I AM ARTEMIS (PT.2)
1854 Words
Shezayah’s entire body tensed against the ground while another sickening crack rolled through her leg, the sound loud enough to make bile rise in the back of her throat. Sweat dampened the side of her face as she fought to pull air back into her lungs, but breathing itself was becoming harder now, every inhale catching strangely in her chest like her body no longer knew how to move correctly.
“This isn’t acceptance,” she hissed, forcing the words out between uneven breaths while her claws carved deep grooves into the dirt beneath her hands. “It feels like I’m being torn apart.”
A low sound vibrated through her mind then, not quite a growl this time and not quite sympathy either.
Because you are resisting me.
Anger snapped through her instantly, stronger than the fear for half a second. “You think I’m just supposed to let this happen?” she shot back. “You show up in my head after I kill somebody and suddenly I’m supposed to trust you?”
The forest fell quiet again except for the pounding of her heartbeat and the distant sound of the hunter still crashing blindly through the woods somewhere ahead. Artemis noticed it immediately. Shezayah felt the shift in her before the wolf even spoke, felt that sharp predatory focus tighten like a leash being pulled inside her chest.
He still runs.
The words landed differently now. Closer. Hungrier.
Shezayah squeezed her eyes shut hard enough for pain to flare behind them. “I don’t care.”
Lie again.
Another pulse hit her instantly after that, but this time it wasn’t pain forcing its way through her body.
It was instinct.
Hot and violent and impossible to ignore.
Her nose filled with the scent of blood again so strongly she could almost taste it, and before she realized what she was doing, her head tilted slightly toward the direction of the fleeing hunter while something dangerously close to anticipation curled low in her stomach.
Artemis felt it too.
There you are, the wolf murmured.
The words settled beneath her skin like a hand wrapping slowly around her throat.
Shezayah’s eyes opened again, glowing faintly green against the darkness now while the forest sharpened around her in terrifying detail. She could hear the hunter stumbling farther ahead, his breathing ragged and panicked as branches whipped against him while he ran. He was slowing down. Bleeding more heavily. Exhausted.
And somehow her body knew it before her mind could even process it.
Her fingers twitched violently against the dirt as another growl built low in her chest, deeper this time, fuller, the sound vibrating hard enough for her ribs to ache around it. Panic should have been stronger than this hunger spreading through her body, but the fear was slipping now beneath something far more dangerous. Something instinctive.
“No,” she whispered again, though the protest lacked conviction now.
Artemis remained quiet for a moment before speaking in that same calm voice that somehow made everything worse.
He would have killed you.
Shezayah’s jaw tightened instantly because that part was true. The hunter had not come into those woods by accident. Silver traps lined the trees deeper in the forest, and she had seen the symbols burned into the blade he carried before she snapped his wrist trying to take it from him. He knew exactly what he was hunting.
And somehow…
So had she.
The realization hit hard enough to make her stomach twist.
“You knew what he was before he attacked,” Artemis said quietly. “That is why you followed him into the forest.”
Shezayah swallowed hard as memories replayed themselves differently now. The unease she felt the second she spotted him near the tree line. The immediate anger curling beneath her skin before he ever spoke a word. The instinct that told her he was dangerous long before she understood why.
Not anger.
Recognition.
A branch snapped somewhere ahead.
The hunter had fallen.
And before Shezayah could stop herself, her body moved.
Shezayah barely registered pushing herself upright before her legs took off through the forest, boots slamming violently against the ground while cold air tore through her lungs. The speed hit her first. Trees blurred past so quickly they stopped looking solid altogether, shadows and branches melting together around her while instincts she didn’t understand guided every movement without hesitation. She should not have been moving this fast. No human could.
But Artemis said nothing now.
The wolf didn’t need to.
Because Shezayah could feel her.
Every pulse of excitement. Every sharpened instinct. Every flicker of anticipation curling through her body as the scent of blood grew stronger with every step.
Ahead of her, the hunter struggled desperately through the trees before crashing hard against the forest floor again. She heard the impact clearly, heard the strained groan that followed, and by the time he looked up, Shezayah was already standing several feet away from him in the darkness.
The fear that crossed his face made her stomach twist.
Not with guilt.
With satisfaction.
Her breathing turned uneven again as the realization hit her almost immediately afterward. She should have hated this feeling. Instead, something inside her leaned toward it hungrily, drinking in the panic radiating off him while the glowing green in her eyes brightened faintly against the night.
“Please,” the hunter rasped, scrambling backward weakly through the dirt while blood soaked through the torn side of his jacket. “Please don’t—”
A growl cut him off before he could finish.
