Artemis

18

I never knew what dying would feel like. I expected pain maybe, or maybe just falling asleep and never waking up. It was nothing like that.

It was like floating above my body and seeing every little detail. I saw the way my eyes died down, the way my chest stop moving, the way the blood just fell out of my chest.

Even worse, I saw the pain in Jaxon's eyes. He looked lost, betrayed, and I knew I did betray him. This was the reason in the first place that he didn't want to accept me, but all I could think about while I was watching, was how badly his chest hurt. How badly he hurt.

And I was sorry, so terribly sorry that I caused him that; but I didn't regret it.

"Do you wish to go back?" The Fates were tricky with their questions, they never asked without consequences. I looked back to the middle one, the leader it almost seemed, the single eye held within her hand.

"What's the catch?" She grinned at me, showing off pointed teeth that could rip me apart it seems.

"Wolf boy, how much do you love him?" My eyes shot back to Jaxon, who was clutching my body. His face was bruised within my neck, and I could see the way his shoulder shook from here.

"Too much."

"You will lose being a Goddess, and when you truly die, you will remain dead." I nodded almost frantically, willing with everything within me for this to work. I could give a shit if I was a Goddess or not, I wanted Jaxon and I wanted to live.

"You will still be Hecate, you will still be the leader of the Witches. You will still be able to speak to the Gods, but you are not able to go home to Olympus."

"Let me go home, please." Each of them nodded, before golden lights began to spin around me. My vision hazed as I felt myself fall again, letting my eyes slide shut and my body grow stiff.

-

I thought I'd wake up within Jaxon's arms, I thought I'd be back on that field where everyone had fought in. Instead, I found myself in a refrigerator in the morgue, in complete darkness, utterly terrified.

Not my happy ending I was hoping for.

"Shit, holy shit, shit." I breathed out heavily as I tried looking around, my palms hitting walls around me. I felt a door towards my head as I pounded on it, trying to open it the best I could. I tried to use my powers to open it, but the doors were made of iron and steel.

I groaned, of every fucking metal these wolves had to use they had to fucking use Iron, the one weakness I truly had.

I hit the walls over and over again until a growl ripped through the air, and the gate was ripped open. "Who are you!"

I could hear Rileys voice as I climbed out, keeping my head bowed as I tried to adjust to the light. I groaned, looking up to watch all the color practically drain from Riley and the two Warrior Wolves he had with him.

"Hey Riles." He made a squeaking type of noise, his eyes wider than I thought they could be.

"Artemis? You, uh, you're dead." I grinned and nodded, groaning again as I felt pain from where the arrow had shot through me.

I pulled the sheet they had left covering my body down slightly, watching the medium sized hole close up right in front of my eyes. The muscle stitched first, then the skin, leaving behind a bright red scar that looked like a starburst.

"Fuck." I looked up as Rileys eyes were wide, watching the skin close up on its own, before snapping directly to my eyes.

"We need to find Jaxon." I furrowed my eyebrows, cocking my head slightly as I stood up and clutched the sheet to me.

"Find, him?" Riley nodded to me as he began to walk around the room, pulling out a pair of blue scrubs out of a cabinet.

"Put these on." He turned around and pushed the Warrior wolves out of the room, forcing them to swear to not breathe a word of this just yet. "He went on a rampage before taking off into the woods."

I nodded as I pulled the scrubs in hastily, practically sprinting out with him not far behind me. He grabbed my upper arm and spun me around, glancing to make sure we were alone before pulling me in and hugging me. "How the fuck are you alive!?"

"I made a deal with the Fates, I'm no longer a Goddess. I gave up my immortality, and my home at Olympus." He looked at me with concern and sadness clouding his eyes, snapping them up when the door at the end opened and Mona walked in.

"Art?" Her eyes wide as she stared at me, looking over every inch of my skin before running at full wolf speed and grabbing me in a huge hug. I reveled in the warmth she gave me, closing my eyes as she gripped onto me.

"It's me." I whispered as I felt my shoulder grow damp, her breathing ragged. I wanted to cry, but I was saving that for Jaxon. He's the only one I really wanted to see right now, the only one my heart was completely aching for.

"Come on, we have to find him." I followed them out the door into the woods, smelling the wind as it whipped around me.

I crouched to the ground and dug my hand into the dense earth, shutting my eyes as I felt where every living this was. They snapped open when I felt his heart beat, fast paced and stuttering, and heard the sounds of his screams along the wind. They broke me even more, the sound of someone truly broken.

I sprinted in the same direction, leaping off of trees to catapult me even farther. I finally came into the tide pool I had touched him for the first time, his body hunched over near the edge as he sobbed. His tears fell heavily and I swore my heart stopped, pain lacing through every vein I had within me.

"Jaxon." I breathed out, his head snapping up at the sound of my voice. His eyes widened before more tears fell, his head shaking as he backed up a few feet.

"You aren't real, you aren't here." His voice shook as his grey eyes stared at me, the whites bloodshot from his crying. I took a step, then another, until I stood directly in front of him. I fell onto my knees, and reached out a shaking hand to push away the hair that fell onto his head.

"I made a deal, I'm here until I die with you by my side, when we're old and grey." I reached forward and gripped his forearm, my eyes flashing as another vision ripped through me.

Two old bodies in a king sized bed, at least four or five thirty year old wolves with children of their own surrounding the two. They stared at one another, their old eyes tired and aged, but still bright and full of love as they stared. They took their last breaths seconds within one another, their eyes open wide and hands clutching onto one another.

I was pulled out as his arms wrapped around me, clutching me so tightly to his torso I was afraid I'd break. He breathed in my scent, tears flowing down his cheeks as he pressed himself to me. His shoulders shook, his body grew warm as I felt his wolf come back to him.

"You're real? This isn't a trick?" He looks back up to me as I nod, running my hands through his curls. They slip back into place as I continue it, forcing his body to relax and his muscles to loosen.

I lean forward and kiss him gently, just enough for him to feel and understand just how much I love him. I kiss around his lips, his cheekbones, his forehead and even his eyelids. I leave no inch of his skin untouched by my lips, before finally pressing them against his lips all over again.

"I love you, I love you I love you." I whisper into his ear. I really did love him, I always will.

***

A/N: okay, so my next book will be teen fiction, but will be a reverse harem / polyamorous relationship. If that isn't your cup of tee then I understand, but it won't be that bad I don't think.

It won't be out for a week or so, and I'll post when it is. I still need to write this epilogue I think, so that'll be soon.