniffed the air and Ares face went neutral as he waited. I stared at the two

guards who were at least six and a half feet tall and built like walls. My feet started to move towards them and Ares nodded his head, simultaneously letting my hand go. I walked slowly up to the guards and inhaled the smell of forest, fur and also getting their individual smells mingled in as well. They inhaled deeply and smiled wide. They both spoke in unison again, officially creeping me out, “Greetings sister.”

I smiled. “Greetings brothers.”

Ares took my hand and pulled me away from the guards and into the mansion. The

mansion was dimly lit and there were only a few servants running around in uniforms. Ares whispered, “The vampires are all downstairs since it is still daylight. When the sun sets they will all come up here to mingle.”

I asked, “Do I have to dress up tomorrow too?”

Ares nodded his head and kissed my cheek. “Don’t worry. One of the seamstresses will

have something to fit you.”

I wanted to protest, but a beautiful woman walked up to us speaking in rapid French.

Ares nodded his head and then spoke back to her in French. She looked down at me and

frowned, slowly letting her eyes travel up my body from my feet. She looked back at Ares and spoke again quickly pointing rapidly at me then back to herself and then at Ares. Ares sighed and shook his head. “Sophe…” His words were French again so I couldn’t keep up, but at least I knew her name.

Koda ran his hand down my right arm and my body relaxed a little. He smiled at me. “It’s

alright. He’s just explaining who you are.”

I frowned and looked at the beautiful French woman. “She’s one of the women he’s slept

with, isn’t she?”

Ares turned to me and frowned. “Artemis…”

I pulled my hand out of his and smiled. “It’s alright. Talk to her and I’ll talk to Koda.”

Ares looked like he wanted to object, but Sophe was speaking angrily to his back trying

to get his attention. Koda opened his arms and I stepped forward into his body. Matt walked up behind me and hugged me from behind wrapping his arms around Koda in the process. I asked,

“Aren’t you going to make a comment about him hugging you?” I asked Koda.

Koda shook his head. “We’re pack and the touch of our pack mates is soothing. Like

Ares’ touch to you, but not the sexual part. Matt is my brother.”

Matt kissed the top of my head then stepped back. “Don’t be so upset Love. He’s simply

trying to calm ’er down. Angry female werewolves are not fun to deal with.”

I pulled away from Koda and stared at the animated conversation that was going on

between Ares and Sophe. “She loves him.”

Koda nodded his head. “She does, but she also knows that he never loved her.”

“I can’t handle this.” I started to walk away, but Koda and Matt walked beside me. Ares

watched me out of the corner of his eyes, but was trying to pay attention to the yelling French woman in front of him.

Luckily she kept his attention while we started on our way. Koda gave me a tour of the

main floor of the mansion, which consisted of a dining room, a living room, a kitchen bigger than my house, a game room with poker tables, pool tables and two giant televisions, and six bedrooms. We were about to walk out to the back patio and to the pool that Matt said was just beyond when Ares caught up to us. He whispered, “I’m sorry Artemis.” He held out his hand and I accepted it. He hugged me against him. “Are you alright?”

I shook my head. “No, but there’s not much that can be done.”

He tilted my chin up and kissed my lips. “Would an hour back massage make up for it?”

I smiled. “It’ll help.” Ares smiled at me and I couldn’t stay mad at him. I groaned. “It’s not fair that I can’t stay mad at you.”

Ares kissed me again. “Not fair at all.”

Matt cleared his throat. “Could we continue now?”

Ares bowed at the waist. “Of course, my liege. Forgive my rude interruption.”

Matt rolled his eyes. “Jerk.”

Ares smiled. “Baby.”

Matt opened the patio door for me and continued the tour of the acre patio with dining

tables and candelabras, then onto the two-acre wide pool. Ares and Koda debated over whether it should technically be considered a pond or lake, since it was so large, but Matt argued that the fact that they used a pool pump and chlorine made it a pool. I tried to engage in their debate, but there was a strange weight resting on my chest and back. I tried to figure out what it was when the words popped into my head on their own: powerful darkness. The presence became heavier as the sun moved down towards the horizon. Ares rubbed my arm and kissed my cheek, as we

walked back towards the mansion.

Koda led the way down the hallways as if he owned the place and into a large bedroom.

The bedroom had one giant bed, which could sleep at least five people comfortably. A desk and chair as well as a couch sat against the walls on the room. One door led to the bathroom with Jacuzzi tub and open shower. The second door led to a walk-in closet bigger than my bedroom had been. Ares stopped at the entrance to the bedroom and spoke quickly to a maid in French.

The maid left and then Ares walked to stand beside me at the large bed. “We had these

specifically made for those wishing to sleep in packs.”