ARTEMIS' POV
Even hours after she's gone, her intoxicating scent till lingers in my room.
For a strange reason, it invades my mind, my dreams, bringing with it subtle flashes of her face, her defiant green eyes, and those soft seductive curves. She dances around in my memory with a little mischievous smile, slowly going down on her knees and staring right into my soul with those electrifying emerald eyes.
Fuck.
Maybe I do want to fuck her.
No, just her lips.
I'd generously enjoy every ounce of pleasure that comes with filling that smart-mouth of hers with my length, pumping and pumping, thrusting till she's gagging, desperate to have my cum drip down her throat as a worthy reward.
These thoughts make me restless.
I flip and turn around in my large king-sized bed, drifting in and out of dreams that carry whispers of her name and the dirty little things I'd love to do to her. I'm curious to know if a girl like her would really beg for more, or would she still be as stubborn, eyes glaring and too proud to ask me to fuck her till my name is all she remembers?
Or perhaps, she'd blush. Maybe even try to hide from me when I peel the clothes off her body and surrender my tongue to her pussy-
Fuck, Artemis. Get a grip of yourself.
She's still the same annoying girl I'd met few weeks back. Nothing's changed. Nothing will change. I might be a little intrigued, maybe even turned on, but there's nothing else that's special about her.
I've just been sex-deprived.
I've not called up my usual flings in weeks, and on any other day, this would be the best time to have someone around to satiate my hunger - but there's just something about the thought of that that immediately puts an irritated frown on my face.
I don't want any of the usual flavors. They just wouldn't scratch that terrible itch that she ignites in me.
And for that reason, my night and mood are sourly ruined.
I jump out of bed to grab a drink when I hear the knock on the door. For a moment, I consider ignoring it - but then, it comes again and more insistently. Rolling my eyes, I walk up to it and open.
And there's Kamila.
My mood only drops further.
She's here in her PJs, carrying a few snacks and blankets with her. Then there's that ridiculously sweet smile on her face. I don't bother welcoming her as I turn around and head back to my drink. She follows in right after.
"Well, glad to see you too, Arty." She scoffs, a frown quickly replacing her previous expression, but I've already made up my mind to drown her voice out with the alcohol.
Not today, Satan.
I love the burn of the liquid down my throat, but it does nothing to burn away the reason for my restlessness in the first place - Seraphina. Even now, seeing Kamila in my field of vision further infuriates me, especially when I recall the exact role she had to play in drowning Sera.
All my life, I've had the first-row honors of witnessing Kamila rain down hell on the girls that show even the slightest bit of interest in me - but there's just something particular about this one, something about this sick threat to Sera's life that throws my wolf into a fit of rage and bends my mind to the point that the only thing that makes sense is protecting her.
It's annoying, and even more irritating that Kamila had put me in this position. I know I'd almost ended the human once, but the plan was never to kill her - that would have been no fun. But for a fact, I also know that my dearest mate had certainly never included Sera getting saved in her devious scheme - she wanted her completely gone. Dead.
Even for me, that's far.
"Artemis..." Kamila grazes her finger against my cheek, but I reel back, holding a sharp glare from surfacing. I leave that spot and go down to my couch, relaxing into it.
Of course, the woman follows me.
"Dammit, Artemis. I just want to talk. Don't think that I haven't noticed you avoiding me. I'm tired of fighting. I'm tired of acting like everything is okay between us." She stands before me now, eyes desperately trying to break through my walls.
I ignore her.
"Artemis! Don't shut me out like this!"
My glass cup meets my lip, and I shut my eyes, leaning my head against the headrest.
"Fine, you want to play games? I'll humor you!" She snarls, and in the next second, my drink is harshly yanked from my hand before its content is splashed rudely on my face.
My eyes snap open, and I'm immediately shooting up, seething with a silent rage as I glare down at the annoying redhead. My shirt is dripping, and my muscles are tensed up from just how much I'm holding back. Anybody else and they've lost an arm for daring to even look me in the eye at a time like this.
"What do you want from me, Kamila?" My voice is cold, hardened with a low growl.
"I want you to stop making me look stupid! I'm not a crazy woman, Artemis; don't you ever ignore me!" She heaves now, her face contorted between pain and anger. "Is she the reason you're acting this way? The almighty Artemis is sulking because I'd played a harmless prank on his newest pet?"
