Artemis had spent quite a lot of time with Apollo over the following week while he was visiting Clark's pack. But since after her brother had left yesterday, Sol had noticed that she had been in a bad mood.

At first, he had assumed it had something to do with her brother leaving for his own pack in a few days however, when her asked what time Apollo would be coming round, Artemis had snapped at him and declared that her brother would no longer be visiting and that it was all better that way.

Artemis had then preceded to leave her breakfast uneaten before storming upstairs and burrowing herself under their bedsheets.

Women were difficult to understand.

A second ago he thought that she and her brother were reconnecting after more than sixteen years away from each other but it seemed that he had got it all wrong.

Sol sighed and wiped his hands on a cloth after having finished the dishes.

He eyes her uneaten bowl of cereal before leaving it on the kitchen counter in case she decided that she was hungry later. Trudging up the stairs, Sol walked into his bedroom and spied an angry Artemis hiding under the bed covers, willing him away with her negative vibes.

Sol couldn't help but smile.

She was too adorable for her own good, though he didn't mention that in fear that he would receive a good tongue lashing for not taking her feelings seriously.

He smiled wider.

"Artemis?" He called, sitting on the bed and leaning over her, trying to get a look at her face from under the covers. "You going to come out from under there and tell me what's wrong?"

Artemis shook her head, the sheets moving along with her. "There's nothing wrong." She replied quietly though even she could hear the lies behind her words.

Sol sighed and settled on the bed so that he was now spooning her while she remained cocooned in the bed sheets. He rubbed a hand up and down her side in a comforting gesture, a small smile still teasing his lips.

He doubted he would ever get tired of her antics.

"If you don't tell me what's wrong then I won't be able to help make things better." He whispered to her, his voice quiet and soft.

Artemis audibly sniffled.

A few quiet moments passed between them where Artemis remained tangled, taking refuse under the bed sheets while Sol spooned her from behind, his eyes closed. The silence was comforting and welcoming, though Sol knew that Artemis was keeping something from him.

He didn't like it but he would respect her privacy if that was what she wanted.

Luckily there was no need as she pushed back from him slightly before pulling the sheet from over her head, revealing her slightly flushed face and puffy eyes as she sat up, brushing away a few tears from her face.

Sol's heart tightened as she brushed away a few more tears.

Sitting up himself, he sat back against the headboard before he pulled her into his arms, pulling the sheets over both of them as he held her. Artemis sniffled and buried her face in his chest, fisting her hands in his shirt. He rubbed a soothing hand up and down her back, attempting to calm her down.

It hurt to see her cry. She was too beautiful to cry.

"Artemis." He called out to her but she merely clutched his shirt tighter and sniffled again, still crying. "You need to tell me what's wrong so that I can make things better."

She nodded, pulling back from him slightly so that she could sit up on his lap.

Pushing away her hands gently, Sol reached over and rubbed his thumbs under her eyes before trailing down to cup her cheeks and tilt her face up so that she was looking him in the eye. "I need you to tell me what's wrong." He pleaded, not wanting to see her cry for much longer, especially if there was anything he could do to rectify the situation.

"Apollo's leaving tomorrow." She stated nonchalantly, though he knew better.

Sol hesitated briefly before he spoke, slightly wary as he wasn't completely sure how she felt about the situation quite yet. "And that's why you've been upset since last night?"

She nodded quickly, but then paused and thought over it before shaking her head, no. "That's part of the reason but not all of it."

Sol nodded in understanding even though he was still slightly confused.

"He wants me to go with him."

This was Sol's greatest fear. Sure, he was glad that Artemis did in fact have a family that loved her and would support her no matter what but he feared that, that meant that she would leave him for them. He would be alone again with just the memories of what it was like to have Artemis to himself for the past couple of months, even if she did spend nearly half of it stuck in her wolf form.

Sol couldn't stand the idea of Artemis being away from him but he also didn't want her to miss out on a healthy relationship with her parents and her twin because she chose to stay with him.

It all made sense now, why she had been agonising over this since last night.

Sol would be in a bad mood too if he had to make this kind of decision.

Artemis was a smart woman and very observant. Sol had no doubt that she could read him like a book even though every one else thought he was a stoic, stone cold statue with no human heart, feelings or emotions.

He feared her decision but didn't want to condemn her to the same fate as him. He couldn't handle it if one day she woke up and decided that she had made the right decision, that staying with him had been the wrong thing to do. Sol wouldn't be able to handle it if his sweet Artemis started hating him. He didn't want for her to sacrifice her family just to stay with him especially because he couldn't promise her love or a pack.

Sol was just too broken for any of that.

He felt himself tearing up but he blinked away the tears. He didn't want to make this any harder on her by crying and possibly even guilting her into staying.

Artemis had a good, clean, big heart. He knew that if he were to ask her to stay, she would.

Her small voice broke him out from his thoughts. It was ragged from crying so much. "I don't want to go." She admitted, feeling bad after listening to the sound of her own words.

Artemis felt terrible for not wanting to move in with her brother and her parents after having been missing for so many years; more than a decade and a half. She couldn't even begin to fathom what her family had gone through when she had gone missing all those years ago yet she knew that if she were to leave with her brother, it would be the biggest mistake of her life.

She wanted to see her family and get to know them, but that didn't mean that she had to leave this life that she had built with Solomon behind.

She didn't want to choose between Sol and her family because she knew that she would choose Sol in less than a heartbeat, and that would just bring too much pain for Apollo and their parents, especially after having thought she was dead all this time.

