Chapter 35: Chapter 33

Artemis Pov

(two days earlier)

"What the fuck do you mean you know where Storm is?"

He shrugs walking around my office with a hint of curiosity in those eyes. "Exactly as you heard me."

I purse my lips at him. "How come?"

He puts the lamp down turning around to give me a flat look. "Is it so hard to trust your own brother Red? Heck even Snow thinks you need to tone it down."

I roll my eyes at him, placing my hand on my hips. "Don't talk to me about your wolf, I'm not interested."

He groans glaring at me. "Enough Red! Talking to you is such a pain in my the butt."

"I feel the same don't even know why Artemis likes you." I say giving him a sweet smile.

He narrows his eyes at me before he sighs shaking his head. "If you don't quit acting like a brat you won't have a mate to care about."

I growl, crossing the distance between us. "Watch yourself." I grit out and he gives me a bored look.

"Give Artemis control and get your warriors ready so we head to Pennsylvania."

I purse my lips, narrowing my eyes slightly at him before turning on my heels,  heading straight for the door.

"Where are you going?" He questions brows furrowed and I look over my shoulder glaring at him.

"I'm going out or does it look like I'm coming in?"  I snap sarcastically and he purses his lips, giving me a flat look before waving me away.

With one last look, I leave the room, mindlinking the others to get everything ready.

Give me back control.

I sigh taking deep breaths, allowing Artemis to come forth before retracting to the back of her mind.

I sigh rolling my shoulders. Thank you Red.

She huffs looking away from me and raising up the mental block.

"Damien." I call through the mindlink and he immediately responds. "Gather everyone, we're leaving immediately."

"Yes Alpha."

I close the link, sighing to myself and turn around only to come face to face with my brother who stands too close for my liking.

"If you weren't able to scare Red what shows you can do same to me?" I state flatly and he shrugs giving me one of his cheeky smiles.

"Worth a shot."

Rolling my eyes, I enter my room grabbing the bag I packed before leaving, Apollo right behind me and I stop suddenly turning around to face him.

"I don't get something." I mutter furrowing my brows and staring at the floor in concentration.

He raises his brow at me, arms clasped behind his back. "What?"

"Why didn't you save Storm if you knew where he was?"

It's been on my mind for sometime now, I kept on wondering why he couldn't save him if he knew where he was.

It's strange of my brother not to help but at the same time he likes minding his own business too.

He sighs, running his fingers through his sliver hair, shoulders tensed, as he looks away with lips pressed thinly.

I narrow my eyes at him stepping forward. "Apollo." I growl in a warning tone.

The air is suddenly filled with tension and I grab his broad shoulders, turning him around to face me but he looks down avoiding my gaze.

"What are you not telling me? Why couldn't you bring Storm back to me?"

"We need to go." He states blankly, tone and face devoid of any emotion and before I can question him, he disappears.

"We're here Alpha."

Biting on my bottom lip, I stare at the spot he was standing a thinking of the possibilities on what and why he couldn't save Storm unless- my body stills, eyes going wide, a growl escaping my lips as my body shakes in anger.

Leaving the house, I run to the field of flowers which is now covered in snow and there I find him, sitting quietly in the grass.

He clearly wanted to see the flowers if he managed to remove the snow from that spot.

"You wanted him to find out the truth, didn't you!" I snap glaring at his back.

His shoulders rises and falls with every breath he takes as he continues to play with the flowers.

"Mom loved this place so much." He begins, looking around. "This is where she met dad."

Memories from that time flood my mind and I clench my fist. "That is not what I want to know."

He sighs, rising to his feet dusting the little snow that dropped on his black jeans as he turns around to face me, golden eyes staring into a pair of violet ones.

"Yes Artemis I wanted him to find out the truth." He replies confirming what I already know and I growl.

"That wasn't your choice to make!" I snap and he tilts his head.

"You wouldn't have told him the truth."

I freeze on the spot, my mind blank as I stare at him and he suddenly appears in front of me.

