Artemis: The Trial

Ch. 4

I let out a sigh of relief as the last bell rings and everyone jumps out of their seats to go home. I take my time, seeing as I have nothing to rush home to besides finishing up all this homework and then maybe some surveillance of the area and see what more I can find out about the packs in the area.

"Hey Artemis!" Matt calls to me as I close my locker after taking my bag out. The one class we didn't have together was the last one of the day, which was physiology for me.

I force a smile on my face before I turn to face him. I don't mean to get irritated with him, but I'm not used to people wanting to be around me this much, or being around people in general.

"Hey Matt," I say and we fall in step together as we walk out to the parking lot.

"Do you need any help with homework tonight?" he asks as we thread through the throng of students and cars trying to leave the parking lot.

"Um.." I hesitate and think it through. It wouldn't be a bad idea to have him help me actually, maybe he'd be able to give me some more information too, I think as I chew on my bottom lip in thought. "Yeah, actually. I'd really appreciate it. Do you know where the Coffee House is?" I ask him as we stop in front of my car. I throw my bag in the passenger seat and turn to face him.

He looks surprised but pleased that I had accepted his offer.

"Yeah! Wanna meet there around 5:30? I can pick you up if you want?" he offers with a wide smile.

"Oh you don't have to worry about picking me up," I tell him with a chuckle. "I live above the cafe," I explain when I see his look of confusion.

"Oh really? By yourself?" he asks with a frown. "Is that safe?"

"I'm sure this town isn't that dangerous," I tell him with a roll of my eyes. Little does he know that I'm probably the most dangerous thing in the town now.

"You never know.. sometimes weird things can happen," he says and his eyes are drawn to over my head. I know exactly who he's looking at by the hardening in his jaw.

"Here, how about I give you my number, and that way if anything happens I can just call you and you can come save me, right?" I say, adding a sly smile and blink a couple of times, ignoring the feeling of being ridiculous.

It works though. He looks at me with a big smile and gets his phone out from his back pocket and hands it to me. I add my name and number to his contacts, I hesitate before adding the bow and arrow emoji along with the two pink hearts emoji to the end of my name.

I hand it back to him with a wink and get into my car before he can even react and I try not to laugh at his shocked face. He composes himself quickly and heads off to his own car. I start mine up but pause as I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I glance to my right and see Aiden staring, no, glaring at me from a few cars over. I can't help the gasp that escapes my lips. His eyes aren't green anymore, they're pitch black and I feel trapped in them.

A sharp knock on my window breaks whatever the hell that was between us, making me jump. I grit my teeth in annoyance, what the hell is wrong with me?

I look over and roll my window down when I see it's Jade.

"Hey! What are you doing tonight?" she asks me a little too cheerfully. I can tell her smile is forced and she keeps glancing over my shoulder every few seconds.

"Um, I'm going to work on homework with Matt at the Coffee House, why?" I ask her confused. I glance over at Aiden but he has his back turned to us now.

"Oh cool! Mind if I join you guys?" she asks. "What time are you meeting there?" I open my mouth to answer when I see a flash of silver behind her. I pause and scan the area with a frown. Why are they checking on me already? I think unnerved.

"Um, 5:30. Sorry, I don't mean to be rude but I have to go now," I tell her quickly and I don't wait for her response before hitting the gas and leaving the now almost empty parking lot.

I see another flash of silver out of my peripheral vision and I grip the steering wheel tighter but don't speed up. I pull into the parking lot behind the cafe and take a deep breath to steady my nerves before grabbing my things and heading up to the loft.

I can smell that a wolf had been here recently, they probably got here just before I pulled in, as I open my unlocked door with a frown.

I throw my bag on the small love seat couch and hang my keys up next to the door.

"You know you don't have to break into my place, you could have just called," I say, letting the annoyance I was feeling seep into my voice as I turned to face Vince.

Vince was my mentor I guess you could say. He stood leaning against the kitchen counter leisurely with his arms crossed, making his biceps bulge against his shirt. He wasn't the most muscled guy that I had fought while training, but he was the best fighter we had. He was stronger than he looked and wickedly cunning. 

*pictured above* He had short brown hair and hazel eyes. He was currently sporting a 5 o'clock shadow and wore a plain black t-shirt a pair of dark jeans that hung low on his hips. 

"Wasn't my call to make," he told me in a deep voice. "Besides, I'm not really checking on you. I came to give you some new information on the target."

I raised an eyebrow intrigued.

"And they didn't think I would be able to find it out on my own?" I ask as I walk into the bathroom and took my hair out of the pony tail that was starting to give me a headache. I rubbed my scalp to relieve some of the pain and turned my attention back to Vince who was watching me with a smirk on his face.

"No, actually no one outside of the Alpha's family knows about it," he says as he moves to the small kitchen table that has two chairs around it. He takes a seat and motions for me to sit down too.

"You look like you're handling the real world nicely," he comments as I sit across from him.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask with a frown.

"Not many of our trainees can handle being out in the open, out in the real world surrounded by other people besides the Masters," he says with a wave of his hand as if it's no big deal. I frown and think back to the many times I almost lost control throughout the day, almost attacking for no reason.

"I can understand why," I admit. "It can be a little overwhelming, but it's nothing I can't handle," I assure him when I see his eyebrows raise.

"Good, I'd hate to see them eradicate your section," he says and a chill goes down my back. He means kill me, I think to myself and I tighten my fists on my lap.

"So, what's the information?" I ask changing the subject back to the important stuff.

"The target will be promoted to Alpha by the end of the month," he tells me and I stiffen in shock.

"He's found his mate?" I ask incredulously and think back through the day at school. No one stood out to me, except maybe Amy, but she didn't seem to have the qualities a Luna would need for a pack of their size.

"Not exactly. They are mating him with someone else," he says watching my expression carefully. I frown as I think about what this means.

"Their connection won't be as strong as true mates though, it will leave them vulnerable," I say out loud and Vince nods in agreement.

"Yes, but he will still be stronger than he is right now, so you need to act fast, before he is mated and made Alpha," he explains and I look at him in shock. I stand up and start pacing as I think.

"You're saying.. I have two and a half weeks to get the information they want, and kill the target?" I ask for clarification. I pause in my pacing and look at Vince who is watching me with a hint of worry in his eyes. He doesn't say anything, he just nods slowly.

I feel my heart plummet to my stomach. This is an impossible mission, I think numbly as I turn and face the mirror on the bathroom door. My face has gone pale, my grey eyes wide and fearful. I frown at my appearance. I am not weak, I think to myself. I am not afraid of them.