"You call that harmless? She could have died right there in the middle of the games! What were you thinking?"
Kamila scoffs, folding her arms. "It was supposed to be a little scare. How was I supposed to know that the little runt couldn't swim? That's like a basic survival skill."
"Save me the bullshit. You do this every single time - do I need to remind you of the snake incident with Nelly? Or the one-time Rita had mysteriously fallen down from the sixth floor. A harmless prank too? A little scare, is it? I don't even like the human, yet you're so intent on sinking your claws into her as well." My temper is rising, my wolf is prancing on the edge. He's angry; he wants me to command Kamila to back off.
"Oh, come on! You bully Seraphina all the time, and suddenly you're her knight in shiny armor? You started this, Artemis! You might act like you hate her, but don't think that I don't see the way you look at her - I see right into your fascination and stupid obsession with the little human brat."
"You don't know anything, Kamila." I growl dangerously, my fingers forming a fist.
"Then tell me! Why do you seem to care so much about her? Why are you taking an interest in the same bitch that humiliated you? Why did you risk everything in the competition just to save her?" She screams to my face; her usual composure and well-practiced elegance are falling off. Her eyes are pooled with tears, yet they glare intently at me.
Not even I have the answers she demands, and it only throws my thoughts into more conflict; more unending questions. I don't like, Seraphina - her guts are annoying, her oblivious innocence drives me insane, even the mere sight of her jumpstarts my nerves and makes everything else irrelevant. Because she's annoying. Infuriating. Maddening. And yet I'm drawn to her like a moth to a flame.
For that reason, I push pass Kamila, angry and done with the conversation.
"You should leave."
"I'm not going anywhere, Artemis!" Kamila chases after me, following me straight down to my bedroom and blocking my path. "I'm not leaving until we sort this out. We're mates for crying out loud. We should be fighting together, not against each other. Yet our relationship feels like a cursed bond, straight out of nightmares! You know, I never asked to be mated to a jerk like you, I never asked to be this person who goes after other women just to secure my place - no one wants that." Her voice is breaking, emotions running higher by the second.
"Then maybe you should do a lot less of securing and more of rejecting."
"What are you saying?"
I take a step forward, eyes as cold as ice.
"Reject me, Kamila." I say the very words I've dreaded for years; the same words that haunt my thoughts on darker days and fill my mind with possibilities - just what's the worst thing that could happen if Kamila and I ended things?
Sure, my Dad would be furious; hers would most probably disown her, right after giving her the beatdown of her life - not that it'd be the first time, he was a sadistic bastard like that.
But if, maybe, there's even the slightest chance that we could both get out of this unscathed, would we be willing to take it?
The answers are clear in Kamila's eyes as she staggers backward, the tears now pouring down her cheek, and even now, I can't bring myself to regret my words. My wolf...is quiet, too quiet, but I can trace the subtle pain coming from somewhere deep within my chest.
"A-Artemis, how can you say...that?" Her voice is heavy, damaged completely with agony. She breathes in hardly, like it's the most difficult thing she has ever done. "Look at me, Artemis. A-Am I not good enough for you? I've been standing here my whole life, standing before you, and all I ask, all I need is for you to love me almost as hard as I love you."
"This isn't love, Kam." My voice is lower now, exhausted. "We suffocate each other."
"Maybe, but we're mates for a reason! The goddess chose us! Me and you, Artemis. We used to be so good together, remember?" Her eyes her pleading, distraught and desperate.
I don't like seeing her this way. It breaks something inside me.
"I think it's time we face the truth."
"What...truth?"
"We're bad for each other." My voice is tight. "And it's clear that we're both walking on thin ice."
"B-but...we're mates." She says again, singing those words like her precious mantra, her biggest security.
I sigh, running my fingers through my messy hair. My head aches, but it's only minimal compared to the weight that pulls me down internally.
"Maybe the goddess makes mistakes after all."
The room is suddenly too stuffy, and I'm tired of being anywhere here - I need to clear my head and breathe. I leave Kamila frozen in shock, but something else occurs to me and I stop, glancing back at her.
"Also, leave Sera out of your schemes. The target is off."