"You didn't have plans of telling him." He murmurs softly tucking my hair behind my ear.

That is not true. I promised him the truth and I was going to do exactly that.

"You're lying." I whisper and he chuckles and the sound reminds me of someone but who?

"You know I don't lie Artemis. It's kinda of difficult for me to lie."

I've heard that before but not from my brother.

I frown to myself, there was no way I was gonna lie to Storm about who I am and my brother knows that because he basically forced me to tell the truth else I would have lost my mate.

Stepping back from him, I raise my head glaring at the person in front of me. " Who the heck are you?"

He frowns, taking a step close to me and lifts his hand to touch my face but I move to the side.

"I'm your brother." I shake my head, placing my hand on the small dagger on my belt as my eyes glow.

"I won't ask again." I snap. "Who are you?"

The person chuckles, looking down and shaking the head at me. "You were always smart Artemis."

He steps back running his fingers through his hair, amusement swirling within those eyes that have somehow taken the form of my brother.

"It didn't take you even a minute to figure out that I'm not your precious brother but still you were slow."

I clench my jaw, staring irritatingly at the person in front of me. "Show yourself."

He clicks his tongue against the roof my his mouth, shaking a finger in my direction. "I'm not a werewolf so you don't get to order me around and besides I'm enjoying this body I have."

"Well I don't like to be used." A deep voice snaps from behind and a fist pass through the body, beating heart clutched in the hand before slowing pulling out.

The body drops to the ground, immediately turning to ash and I raise my head staring at my brother as he watches me with a blank look.

He steps over the the ash, dropping the heart to the ground as he comes closer.

"I couldn't save Storm because I was not physically there, just my spirit." He mutters and I nod.

"Fine but we've wasted enough time, it's almost day break." I say turning on my heels and walking away but a hand grabs my wrist stopping me.

Apollo purses his lips, brows drawn together. "I'll send you the location but Artemis remember this, Arson is a snake, a manipulator but he also speaks the truth so if my guess is correct he's already telling Storm about you, about us."

My shoulders slump in defeat, staring at the ground sullenly and he sighs stepping forward and wrapping his arms around me.

His scent of lavender wraps me like a blanket and I sink into it, burying my face in his chest as he lightly strokes my hair.

"It will be alright. Your mate is strong and definitely not stupid." He mutters.

"But he is human and my world even though he denies it, scares him." I murmur.

He chuckles. "If I'm correct don't they run when they are scared of something?"

I press my lips together.

"If he hasn't run after meeting witches, werewolves and also dealing with the bizarre changes then I doubt he's gonna run when he hears this."

I pull back with a frown. " This is different, he basically going to find out that I'm half goddess, half human and werewolf and basically the daughter of the first ever werewolf."

He rolls his eyes lifting his hand to flick my forehead and I glare at him rubbing the spot.

I still hate it.

"So what, I don't think it will change the way he feels about you and trust me I know exactly how he feels." He replies a far look in his eyes and smiles to himself before shaking his head.

He stops once he realises the weird look I'm giving, clearing his throat and straightening up. "Come on, we've wasted time."

*************

We reached Pennsylvania almost close to midnight and currently we're in the mountains where my brother said Storm is.

I'm jet-lagged but I'm also willing to get my mate out of there before he suffers any further. Only God knows what he's going through and the fact that I can't even feel his side of the bond is killing me.

"I think you should rest." My brother says taking a seat beside me as we both stare at the cackling flame.

I'm waiting for Damien, Scott and Samaria to tell me how best we can go without causing so much damage.

Sighing, I continue poking the flame basically ignoring the person beside me and he sighs placing his hand on mine.

"Arte-"

"J-just shut up." My voice cracks and I clear my throat looking away from him. The burning sensation in my eye is making it even worse. There's no time to cry Artemis, Storm needs you to be strong for him.

Shutting my eyes tightly, I take in deep breaths willing the tears back before looking forward once again, this time my face is blank.

Apollo chuckles and I raise an eyebrow at him. "What's funny?"

