Mated To The Mythical Alpha

Chapter 7

The snow is crunching under our paws. Artemis is running like I’ve seen before. She’s running with purpose, but this is a free run, finally. Pine trees fill our nostrils and Artemis keeps running straight. She lets out a howl and slows her pace. Emotions run high as I feel like Artemis and I can finally grieve our father. She comes to a stop, right before a fallen tree. I see remnants of moss but it’s mostly dead and covered in snow. She arches her neck and lets out one more mournful howl to the bright blue sky.

It’s starting to lightly snow, the sun is getting low in the sky. It gets dark here in Taiga very early and since we were in unfamiliar territory, I wanted to go back to the dorm. I was just about to protest going further when Artemis took off to the left like a bat out of hell. I smell blood! She jumps over the fallen trees and follows the scent. She’s running, taking sharp turns left and right like she’s been here before. The smell gets stronger, something is definitely dying.

We ran deeper into the woods, snow starting to pick up. The ground is covered in small paw prints and looks like some large bird. Artemis slows down once she sees the snow covered in red drops just ahead. She sniffs the air and the blood smells just a few feet ahead. We follow the tiny red droplets and an eagle cries out from above us. Angry and flapping its wings, there must be a nest nearby. Artemis eyed a tiny body dripping in blood in the snow ahead.

It’s a small squirrel, struggling to breathe. It has giant scratches across its belly and his eye has been pecked to hell. I know what is going to happen next. Artemis breathes deeply and closes her eyes. Thank you, Geia, for this meal. Your creation will not be wasted. Artemis opens her eyes and devours the squirrel.

She finishes her meal and as she picks her head up, the eagle squeals out and takes flight from the top of the pine tree. Artemis grazes at it for a moment, following it with her eyes. It takes off and heads more north and into the horizon. The setting sun was low just below the tree line, we only had less than an hour before darkness. The eagle swoops down and lands on another tree-top and we notice something in the distance. It has this eerie deja vu feel. It looks like a cliff, and off at the horizon line, oddly familiar mountain peaks.

Did we see this palace before? Maybe the college brochure had a similar picture? But we’re so far from the college, it can’t be that. Artemis moved forward, cautiously towards the cliff. The snow had stopped, the air was still and cold. We caught up to the tree the eagle was in and once again it took off, this time a distance that Artemis didn’t care to follow. Her bright blue eyes focused on the beautiful scene in front of her.

We don’t hear a thing, we don’t smell a thing, the sun is setting behind the mountains but we can’t turn back. We’re nearing the edge of the cliff and Artemis huffs in disbelief. Below us is now a crystal clear, still water lake. Artemis scans the horizon, the edge of the lake. She looks back around to make sure this wasn’t another stupid dream. There is nothing else here, just us. But a flashback in my head tells me last time we were here, we were not alone.

No, last time we looked at that lake it was red. Blood red; from our mates dismangled body after Alex ripped his neck out and threw him off the cliff. Artemis, we need to go back to the dorm, NOW. She stays still. She was in a daze, almost as if she was searching for her mate's body. I tried to yell. I try to push through, even to transform, to get us away from here for just a moment. Artemis sniffs the air suddenly. Peppermint? Why would the smell of peppermint be up here? We need to get the f**k out of here!

Artemis sniffs again, it’s definitely fresh peppermint. Artemis turns around and stops, looking at the darkened tree line in front of us. How the hell are we going to find our way home now? Artemis is frozen, the smell of mint flowing into her nostrils, the smell is doing something to us that I’ve never felt before. She seemed almost calm. How in the ever loving world can this wolf be calm? We are in the deep forest, alone, in the damn dark, miles away from the dorm and there are strange kitchen smells around us, and not to mention the presumably “ancient” pack that could be living out here. Artemis! Artemis, we NEED to get home! I’m screaming in her head. Stubborn b***h.

Artemis scans the forest one more time and I think there was movement. The smell of mint is getting stronger. She whines, wanting to go towards the scent, but I’ve had enough. I push through and make her paws run for the tree line. She growls and takes back over. It’s pitch black but she seems to know the way back home. Artemis is jumping over dead trees, the snow crushing under us. She’s breathing heavily but running fast. We can see the tall dorm building in the distance, some lights still on from those that have stayed behind for the break.

The mint was closing in and I could hear the sounds of something running behind us. Artemis pushes through the last line of pines and runs towards the basement parking garage. Suddenly, there was a very loud growl behind us, but whatever followed us had abruptly stopped. We skid to the lower level, only a few cars being able to block our followers' view. Artemis is breathing rampant but is tall enough to look through the window of a car to see the tree line. There is no movement anymore. Whatever it was was gone. Reluctantly, we needed to go back so I could get my bag of clothes so I didn’t have to walk through the front doors and back to the dorm naked.

Artemis let me take back control behind one of the trees by the garage. We should have stayed, that smell of mint was our mate! Stayed? Mate? That squirrel she ate must have been on the juice because there is no way. Artemis, we need to go to bed. All that fresh air makes you delirious. Let's go up and call Paul. I need to see how his pup is coming along! Artemis growls and huffs. As we walked out of the tree line and headed to the back steps, I gave one last glance at the darkness of the forest. A bone chilling howl deep within rings into my ears and gives me goosebumps all over my skin. Artemis, if that was our mate, I don’t think he’s happy we found his territory. We walked up the stairs to the dorm room.