This time Shezayah couldn’t tell if the sound came from her or Artemis anymore.
The hunter’s eyes widened as Shezayah stepped closer, her movements slower now, almost cautious despite the violent pulse roaring beneath her skin. Moonlight filtered weakly through the trees overhead, catching against the dark claws extending from her fingertips and the faint green glow burning inside her eyes. She saw the exact moment he realized she was no longer entirely human.
“You’re a monster,” he breathed.
The words should have hurt.
Instead, anger rolled through her so fast it almost made her dizzy.
Before she could stop herself, Shezayah grabbed him by the front of his jacket and slammed him hard against the base of a tree. The impact knocked the air from his lungs instantly while her claws pierced through the fabric just enough for blood to surface beneath it. Her breathing came rough and uneven now, every instinct inside her screaming at her to finish this, to tear into him before he could become a threat again.
But beneath the rage, another feeling fought violently to stay alive.
Control.
“I’m not a monster,” she snapped, though the growl bleeding into her voice weakened the argument immediately.
The hunter stared at her in horror. “You killed three of my men,” he rasped.
Images flashed through Shezayah’s mind so suddenly it nearly made her stagger. Silver traps hidden beneath leaves. Dead wolves hanging skinned from trees deeper in the woods. Blood soaking into the ground while men laughed nearby.
Her stomach twisted hard enough to hurt.
Artemis rose instantly inside her chest, furious now.
He lies to himself so he can sleep at night.
Shezayah’s grip tightened without thinking.
The hunter choked sharply before forcing out another terrified breath. “People like you shouldn’t exist.”
Something in her snapped.
Not fully.
Not enough to lose herself completely.
But enough for the wolf to surge forward.
Pain rolled violently through Shezayah’s body as another sharp crack tore beneath her skin, but this time she didn’t fight to push it away. Her breathing stayed strangely steady while she looked down at the claws extending farther from her fingertips, moonlight catching against the dark curved edges as if they had always belonged there. The hunter’s fear filled the forest around her so heavily now that she could practically taste it, and instead of panicking, she found herself focusing on it with dangerous curiosity.
Interesting.
The realization alone should have disturbed her more than it did.
The hunter stared at her like she had crawled out of a nightmare, struggling backward through the dirt while blood poured from the cuts across his chest. “Monster,” he breathed again, though the word shook badly this time.
Shezayah tilted her head slightly as she watched him. Calm. Observing. The fear in his eyes felt deserved now, and that truth settled into her chest far easier than it should have.
A low rumble slid through her mind.
Now you understand.
Another pulse moved through her body, stronger this time, and instead of resisting it, Shezayah let herself feel it fully. The sharpened instincts. The strength coiling beneath her muscles. The violent awareness pressing against every sense she had. Nothing about it felt unnatural anymore. If anything, it felt familiar in a way she couldn’t explain.
“This should scare me,” she said quietly, more to herself than the wolf.
Artemis sounded almost amused by that realization.
But it does not.
Shezayah slowly lifted her eyes back toward the hunter while the faint green glow behind them brightened against the darkness.
“No,” she admitted calmly.
And that honesty changed something between them instantly.
The hunter must have seen it too.
That calm acceptance.
Because whatever hope he had left disappeared from his face almost instantly.
He pushed himself backward again, shaking his head so hard it looked painful while his eyes stayed locked on the glowing green staring back at him through the darkness. “Stay away from me,” he rasped, his voice breaking under the panic now. “You’re sick.”
A quiet laugh almost left Shezayah at that.
Not because it was funny.
Because the fear pouring off him felt so overwhelming now that it wrapped around her senses like heat. She could hear every uneven beat of his heart stumbling against his ribs, could smell the adrenaline burning through his bloodstream, and somewhere deep inside her chest, something sharp and possessive leaned toward it hungrily.
Artemis did not speak.
She did not need to.
For the first time since the voice appeared, Shezayah understood her without words.
The hunter finally managed to force himself back onto his feet before turning to run again, but this time Shezayah moved before she consciously decided to. One second he was stumbling into the trees, and the next she was in front of him, fast enough that his body nearly slammed directly into hers.
His breath caught violently.
So did hers.
Not from fear.
From the realization of what she had just done.
The forest had barely shifted around her at all.
She had crossed the distance impossibly fast.
A slow grin tugged at the corner of Shezayah’s mouth before she could stop it. “Huh,” she murmured softly, glancing down at her claws with open curiosity now instead of panic. “That’s new.”
The hunter looked ready to collapse where he stood.
And somehow that only made the grin deepen slightly.
- Writer