"You are." He replies, shaking his head, his lips tugging up in a smile.

I give him a flat look, rolling my eyes. "You're an idiot."

"And you're a crybaby." He fires back.

I purse my lips at him, movements fast as I raise my hand to smack his head but he catches my wrist clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth.

"I was always faster than you Artemis." He retorts cheekily and I smirk, bring my feet hard unto his own, watching as his face scrunches up in pain.

"And I was always smarter than you." I reply with a sickly sweet smile.

He lets go but not before ruffling my hair and I narrow my eyes at him, patting it down.

It's silent between us with only the cackling of the flame and the crickets around that seem not to understand what it means to be quiet.

How could I have been so stupid not to realize that he was freaking behind all this. I'm a goddess for crying out loud, I should know this and Storm, oh Storm, he was dragged into this all because of me.

All because my selfishness to have a mate, to experience what mom and dad had but do I regret it? Not really. The only thing I regret is not being able to protect him as I should.

"Stop blaming yourself." Apollo whispers silently, cutting me off from my thoughts and I sigh.

"It's kinda of difficult not to."

He gives me a bewildered look. "It's not that difficult Artemis."

I clench my jaw in frustration. " You wouldn't understand."

He scoffs giving me a bored look. "Just because I don't have a mate."

I snap my gaze to him, quickly shaking my head as I take his hand in mine, squeezing it lightly. "I didn't mean it that way."

I really didn't mean it that way, it's just that the guilt of not actually telling Storm the truth at the beginning has been eating me alive and honestly how was I supposed to tell him that I'm a goddess.

He would have definitely ended up in a mental institution.

If I had been honest with him then maybe, just maybe things would have been different but I was scared and I still am.

He hasn't even seen my wolf before because I am too terrified to show him.

"Your thoughts are really depressing."

I groan, smacking my forehead. How could I have forgotten that he can read my mind.

"Stay out of my head." I snap, raising the mental block between the two us. The sibling bond allows us to be able to see and read each others thoughts and emotions.

There's rustling in the trees and Damien and Scott come out of the shadows.

"Well?"

Damien steps forward, frowning as he shakes his head. "It's heavily guarded and smooth entry will be difficult."

Apollo scoffs, dusting his black jeans and turns to face me. "I could have told you that."

Scott snaps his gaze to him, eyes widening before quickly looking away when Apollo snaps his gaze to him.

My pack knows who I and my brother are, they just haven't met him well except for a few so I can understand why he looks shocked.

Getting to Storm might be harder than I originally thought but then again I expected nothing less from Arson.

A tired sigh escapes me but then I look up, brows furrowed, noticing that Samaria is not with them.

"Where is Samaria?"

Scott shrugs. "She decided to stay behind. Told us that if anything happened she'll let us know."

I nod my head at him, rising to my feet, glancing at the people who came with me. "Rest, at dawn we attack."

They all nod their heads.

Sleeping is definitely the last thing on my mind so without waiting for them to get comfortable, I head towards the direction they came from.

I step aside immediately watching as the arrow  hits the tree beside me.

Samaria.

Another one heads in my direction and I catch it, snapping it into half and dropping it on the ground.

"Samaria it's me!" I whisper yell raising my head up and looking into the trees.

She jumps from the tree, landing on the ground gracefully as she slings her bow around her shoulder. "Alpha Artemis is that you?"

I press my lips into a thin line, hands on my waist as watch her flatly. "No it's tooth fairy- of course it's me!"

She steps into the light, smiling sheephisly at me as she rubs her neck. "Sorry, I didn't mean to fire at you."

I sigh, looking around me. "It's alright you were just doing-"

Samaria quickly whips around, taking an arrow from her quiver, quickly aiming in front of her and releases it.

It flies through the trees and I groan, smacking my forehead.

My brother steps out, Esme trailing behind him and Samaria tenses up. I know she can feel the sudden dominating aura of an Alpha.

"Watch where you aim that thing!" Esme snaps pushing Apollo out of the way, her hair raised in a messy bun as her cloak drags on the ground.