“Oh my god, Lucy you’re huge!” I screamed into the phone as Paul’s mate, now Luna, and soon to be mother of their child, comes into full view on the screen. “Are you sure you only have one in there?” I laughed as she rubs her huge belly. She still has three months left. Werewolf pregnancies are only seven months compared to a normal nine.

“Well actually, we have a surprise!” Paul says, out of range from the view. There’s a loud fumble around in the background but suddenly a picture of a sonogram appears where Lucy’s body was. “TWINS!” Paul screams. I wasn’t sure if I heard him over the phone or maybe he screamed so loud I heard him all the way down in Redwood. There was a smack and a loud “Ow!” immediately following Paul shouting.

“I told you to quit your shouting, Alpha! They were asleep!” Lucy comes back into view on the screen. “Now I need to go for a damn walk to rock them back to sleep. Just you wait until I come back, you owe me a damn foot rub!” She waves me off and goes waddling away.

“Two babies, Par.” Paul says, looking at the sonogram. Oh boy, they sure are going to have their hands full. “So, get your degree and come back because the school is going to chuck full of little ones. We’ve already welcomed another twenty-five members to the pack since you left!” Paul beamed with pride. The pack has been doing great since his take over, and Lucy has really taken the role of Luna seriously to help him out. I smiled and told him I was working on it, and it was my turn to gloat about being the lead architect for the new Academic Hall.

“I am so proud of you, Par.” he says. There was a short pause, and he quietly asked “Do you still have nightmares?” I took a breath in. “Yes, but Brek has been able to calm Aretmis down with the smell of mint. He is the only one who Artemis doesn’t hurt when we wake up.” I told him. I know my hands are warm when he wakes us up but he’s never mentioned that I burned him.

“When is he coming back?” Paul asked.

“Should be soon. He said he didn’t like being home a lot. I make sure we’ve been staying most of our days in the dorm room so I don’t fall asleep somewhere else.” I took a quick look out the window towards the mountains. Should I tell him about the events earlier? Not yet, maybe someday soon. I ran into the bedroom and grabbed a stuffed animal Brek gave me: a pure white wolf. He bought it for me before he left, and said it would match my necklace. “He gave me this and lathered it with the scent of mint for me before he left. It helps…kinda.” I showed Paul on the camera.

Paul laughed a deep belly laugh. “How familiar that looks!” I smiled. “Just missing the black tuff next to the right eye.”

Another pause. There was some commotion in the background. “Pickles dammit. Why don’t we have any pickles?” Lucy yells at someone, then a possible pan hits the floor.

Paul rolls his eyes. “Gotta go, pregnant Luna is having carvings again. I have a surprise coming for you soon, so keep an eye out. I miss you, Par. I love you. Talk soon.” And just like that, my screen goes black.

I sigh. I looked out the window over the sink again. The silhouette of the forest and mountains is barely noticeable under the big, bright full moon. I wonder what or who is out there. The last few weeks being alone, that was the furthest Aretmis had traveled into the depths of the forest. We need to go back out to the lake. An image of a blood red lake fills my head. It was blue, little wolf. The lake was blue. But for how long? I ask myself.

My phone lights up again, this time showing a full close-up face of Brek and all his freckles. I slide my finger over to answer his video call and all I can see is his bright green eyes. They look bloodshot, like all the nights I kept him up with my nightmares, or all the “Code Wolfe”s at three in the morning.

“What’s up babe?” I asked him. The phone is going in all sorts of directions and he comes in and out of focus. There's rustling and arguing but I can’t make any of it out. Then the phone falls to the floor and all I see is the ceiling.

“Brek? You there?” I asked to anyone on the other end. A huge green eyeball fills my screen and I gasp in shock.

“Are ya the wee ting my b’other has at dat fancy school?” someone asks me. I know it’s not Brek, this green eye does not have freckles around it. “Give me dat, you arsehole!” Brek’s face fills the phone once again. “Par, I’m comin’ back in two days. I can’t stand it here!” and once again the phone is ripped from his hands and I see four more Brek look-alikes shove their eyeballs onto the screen.

“Okay, I’ll see you soon! Safe travels!” I shouted, hoping he could hear me, and hung up the call.

Freckles doesn’t sound like he’s having a good time. Artemis says in a sad voice. We were hoping going home would be best for him and to be around normal people again. Normal people don’t have nightmares of their mate being killed by someone who is obsessed with them. Or by us. Gee, thanks Artemis. Poor guy deserved some sleep and normalcy.

I sigh and start stripping my clothes right in our little kitchenette. I get down to my bra and panties when I have a chill run down my spine. I looked out the window one more time at the dark forest and the illuminating full moon. My heart stops as I see a large figure right outside the tree line along the dorm building, in the same spot where whatever was chasing us earlier had stopped. I can’t make out the features or who it is but they don’t move.

They just stand there and I feel like they are staring right into my eyes. Artemis takes over and throws me down on the couch, out of sight of the window. I started to breathe again, rapidly and ran into the bedroom. I jump on my bed and grab hold of my white wolf stuffed animal and try to inhale the scent so hard my lungs hurt.

Two more days. Two more days and Brek will be back. I inhale the mint scent again. I will not leave this damn bed for two more days. Little wolf, I think we might be in some deep s**t.