Chapter 120 - Artem - Another Call To The Queen’s Pack
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Artem
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Star didn\'t come to lunch again today. I knew she was going to look through her mother\'s journal after breakfast so I thought she might still be caught up in that when I found her. I didn\'t expect to see her laying on the couch crying in her sleep.
Star was the kind of person who felt emotions stronger than others. I don\'t know if that was a personality thing or a biological thing. It was possible she was so empathetic since she was half Fae. I didn\'t know much about the Fae.
When I saw what kind of state she was in I pulled her into my arms and cradled her. The movement woke her up so she was now staring up at me with confusion in her eyes.
"What\'s going on?" She looked like she barely remembered falling asleep at all.
"You were crying." My voice was soft as I spoke, trying not to break the peace of the room.
"I\'m sorry." She looked embarrassed now. "I don\'t know what\'s been happening to me. I have been feeling so strange since I shifted into my wolf. It\'s like my emotions are stronger and I can\'t stop myself from getting upset about things."
"It\'s fine. Being empathetic just means that you can understand how people feel, even if that person\'s feelings are from many years ago. It might be a special ability that you have."
"Ability?" She looked so confused again.
"Yeah, I don\'t know much about Fae, but even you should know they all have magic of some sort. Perhaps you have a magic that is rooted in emotions."
"I never thought of that."
As she spoke that time Star sat up and pushed herself away from my chest. I felt a little lonely without her warmth but I dealt with it, she needed me to be there for her, not the other way around.
"Artem?" She turned to look at me again, this time there was determination in the set of her jaw, also in the way she was holding her shoulders.
"Yeah babe?" I asked her, willing to answer any question that she had for me.
"I want to know more about my father. I need to know more about what I am if I am ever going to understand it."
"I know." I smiled at her, fully supporting her. "I agree and I want us to learn all that we can about your Fae side."
Star looked happy when she heard those words. She was really the sweetest and easiest to please sometimes.
"You\'re the best Artem."
It didn\'t take much to ease the emotions that she was feeling right now. They weren\'t her emotions so they were able to pass quick enough. After that I went back to my office to take care of a few things.
I decided I needed to call the pack that the Luna Queen and Alpha King ran. I needed to talk to their Beta again and ask if they had anyone who could help us out with the Fae side of our issues. Thankfully Noah, the Beta, answered pretty quickly.
"Good day to you Artemis, is there something that I can help you with?" He sounded like a butler just then so I was subconsciously imagining him in a penguin suit as he followed silently behind the King and Queen. It was probably very wrong of me to think like that but I couldn\'t help it.
"Hello Noah." I greeted him normally, thank the Goddess, he wouldn\'t know that I thought he was a penguin. "I wanted to ask if there was anyone in your pack that knew about the Fae."
"The Fae?" He sounded surprised. "Why do you want to know about them?" He didn\'t sound suspicious or upset at all, but I didn\'t know how they would react to knowing that my mate was half Fae. Then again, I think I heard that the Luna Queen was half Witch so they probably wouldn\'t mind at all.
"I need to know about them because no one here knows anything about the Fae, not even our half Fae." I left it ambiguous to start.
"There is someone there that is half Fae? Were they not born inside the Fae compound? That would have been normal up until just recently."
"No, she was actually born in Colorado Springs but came here shortly after she turned two."
"Huh." That seemed to surprise him. "How old is she now?"
"Eighteen."We were getting closer to talking about who this was truly about now.
"Your mate I\'m guessing." How the hell had he guessed that? I felt so compelled to know that I literally asked him just that.
"How the hell did you figure that out already? I didn\'t give you anything to go off of."
"If it were anyone other than your mate you most likely wouldn\'t be so evasive. You didn\'t want me to know right away since it is someone that is close and dear to you. There is nothing to worry about. I understand. My own sister is a half witch, it can be hard to talk to someone about that."
"Your sister?" I was shocked. "I didn\'t know there were so many half witches in your city."
"There aren\'t." He laughed like it was funny. "My sister is the Luna Queen."
"Seriously?" That was a massive bombshell. Talk about living in someone\'s shadow.
"It\'s fine. Don\'t worry about the Fae stuff. The two Gammas are both accompanying the Queen, and one of them is married to a Fae. I will just request that she join them on the trip."
"Wow, your pack is truly diverse." It was my turn to laugh now. "While I am at it, is there someone who can help with emotional trauma? We don\'t have any psychiatrists in the pack."
"Seems like you\'re lacking a lot over there." He sounded suspicious now.
"I will explain it all when the others get here soon."
"I expect you will. And the answer is yes, we do. I know just the person to send along on this trip, and she happens to be the twin sister of that Gamma who is married to the Fae. Convenient, huh?" He was laughing again. This was getting interesting. I seriously felt like if I dug deeper into his pack it would be like a massive soap opera or something. How entertaining was it to live there?
The call ended shortly after that part of the discussion. The date of the visit was pushed off by at least a day now, to give them time to prepare for more people. I also graciously offered to house everyone in the pack house like a true Alpha was supposed to do, I think they would have managed without it but they did seem to appreciate it quite a bit. Not having to travel to do their work meant more time for getting things done.
The next several days leading up to the visit passed quickly. Star was still not feeling completely back to normal since the house itself seemed to be filled with a depressive air but she did manage to function properly. I took that as a plus.
Honestly, the closer it got to the visit from the Luna Queen and Alpha King I think she was acting a little more lively. It was like she knew that it was almost time for the cavalry to arrive. I was just so happy to see her acting more and more like herself.
Soon, it was the night before the visitors were due to arrive. I don\'t think a single person in the entire house was able to calm down. Most of us were probably going to have sleepless nights. I swear, it was like we were all kids getting ready for a field trip, we were just too excited.
In truth, we weren\'t excited to see the visitors, we were eagerly anticipating the moment the boys who had been in comas for nearly a month finally woke up. We wanted to see that they were all safe and healthy. We all wanted to see them grow and prosper.
Not to mention we wanted to see those that were old enough shift into their wolves. It was going to be a hard, emotional day for us all, but it wasn\'t one that a single one of us was willing to miss.
I just wonder how I was going to pass the night. What is it that any of us could do when we couldn\'t sleep? Well, I could think of one thing, I just hope that someone else will agree with me.
I went to Star as she was laying in bed, tossing and turning. I slid next to her and ran a hand up her leg until I got to her hip. I gently kissed her ear while my hand was making its trail. That\'s as far as I got before-.
"Ouch." Star slapped my hand hard.
"What the hell is the matter with you?" She glared at me. "Think before you act. There is too much going on right now." Dammit. She shot me down. We hadn\'t done anything since that night because of what happened.
When would it be my time to play again?