Onyx Everclaw and Artemis

Chapter Six

I leap down from his waist and thump to the ground, feeling the damp dirt squish beneath my boots.

'You're right. Can you shift? Or do you need me to help you?' I tease.

He smirks and shakes his head then leans down so he is eye level with me. I gaze over every aspect of his face before he speaks.

'Don't worry , I can shift just fine, shall we?' He questions.

I smile, nod, and walk behind the nearest tree, undressing and shifting. I hear the cracking of my bones and his as our bodies contort into our wolf forms. I leave my clothes where they are and pad out from behind the tree.

An almost white wolf, with flecks of grey and black stands tall in front of me. It's thick fur, long, glossy and swaying in the slight breeze. Onyx steps forward and licks my muzzle, and I reciprocate the gesture. I nip his face playfully and turn in the direction of the border, before trotting off.

Onyx follows, keeping up with me and we follow the territory border. Finn and Lyra catching up later on, we cover the entire territory in a few hours before heading back to the pack house. We all go back to where we shifted and shift back before meeting at the door to the pack house. I glance around whilst reaching for the door. Mace and Octavia are nowhere to be seen. I furrow my eyebrows and turn back to the door, stepping inside,the others trailing.

We wander around the pack house, showing Onyx and Lyra where everything is and where specific people stay, like the mothers with newborn pups stay in the west wing. The building houses a fair few people, eighty or so, so the tour takes us a while.

Onyx's intoxicating scent lingers on my skin and I press my hand to my collarbone, feeling the slightly raised mark, and shivering in delight. I feel Onyx's heat behind me and I smile, concluding the tour back at the front door. I hear Finn whispering in a mind-link with me. Complaining.

'So, I know, that was boring and took too long, but you guys didn't have to stick around.' I sarcastically but snarkily remark, sending a smirk to Finn.

Lyra giggles at my comment and waves goodbye to Onyx and I, leading Finn away, making him take her on a tour of the other buildings no doubt.

Onyx sweeps me off my feet and sets me on his shoulder.

'Where to now then, amour de ma vie?' He asks, looking up at me, like a love struck puppy. I suppose he is a love struck puppy. I grin.

'I do believe it's time to go find our parents and announce the exciting news?' I ask back, and he nods.

Onyx puts me down and we walk, hand in hand, to check the Delta's house, the Beta's house and the Alpha's house for my parents and his.

We walk a mile, chatting back and forth about our respective packs and ourselves. We reach the clearing where the Delta's house is placed. Finn and Octavia's home. I peek in the window, only to see Mason and Octavia making out on the couch. I let out an instinctive growl, wary for my brother's safety. I feel Onyx's face grow confused behind me, and he too, peers through the window. Immediately he recognises the "threat", and pulls me away and back down the stairs toward the road to my house. He lifts me up and carries me, bridal style, toward my house, knowing where it was because he passed it on the way to the pack house earlier. Onyx rests his forehead against mine and hugs me tighter.

I know Mason getting involved with Octavia will only break him or her when they find their true mate. I fear for his heart. It wouldn't be anything like losing your real mate, but it would be awful. I decided then and there that I won't tell Mason I saw anything, he knows the consequences, we've spoken about them before. I lean into Onyx one last time before struggling out of his arms, and planting my feet back on the ground. I'm no longer ecstatic to tell my parents about my new-found mate, this seems to have put a damper on my mood.

I stumble on, leaning onto Onyx every now and then, until we reach home. The alpha's SUV is parked outside. They're here. We walk towards the door when everyone spills out, chattering amongst themselves. My mother spots me and rushes toward me, I nod at Onyx signalling that he should go tell his parents. I'll talk to mine. Aunt Olivia, as I know her, sprints after my mother, sensing something is wrong. Guess I'll be telling them both.

Mumma Bear engulfs me in a hug, as does Aunt Olivia when she reaches us.

'What is it Arti? What's wrong?' Mum questions.

I snort a bit. 'Want the good or bad first?'

Mother growls.

'Okay, okay, I'm sad for Mace, I wondered why he had been a little quiet today. I just discovered why-' I quieten my tone a little for the next part, '-Onyx and I saw him and Octavia not long ago, making out on the couch, at your place.' I get a little happier when I mention Onyx, but I nod to Aunt Olivia.

Her face drops. As does Mum's.

'But, on the bright side, Onyx and I are mates!' I blurt out, louder than I wanted.

They both perk up and rejoice, it's a big deal for someone to find their mate.

'But please don't tell Mace I said anything, I don't want-' A shriek cuts me off.

I look over to Onyx, who is covering his ears, as is his father. I giggle and he looks over at me, he gives me a half smile, mixed with embarrassment. His mother is dancing in a circle and still shrieking. Luna Kimberly runs over to Francis, my Dad, and Alpha Steele and shakes them all before running over to me and squeezing me, thankfully stopping her shrieking momentarily.

Onyx comes to my rescue and peels his mother off of me, and she starts blabbering unintelligible nonsense before running back to Alpha Anton and speaking at a million miles right in his ear. He smirks and takes it all, knowing it's all going in one ear and out the other.

She finally stops and I look over to my Mother who has gone over to my Dad to tell him the news. He gives me a smile, and Francis does the same. I walk toward them and Dad, Francis, and Alpha Steele meet Onyx and I in the middle. Alpha Steele steps forward first and shakes Onyx's hand before turning and giving me a light, endearing kiss on the forehead. My Father steps forward next and embraces us both at once like he was attempting to squeeze the life out of us both. Francis gives Onyx a nod and then gives me a hug. Alpha Anton and Luna Kimberly come to Onyx's side.

'Welcome to the family Artemis, we're glad to have you.' Alpha Anton says with a smile.

Luna Kimberly erratically states something and then gives me another hug. I giggle and hug back. Lyra and Finn walk onto the scene right then. The adults go back and excitedly chat amongst themselves.

'Great timing you two, you missed my new Luna run around like a headless chicken.' Onyx playfully scowls at me as I say this and Finn and Lyra both laugh.

'News went down okay then, I take it?' Lyra asks.

I nod.

Mason and Octavia appear and I feel my face drop. Mason sees me and instinctively recognises what's wrong.

I don't think about what I'm about to do. I whip into a fury of rage, Onyx doesn't have time to stop me. I throw myself at Mason.

'WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU THINKING?!'

[Thank you so much for reading!! Please don't forget to comment and vote! If you have any criticism or suspicions, I would love to hear them!]

Word Count: 1338 Words