Artemis

When we reached the dining room there were quite a number of people surrounding the table. The food hadn't been placed on the table yet so everyone was talking amongst themselves. 

I caught sight of Athena talking with Ezra. I'm slightly surprised she didn't want to show us her outfit today, but then again I think she just wanted to make sure she got a seat next to Ezra this time. 

Looking around the rest of the table I could see a familiar couple sitting towards the end of the table. It was Meredith and Gerald, Serena's and Franco's parents. I could see Meredith talking the woman beside her ear off. The woman looked bored and annoyed, there was a man sitting beside her massaging her hand almost on instinct, as he was involved in another conversation with none other than the Alpha himself. 

I felt my body visibly tense when he stopped his conversation and stared at me from the head of the table. I thought I saw his eyes change for a moment before he closed them and took a deep breath. 

Apollo gave my hand a squeeze and went to sit in empty seat next to Serena. 

Surveying my options on the available seats left, I decided that I wanted to be as far from the Aaron as possible so the corner seat next to him was a no go. With there being only two other seats open, I sat next to Athena just two seats down from the Alphas gaze. 

As I sat down I pinched Athena's arm grabbing her attention from Ezra. She turned to look at me with a joyful but concerned look in her eyes. 

"You look beautiful. I'm glad you were able to get all of that mud out of your hair, it looks as enchanting as always." I said offering her a smile. 

"Thanks, Art," she said squeezing my hand from under the table. 

I could feel a pair of eyes staring at me and the way Athena's eyes glanced behind me confirmed it. 

I decided to ignore it. Instead, I focused on the person in front of me, I realized it was the woman that was bored form Meredith's consistent chatter. She was looking down at the empty plate in front of her as if the food would just magically appear at some point. 

She shifted her eyes up to me and all I saw behind them was pain. Those were the eyes of a person ready to give up. I've seen those eyes before, ones that not too long ago looked back at me in the mirror. 

Analyzing her appearance I noticed that she was in a wheelchair. I now understood why she was in so much pain. She must feel so powerless right now. And her wolf...no one should go through what she's experiencing.

I was pulled from my thoughts when the food began to be placed on the table. Everything looked amazing, but maybe I was a bit bias considering I missed breakfast and lunch. Just about anything looked appealing right now. 

There was a clank, grabbing everyone's attention to the head of the table, it was silent so the Alpha could speak. 

"Hello everyone!" Aaron said with happiness oozing from his voice. 

"I just wanted to host this dinner to celebrate my return while to also welcome the Angelos Siblings into our pack!" He said gesturing to us. 

I swallowed my pride and decided against correcting him. 

"They have agreed to help us put an end to this war and for that I am grateful," Aaron said with a small bow before sitting back down. 

Claps were heard around the table while I just went with an acknowledging nod. I quickly joined everyone else and prepared my plate before digging in. 

"Now, I've heard some amazing things about the three of you and am looking forward to seeing it for myself at some point, if that's alright?" Aaron asked as he put a chicken leg on his plate. 

"How's tomorrow morning sound to you guys? Though we may have to use a different training field since mine looks to be infested by moles" He said looking up at me with a foxy grin. 

I heard Apollo give a nervous laugh and Franco mumble another apology. 

'Suckers' I thought, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. 

"Tomorrow is fine. And we can start with your training field. I'll fix it." I said picking at the salad on my plate. 

"Oh, and how do you plan on doing that," Aaron asked amused. 

Turning to face him I could see he was happy I was the one that responded. 

"I guess your Beta didn't tell you everything about our powers. So if you don't know now you'll just have to wait to find out tomorrow." I said eyeing him. 

"I guess I will Cheif," Aaron said. 

We stared at each other as if no one else was in the room, thankfully we were reminded of that fact when a cough was heard from beside me. Franco had taken the empty corner seat beside me. 

I dragged my eyes back to my plate and Franco began to speak. 

"So any new information about the Rouges from the Royals?" Franco asked. 

I saw the woman across from me jerk slightly at the mention of the Rouges. The man beside her squeezed her hand and kissed her head. 

"Well, we learned that their objective is not to destroy all packs but to tear down the Werewolf Monarchy," Aaron said shaking his head. 

Gasps filled the table. 

"There were Rogues spotted near the Royal pack and when we went to check on it we were welcome with a forest fire. Well, that was at least what we thought until we got closer and realized the fire spelled something. It said 'Death of the Royals'. And in the trees hung Alpha Marcus and his Luna..." Aaron said with sadness in his voice. 

My wolf whined, eager to confront him. 

"We had called for his packs help since they're known for their battle strategies, but on his way to meet with us, his car was attacked. We found it only a few miles from the Royal pack's borders," he said letting out a sigh. 

"We went to check on Marcus's pack, but we were too late. The place was in shambles, we found very few survivors that were able to escape into the woods, they told us everything. Saying there had to be at least 100 Rouges with three dark witches. With the help of the witches, they were able to make a hallucinogen fog making friends look like foe. They said their Beta went down fighting and almost half of the pack decided to join the Rouges while the rest...were killed." Aaron finished explaining looking at everyone's expressions at the table. 

Luckily most were finished with their food because that story was enough to make me lose my appetite.

"Well damn" I heard Athena say beside me. 

I gave her a slight kick under the table. I swear we taught her manners. 

Aaron let out a tired laugh before speaking again. "Yes, damn is right. Their coming and fast. They're growing in numbers and getting more confident. They were able to take out a whole Warrior pack by getting into their heads...." he paused running his hands through his hair. 

