Miss Poppy and the Beast

1. A new opportunity

Artemis slammed his fist on the desk with a great impact. "IMPOSSIBLE", his growl echoed in the whole mansion. His subordinates, standing in front of his office desk, were shivering in fear. His piercing eyes scared the living days of them.

"There is no point shouting at them, Artemis.", Eugene, his twin younger brother, remarked, calmly sitting on the sofa placed at the corner of his (Artemis) office. "Its not their fault."

"Then whose fault do you think it is? That Rouge was the only link to the current location of Bloodlust Hounds", he shouted and raked his fingers on his hair in frustration.

Bloodlust Hounds. the most powerful Rouge group in the werewolf world. They were the greatest enemy of the Crimson Shadow Pack. From generations they were after one thing, Ring of Lycan, an heirloom which has been passed down to Alpha from generations in Lykaios Clan. This Clan had given birth to the greatest Alphas in the history of Werewolves.

"Our men were careful when they were transferring him to our warehouse. But someone shot him with a silver bullet.", Jason Elias, his beta, said with his bowed head.

"Our warriors were guarding the radar of that area, then how come someone barged in and shot our hostage in the blink of an eye, even though we had tight security?", Artemis was frowning his forehead. "I think someone is leaking information from inside." He further concluded.

Eugene walked towards the desk and said, "Maybe you are right. We should increase our security immediately. They are continuously threatening us in different ways."

After the death of the Hostage, Bloodlust Hounds had sent a threatening note to their mansion, anonymously, addressed to the Alpha. It mentioned that if they don't hand over the Ring of Lycan before the upcoming full moon, they will kidnap his (Artemis) son.

The day Artemis saw that note, his world shook up. He has already lost his mate. Now he didn't want to lose his treasure, his son Theo, at any cost.

"Theo is not going anywhere from tomorrow, I want you to keep an eye on him 24x7", Artemis grawled looking towards the men present in his office.

Eugene uttered in hesitation, "I am aware of your worry for Theo, but you can't always lock him up in this mansion forever. He is only 6. In this tender age, he needs basic education. He needs friends" Eugene understands his brother's concern. But still he can't agree with him with the idea of locking up Theo in this huge mansion for god knows how long.

"Then tell me what I am supposed to do. Those thugs have already killed my Ana. Now I cannot afford to lose my son.", Artemis said in his broken voice.

"How about arranging homeschooling for now?", Eugene said.

Artemis thought for some time and agreed with him. He took out his phone from his suit pocket and called his son's school. He spoke with an authoritative tone, "Hello Mrs. Bianci, I want you to arrange homeschooling for my son as soon as possible". He discussed this matter with the school Principal for 10 mins before putting down the call.

"Eugene", Artemis called his brother. "Theo's School Principal is to discuss this matter in her office tomorrow. I want you to meet her and finalize everything for Theo's home schooling."

"Sure brother, I will visit her tomorrow", Eugene replied and left the office.
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~Meanwhile in the school~

"Kids, let us paint something today", Poppy chripped with her eye blinding bright smile.

"What should we paint Miss Summers?, One of her students asked her in her small voice.

Poppy walked towards her seat with her usual heartwarming smile, knelt down and said, "You can paint whatever you want". She placed her hand on her chest and continued, " Whatever your heart wants to. Just surprise me with your imagination" That little girl smiled and started to draw something on a blank paper.