Healed by Fire (22 page)

Bret nodded his head. “Yes, Alpha.”

“I’m going to clean up. Ares, you should
probably do the same so Artemis doesn’t faint when she sees you.” I
started for the main building where my quarters were.

“You don’t think she would view it as sexy?”
he asked as he stood up and flexed his biceps.

Koda laughed. “Artemis would if she had been
in the battle with you, but since she was left behind she would
only be worried.”

Ares fingered his left arm where Darius had
scratched him. “I hate when it’s healing and it starts to itch. If
you scratch it too hard you reopen it and it has to re-heal which
then makes it itch again.”

Koda smacked his hand. “This is why you have
to suffer through it until it doesn’t itch anymore.”

“You’d be scratching it too if you were
covered in dirt and blood and had cuts that were healing,” Ares
grumbled as he headed towards the main part of town where a public
bathhouse was run by Poseidon, a blue Sidhe who loved water.

I looked down at Bret who was still lying on
the ground. “You can’t move, can you?”

He shook his head. “I can’t sit up at
least.”

“I’m going to wash up and change quickly and
then I’ll be back. Just relax and let your wounds heal.”

“As if I can do anything else,” Bret
muttered angrily.

I ignored him and continued to my room. I
really wished to soak in a bath, but I felt bad leaving Bret alone.
I would feel much better once the blood and dirt was washed off my
skin.

~~~

My eyes opened slowly as I regained
consciousness. I was surprised that I did not dream while I had
been asleep, but being put in a spelled slumber was not the same as
falling
asleep. The room was dark, no lights on anywhere. I
sat up and was met with three pairs of eyes watching me from chairs
in front of the bed. My night vision kicked in and as I looked
around I recognized my surroundings as Achilles’ chambers. “Have
they returned?” I asked nervously.

Theseus nodded his head. “They returned a
few moments ago and are waiting for you in the training grounds. We
are to escort you there.”

I stood up and smiled. “I’ve no need of an
escort.” I closed my eyes and focused on the image of the place I
wanted to go and summoned my power.

Nothing happened.

“You cannot teleport while restrained in
magical chains,” said Erebos in his deep voice.

I opened my eyes and sighed. “Fine, escort
me.”

“You know we do not like doing this. We were
ordered to guard you,” said Heracles as he came to unchain me.

I nodded my head. “I know. I do not blame
you or hold anger towards you.”

Surrounded by the men who had been holding
me prisoner I now walked in a circle of protection. I knew that
Ares and Achilles had forced me to stay behind to try to protect me
and not having to wring my hands in worry had been good for my
nerves, but I felt betrayed.

We walked through the halls of the main
building of the Sidhe court and out through a set of large doors to
the open grassy area used for training. Our pack of halfbreed
wolves was all around Ares with eyes intently fixed on him. Ares
looked up and smiled at me. There was something different about
him. He seemed bigger somehow. I shook my head at the ridiculous
thought. He couldn’t have gotten bigger. So what was it?

The closer I got to him, the more I felt
like bowing to him. That was a feeling I had not had in quite a
long time around him. The pack made a path for me, but as I walked
by, those nearest reached out to touch me. I smiled at them and
held my hands out to touch some as I walked. The touch of the pack
was even more reassuring than ever before. Had I changed somehow?
Had Hades done something that permanently affected me?

I finally made it to Ares and looked over
his body for marks. I couldn’t see any, but then again he was
wearing a t-shirt and jeans. He leaned down and kissed me deeply,
winding a hand through my hair and around my hips, pulling me
against him. I melted into him and felt the fire building within me
that Ares always ignited. He pulled back from the kiss and smiled
at me. “Did you have a nice nap?”

I wanted to be mad, but I couldn’t even
feign it while I was still high on the kiss. “Yes,” I answered
honestly. I looked into his eyes and asked, “Why are you more, more
wolf than normal? No, it’s not that you’re more wolf it’s just that
your aura is stronger. What changed?”

Ares said, “I’ve always been like this, but
now that I’ve claimed my proper title it’s more evident to
you.”

“Your proper title? What do you mean?” I
asked, my nerves growing.

“I killed Darius. I’m the new Alpha of the