"We've put extra guards with the Royal family but with a power like that on their side...our chances of winning,  just lessened significantly." he finished.

"Hmm well, it's a good thing they don't know you have us on your side huh?" I said offering him a smirk. 

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Aaron said giving me a smile. 

I quickly turned my head away from him ignoring the heat rising to my ears. 

I heard him chuckle. "Oh I almost forgot to congratulate the newly found Mates," He said making me flinch at the mention of Mates. 

"Serena and Apollo congratulations on finding each other, I wish you all the best!" Aaron said with joy but if you listened closely you could hear the traces of sadness in his voice. 

The happy couple thanked him before a familiar voice was heard. 

"Oh my, I just knew you were special when I met you in the diner. I'm so happy that such a handsome young man like yourself is my daughter's Mate. Isn't that great Gerald?" Meredith cheered asking her husband. 

"Yes, dear," Gerald said grabbing another roll from the basket in front of him. 

"Was that before or after you thought we were Rouges. Or was it after you purposely spilled my drink on me?" Athena said with annoyance in her voice. 

She was never one to let anything go. First impressions were important to her. So she won't be letting this go for a while.

"Oh, sweetie I hope you don't have any hard feelings about that. You understand why I had to do it right?" Meredith asked before quickly changing the subject before Athena could reply. 

"Psh it would help if I got an actual apology." I heard Athena grumble out as she crossed her arms. 

"But now that you're here to stay Apollo you should take up my offer and sing a few songs for us sometime!" Meredith said excitedly. 

I was starting to question who was the real die-hard Sol A fan, Serena, or her Mother. 

"Oh, you're a musician?" Aaron said chipping into the one-sided conversation between Apollo and Meredith. 

"Oh, my Celest you need to act more your age and get in with what all the kids are into nowadays. This young man is Sol A! You know that one Artist Serena would talk about all the time!" Meredith said slightly annoyed he didn't know. 

Which only brought be back to the diner when she couldn't even remember Apollo's stage name herself. 

Then I realized she called him Celest. ' Why would they call him by his last name?' I thought to myself.

"Oh yeah, now I remember! Wow, talk about a dream come true for you huh Seren? I remember how you used to run around the Packhouse when a new album came out, Oh what did she used to call him, Franco?" Aaron asked amused. 

"I believe her exact words were 'The Love of her life'. Oh, remember that time we caught her in her room-" Franco was cut off when a bread roll flew past his head.  

"Shut the hell up Franco!" Serena yelled as her face was a blushing mess. 

Aaron and Franco laughed leaning back in their chairs. 

"Ugh, you too Celest! You guys are so embarrassing." Serena huffed out as she folded her arms. 

"You really should work on your aim Sis," Franco said picking up the bread off the floor. 

Serena just stuck her tongue out at him. 

"Don't worry I can help you work out that aim," Apollo said giving her a smirk. 

Serena pushed away his face before covering her own. 

"So do you two also perform, I mean it would explain the hair?" Aaron asked Athena and I. 

I gave him a confused look before speaking. "What's that supposed to mean? What's wrong with our hair" 

"Oh, I just mean the wild colors. They look like something musicians would do." Aaron said trying to explain himself.  

I glared at him, "As a matter of fact we didn't dye our hair. It's natural. And no we don't perform." I said crossing my arms. 

"That's interesting. Ha, are you sure your parents didn't just dye your hair that color when you were too young to remember?" Aaron tried to joke.

"Yes," I said shortly. 

There was an awkward silence until the man next to the woman in the wheelchair began to speak. 

"Well, son your mother is tired from the trip so we're gonna head to bed. I'll try and be up in the morning, I would like to see these abilities these three have." The man now known as Aarons's father said as he stood up. 

"Good night," Aaron said to his parents. 

His father ruffled his hair before rolling his mother out of the room. She didn't say a word, didn't even give him a glance. She kept the same dazed expression she had the whole time at dinner. 

I looked at her forgotten plate; seeing that it was barely touched. She was a lovely looking woman with pale brown skin, her hair was tied up neatly in a bun, nails freshly polished, but I also noticed the bags underneath her eyes that tried to be covered up with makeup and the dents in her cheeks. 

She wasn't healthy. Though I think they already knew that. 

Once dinner was finished I offered to help the kitchen staff clean up. 

Everyone dispersed to their rooms for the night while I finished up cleaning some plates along with three other ladies. 

Lost in thought thinking about the events of the day, I was pulled from my thoughts when I felt a hand touch my shoulder. 

I recognized those shocks. 

I turned to see misty grey eyes looking down at me. 

Turning back to the sink I focused back on the plate I was cleaning so I wouldn't get lost in those foggy eyes. 

"Is there something you needed?" I asked. 

"Well, I was wondering if we could talk?" Aaron said leaning against the counter. 

"What is there to talk about? I thought we discussed everything over dinner?" I said quicking the pace of my sponge against the plate. 

"You know what I'm talking about, Artemis," Aaron said with a scoff. 

I froze. The way my name rolled of his tongue sounded so right. I could hear him say it over and over again and never get tired of hearing it. 

Shaking my head I turned to face him once again. 

"No, I actually don't know what you're talking about Aaron. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to bed." I said putting the last dish on the rack to dry. 

I began to walk away when I heard him speak again. 

"We're Mates whether you like it or not. No one can resist the pull of the bond." Aaron said. 

"Hmph, just watch me," I said walking out of the kitchen.