She huffs, clearly frustrated about having an arrow almost impeded into her heart.

Apollo draws closer to Samaria and with each step he takes, she tenses up even more until he stops in front of her.

His golden eyes glow brightly in the dark and he takes his hand from behind his back, twirling the arrow around, a charming smile on his face. "I believe this is yours."

She shivers slightly, goosebumps appearing on her skin and slowly raises her hand taking the arrow from him.

"Al- I- Ap-" She stutters completely lost in his presence, unable to even look in his eyes or stand up straight.

This is why gods never come closer to people because our presence can be quite dominating and he being an Alpha as well just adds the cherry on top.

"Would you quit it!" I snap and that seems to pull Samaria out of whatever trance she was in because she quickly goes on one knee, bowing her head.

"Alpha Apollo it's an honour to meet you."

He lifts his gaze to mine, winking at me."It's a pleasure Samaria."

"It's a pleasure Samaria." Esme mocks, rolling her eyes at him and he narrows his at her.

Esme doesn't like him very much, technically Esme doesn't like anyone and I'm not ready to deal with their bickering.

"Samaria, head back to camp and get some rest."

She nods quickly running back there and out of sight.

"And you two no fighting." I murmur not looking back to see if they heard me on not but their grunting is all I need to know.

I suddenly jerk away from the tree I was leaning on, falling to the ground as an intense pain consumes my body making me scream.

Apollo crouches next to me, staring at my face worriedly. "What's wrong Artemis?"

My face scrunches up in pain, as another one pierces through me and I pant for air.

What is happening?

Red whimpers.

Beads of sweat gather on my forehead, my whole body shaking from a pain that I don't even know where it's-

The blood on my face drains and it hits me. This is not my pain, it's Storm's.

Oh my God, what are they doing to him.

"What is happening to you Artemis?" He rushes out, cupping my cheeks and pushing the hair from my face.

Another pain consumes me and I roll over biting hard on my bottom lip, a metallic taste filling my mouth.

"S-storm, t-they are hurting h-him." I manage to gasp out, eyes filled with unshed tears.

They are hurting my mate.

Get to mate! Mate needs us!! Get up Artemis! Red growls in my head and I clench my jaw slowly rising to my feet.

I need to do this, my mate needs me.

"Damien get everyone down here!"

"Yes Alpha."

Without wasting time, I descend the hill heading straight towards to cave of the mountains and I don't even know if the others followed or not and honestly I don't care.

My mate needs me, so fighting through the pain, I quickly enter the cave, ducking just in time to avoid the knife thrown in my way.

I stand to my feet, glaring at them, my eyes glowing and they visibly shrink.

I don't have time to waste, so I tilt my head to the side, narrowing my eyes slightly as I force my way into their minds, crippling them from there.

They grab the sides of their heads, yelling out in pain and I walk past them.

I hear it before I see it, the blade heading  straight towards me and I bend backwards, sliding on my knees as it flies over me but I quickly grab it, getting up on my feet and twisting myself, throwing the blade and pinning his hand against the wall.

Two more meet me round the corner but before they can make their attack, they quickly drop to the ground with an arrow on the head and in the chest.

Turning around, Samaria lowers her bow giving me a firm nod and I return it.

She turns around, grabbing another arrow and releases it, pinning the guy to the wall.

Esme walks in, a bored expression on her face as her looks around her. "Well this escalated quickly."

"Where are the others?" I question, kicking the back his knee, and she shrugs, clenches her fist and snaps his neck without touching him.

Apollo walks in calmly, stepping over the dead bodies and places a warm hand on my shoulder. "You should go, leave the rest to us."

I purse my lips, but nod my head quickly running down the dark cave, adrenaline coursing through my body as I look around.

Which way should I go Red?

Go left but hurry his heart is faint. I can barely hear it. She says with urgency and without wasting time I rush to him.

I'm coming Storm, I'm almost there.

I hope he heard me, my hair whips around me, running in the direction red said I should go.