Werewolves,” he said happily.

“Alpha,” said the pack behind us.

“You killed Darius?! When? Where? How?” I
asked. I stopped my questions and asked the question I should have
asked first, “Did you save Bret?”

Ares grabbed my shoulders and turned me
around. “See for yourself.”

Bret stood from where he had been kneeling
among the pack and walked slowly towards me. He stopped in front of
me and smiled nervously. “Hey, Chicky.”

Varying emotions warred with my mind, but I
ignored all of them and threw my arms around his shoulders. Bret
stiffened a moment in shock and then wrapped his arms around me in
a tight hug. We inhaled each other’s scents and I whispered his
name happily. I pulled out of the hug and smiled at him. “I’m glad
you’re okay.”

He picked up my hand and traced one of my
vines. “You look even more beautiful than the last time I saw
you.”

I cringed, waiting for my power to release
from his touch and my life to be even more chaotic and stressful
than it was, but nothing happened. I exhaled in relief and heard
Ares do the same behind me. “Thank you,” I said softly.

Koda cleared his throat from beside us. I
jumped, having not heard him walk up. I walked to him and hugged
him. “Are you unhurt as well?”

He nodded as he hugged me. “I am. I also
brought you a present.”

“A present?” I asked in shock as I stepped
back from him.

Koda stepped to the left and motioned at the
line of men who had been standing behind him. “Darius brought them
to fight Ares, but I made them submit to me instead. They’re our
newest pack members and as Alpha Female I thought it appropriate
that you meet them.”

“Alpha Female?” I asked in shock. I turned
to Ares. “What about your mom? Isn’t she Alpha?”

Ares shook his head. “When a new Alpha male
takes the position he either takes the former Alpha’s mate to be
his, or his current mate takes the position. Obviously I’m not
going to take my mom as a mate, so you’re now Alpha Female of the
Werewolves.”

I was Alpha Female! “Whoa,” I said as I
comprehended all that had happened. I turned to the wolves in line
in front of me and walked so that I could see them all. Most
appeared young looking and middle level in dominance. “Whom do you
serve?” I asked them.

“The Alphas,” they said together.

“Whom do you protect?” I asked as I walked
down the line.

“The Alphas.”

“Who am I?” I stopped in front of them at
the center of their line.

“Artemis, Alpha Female.”

I walked up to each man and inhaled his
scent at his neck and rubbed my cheek against theirs to scent mark
each as mine. Luckily being short let me do it without having to
bend down at an awkward angle, though two of the men were so tall
that I had to stand on tiptoe to reach their cheeks. When I’d
finished I turned to the rest of the pack and said, “Embrace your
new brothers.”

The pack surged around the men and greeted
them. Ares walked to me and wrapped his arms around my waist. “You
did that very well.”

“Thanks. I learned it from the real wolves.
Well obviously not the talking part, but the rest,” I said as I
leaned back against him. I looked around and frowned. “Where’s
Achilles?”

“I’m here. I was just freshening up from our
excursion.”

I watched him walk up and felt my heart
flutter. How could he affect me so? My reaction to Ares was much
different, but Achilles still raised my pulse and made my legs
wobble. It wasn’t right to be in love with two men at the same time
and yet I was. Sometimes I really hated magic.

I pulled away from Ares and turned to face
him and Achilles. “I wanted to show you something. I watched the
dragons doing this and I’m pretty sure I can duplicate it, but I’d
appreciate it if you two would stand nearby in case it gets out of
my control.”

Ares frowned and Achilles sighed and shook
his head. I took that as an “ok”.

I stepped out onto the field and waited
until everyone else was off of the field and Ares and Achilles were
relatively close. I inhaled and closed my eyes. Selene had taught
me to meditate to better control my powers and I really hoped it
worked now. Inhaling slowly and grounding myself with the earth
around me and beneath my feet, I channeled my power to my hands. I
raised them slowly up, heels of my palms touching while the rest of
the palm turned up to create a funnel for the power. I pictured the
one time I’d seen Blu perform this technique and opened my eyes as
fire burst out of my palms in a swirling purple tornado. I focused
on the energy of the element and lowered the swirling fire until it
formed a solid, protective circle around me. With a deep breath I