Stop! She suddenly growls out and I do, stopping in front of a metal door. Taking deep breaths, I catch a whif of his scent and I mentally sigh in relief.

I bring my leg to the door, kicking it and it falls down with a loud bang. Stepping inside, my breath hitches in my throat, face paling, eyes go wide  as I watch the person lying on the chair.

A shaky breath escapes me, my hands begin to tremble as I take slow steps towards him.

He looks so pale, bruises on every inch of his face and body. His clothes look torn and bloody whilst his eyes are so swollen to the point that its covered.

What did they do to him.

Mate. Red whimpers and it takes everything in me not to break down. I step in front of him. "Storm." I whisper, my eyes filled with tears as I take in every square inch of his face.

I'm so scared to even touch him, only God knows what will happen if I even try to move him but I need to know if he's alive.

So with trembling hands, I cup his cheek only to jolt back in shock when a stinging sensation courses through me.

What?

What just happened?

Looking around, the blood drains from my face when I take in the machines around him. Did he? Did they?

I lift his shirt and everything just stops, my body shakes and Red growls in my head.

They electrocuted him, those animals did that to him.

My eyes shift between red and violet, stuck with the need to kill someone but I take in deep breaths, Storm is my priority right now.

This is gonna hurt but I need to do this else he will die and I- shaking the thought away, I step forward, wrapping my arms tightly around him.

You need to live Storm.

The pain is there but I grit my teeth, channelling my energy into healing him so at least we can move him from here.

"Come on Storm, please stay with me." I whisper solemnly, sweat gathers on my forehead and I feel my energy draining but it's the least of my problems.

His heartbeat grows a little steadier and I sigh in relief, resting my head on his chest.

His chest vibrates with a groan and I quickly raise my head up, eyes searching his face frantically.

"Storm, can you hear me?" I rush out, gently cupping his cheeks.

He tries opening his eyes, but it's a bit difficult since it's so swollen. "Artemis." He whispers, voice scratchy and I nod my head, smiling sadly through my tears.

"It's me. I'm here Storm." I mumble placing a kiss on his forehead.

From the corner of my eye, I see him raise his hand but I stop him, gently putting it back down. "Don't try to move okay."

Storm shakes his head. "I w-wanna hold you, wanna know if you're real on not." He mumbles barely staying awake and I begin to panic when his head rolls to the side.

The only consolation that I know he's not dead is the heart.

"Apollo, I need you."

"On my way sister."

I look back to face storm, a small smile on my face. "You'll be okay."

"Well if it isn't it my favourite person."

I tense up, hearing that voice, every fibre in me wanting to rip out his heart and feed it to him.

"You are gonna pay for this Arson." I reply coldly, glaring at the empty white room.

He chuckles. "Oh really?"

I remain silent and my brother steps in only to stop in his tracks, shoulders tensing and his body goes rigid. His golden eyes look around in the room, stopping at the corner of what's seems to be a huge glass wall.

"The other one joins too." Arson muses and Apollo raises his brow, a bored look on his face.

"Still alive I see." Apollo says moving to stand protectively in front of us, arms clasped behind his back and fist clenched tightly.

My brother has a nasty temper, even worse than red so him standing there calmly is just him trying not to lash out.

"Well you failed in trying to kill me." Arson says.

He hums in response. "You're right but how's the view nowadays with just an eye?"

There is complete silence before he replies. "It was a lovely present thank you very much." And then pauses and for some reason I know he's staring at me. "Did you like my present Artemis?"

I growl, glaring at him and he chuckles.

"Your mate has a mouth on him and you're quite lucky I didn't sew his mouth shut."

I scoff. " Well you're quite lucky you're not here else you would be missing another eye."

"Lucky then but don't worry we'll see each other soon and then we'll know who is lucky."  He retorts and the tension in the room suddenly disappears.

Apollo turns around, looking tensed as ever. " Come on lets get him fixed."

*******************

A/n: Yaay! they saved Storm!

Let me know what you think about this in the comments and leave a vote as well as share if you want.

Peace out.