ground my feet into the ground and the fire spread out, increasing
its circumference until it surrounded the entire field. Sweat began
to drip down my face as the pull of controlling the wild element
strained my magical ability.

“Release it, Artemis!” yelled Ares.

I shook my head and slowly and painfully
pulled it all back into me. With each foot of returned element my
magic returned and my body refilled with energy.

“By the Mother of All, I have never seen
something so incredible,” whispered someone.

“She has to be the most powerful being on
the planet,” whispered another.

“No wonder halfbreeds were forbidden. We
couldn’t defeat her unless we used a large group of our top
soldiers,” whispered one of the Sidhe soldiers.

I pulled in the last bit and felt completely
revitalized. I turned and smiled happily at Ares and Achilles. “I
did it!”

Hera was standing behind them, having snuck
up while I was testing the magic. She snarled at me and started
glowing. I only had a seconds notice to prepare as she shot fire at
me from her palms. I formed a shield of fire around me and absorbed
the fire she shot at me. Those gathered now stared in terror at me
instead of awe. Hera’s eyes turned solid white as she drew on all
of her power and increased the amount of fire directed at me, but
my fire shield simply absorbed it. Ares started to move towards
her, but she released her powers and stopped the fire. Her body and
eyes returned to normal and I saw fear in them. “Who taught you
this magic?” she asked in a shocked whisper.

For a moment I didn’t want to tell her, but
Ares bowed his head slightly to me, telling me it was okay. “The
King of the Dragons taught me to create the fire shield as a
precaution of being friends with him and the other he had to use
once to protect me,” I answered. “A group of vampires found us in
the woods together and ambushed us. One of them grabbed me by the
throat before I could shift and in his anger he used it.”

Hera swallowed before asking, “Could you
contact the dragons?”

I nodded my head. “Yes, if I needed to, but
we won’t need them tomorrow.”

She shook her head. “I wasn’t speaking about
tomorrow.”

I shrugged. “If we need them, I can contact
Draco-Blu, but I don’t know if they will help or not. They prefer
to stay neutral.”

Ares walked up to me and stared into my
eyes. “How are you feeling?”

I smiled and kissed his lips. “I feel
perfect. By drawing the element back into me, I replenish myself
and thus have no loss and no negative side effects.”

He smiled and put his arm around my
shoulders. “That’s quite a trick you’ve got there. Perhaps you
should start teaching me to use some of my Sidhe powers.”

I shook my head. “I think your father or
brother should teach you that.”

He laughed. “Right.”

Hephaistos cleared his throat, drawing our
attention to him. “I have something else for Princess Artemis as
well.”

Ares and I followed Hephaistos back to the
table and I noticed that the Sidhe backed away from us and made a
path quicker than usual. Was I that powerful? Or that
frightening?

Hephaistos stood in front of the table and
blocked our view. “I took measurements by eye only so I hope it
fights properly, but if not I can always remake them.” He took a
step to the side and there lay the most beautiful armor I’d ever
seen.

I walked forward and gingerly touched the
armor. “It’s beautiful,” I whispered, “I’ve never seen such
incredible armor. Thank you.”

Hephaistos bowed. “You are more than
welcome, Princess.”

I shook my head. “No, you can call me
Artemis. Anyone who would go to such great lengths to create
something as beautiful as this for me has to be a friend.”

Hephaistos smiled. “Thank you, Artemis.”

Ares asked, “Do you want to try it on?”

Of course I did, but I also didn’t want to
diminish the beauty of the armor by placing it against me.

Achilles groaned. “Really, Artemis? Here,
let us help you put it on.”

Ares looked at Achilles questioningly and
Achilles whispered into his ear. Ares groaned and shook his head.
“She’ll never understand.”

Achilles shook his head. “No, I don’t think
she will.”

Before I could ask what they were talking
about, they started lifting pieces of the armor and placing it on
me. In a matter of seconds I was dressed and surprisingly I didn’t
feel weighed down. I stretched and moved around to test the
restrictions out. Ares held up his fists in the universal sign of
“let’s fight” and I threw a few punches and kicked at him a few
times, all free of limitations. “Wow my movements aren’t restricted
at all and it’s not any heavier than a sweater.”