Sol's eyebrows shot up in surprise at that and his heart continued to beat rapidly. At first it had been in fear but now it was with hope. "What do you mean?"

"I don't want to go live with them." She admitted honestly, maintaining eye contact. Artemis could sense that this decision was just as hard on him as it was on her. "They might be my family but I don't remember them at all and I'm not ready to just get up and move in with them."

"Artemis-" he began, ready to persuade her mind otherwise with his words but she cut him off.

This was already hard enough to explain and come to terms with herself. Artemis hadn't been able to sleep much the previous night. She had spent the vast majority if not all of it, tossing and turning in Sol's arms as she wondered what she would finally decide on.

Artemis didn't want to move back to her old pack and pretend as if nothing had ever happened, as if she was the same person she was fifteen years ago. She didn't even know who she was, she just knew that she wasn't the same person.

"This is my decision and I want to stay here with you." She lifted her face in the air, her stance firm and determined as she looked him square in the eye.

He shook his head and rubbed his thumbs down her cheek, smiling sadly. "I can't let you do that."

Artemis pursed her lips and frowned deeper. "No, this is my decision, not yours and not Apollo's." There really was no trying to persuade her otherwise on her decision. Artemis had already made up her mind and the sooner Sol realised that the better.

"He wants you to move back to his pack?" Sol asked even though he already knew the answer. He didn't blame her brother though.

She nodded and sighed. "You're all I know and all I remember. To me, you're my family." She stated honestly, resting one hand on his chest while she used the other to hold his jaw, keeping his eyes on her.

Sol nodded, unable to express his love for this woman. He had never said it and he wasn't sure if he would ever be able to say in fear that she wouldn't mirror his feelings, but he loved her. It may just be the beginning and he may feel like he doesn't deserve her, but this was just how he felt.

His heart constricted as she listened to him.

"You're all that I remember." Artemis carried on. "You've been there for me since day one. Now, I don't know what happened to me and I don't know why or where I was taken when I was younger, but I do know that you took me in and you cared for me even though you could have just left me there to die in the woods. You've gone above and beyond to look after me and to help me transition back into a normal life, and I'm not about to leave you the second a new opportunity comes by."

"You deserve better." He sighed and closed his eyes, a tear slipping past the boundaries and sliding down his cheek. "You deserve so much better than what I can give you."

Artemis was crying now too. "I'm not going to leave you." She promised, leaning forward and resting her forehead against his. "I don't know what's going on between us and I'm not sure if it'll ever turn into something more or even if we'll ever work out but I know that you mean the world to me. You're the most important person in my life and I'm not just about to get up and leave you." Pushing up on her legs, she reached up and placed her lips against his forehead, applying some light pressure. "We're a team, you and me."

Sol nodded and tightened his arms around her waist, crushing her to him.

They held each other as they cried.

-

The next morning, they were both packed and ready to head over to Apollo's pack, or Artemis' old pack; Valour.

They had talked about it the previous night and had decided that they would go over with Apollo for a few days so that Artemis can meet her parents and get to know her family a little. Her decision didn't mean that she didn't want anything to do with her parents or her twin, it just meant that she wasn't the same person she was fifteen years ago. In fact, she didn't know who she was and she needed time to figure that all out.

Artemis had really been touched when Sol had agreed to go with her especially since she knew how much he struggled when he was among other werewolves. In Sol's mind, as soon as Artemis had expressed interest in seeing her parents for a few days, he had packed his suitcase already and was waiting patiently at the door.

Apollo had driven over with a few of the pack warriors and the Alpha, but after having explained the situation about his sister and even Sol, he had received permission to drive over to the pack with them instead.

They were taking Sol's truck but Apollo was driving since he was the only one who knew the way to the pack.

Apollo didn't know who was more nervous; his sister or the Alpha of the Shadow Keeper's pack.

Neither Sol nor Artemis had to tell Apollo about Sol's position or rather his predicament. There warrior had sensed Sol's Alpha power as soon as they had fought in combat just outside the woods that first night. Since then he had wondered which pack the Alpha belonged to but had been so busy with having found his sister that he hadn't remembered to ask.

It was only when Alpha Brandon of the Lupine Woodland pack had mentioned that they had an Alpha of the late Shadow Keeper's living in a cabin a few hours away Apollo put all the pieces together.

What had happened to Sol's pack was an absolute tragedy and it had soon become part of werewolf modern history, even becoming part of the syllabus at their local werewolf high school.

He wasn't much of a speaker, Apollo noted to himself as his eyes fleeted left briefly, watching the Alpha sat in the passenger side seat next to him. He didn't know much about the Alpha apart from bits of his past that he had learnt through the elders in the pack but he respected the man, even now more since he had taken such good care of his sister.

Apollo chuckled quietly to himself, ignoring strange looks from the said Alpha. Not once did he think that he would ever meet Alpha Solomon Westbrook let alone be sharing a car with him.

"How long is the drive?"

Both Sol and Apollo checked the time on the dashboard. They had been driving for about four hours now. "There's about another five hours left." Apollo said, his eyes fleeting up briefly as he glanced up at his sister from the rear-view mirror. She had just woken up from her nap. "We'll stop at the next service station. We need to fill up on gas."

Artemis nodded and yawned.

His heart warmed at the idea of bringing her sister home to their pack and their parents, even if it was for a few days. "Mum and dad wanted to drive over to see you as soon as I told them about finding you, but I stopped them."

Artemis smiled though both men in the car could sense that she was both nervous and uncomfortable.

Apollo didn't blame her. He could only imagine what she felt at that moment, driving over seven hours to meet a man and a woman who claimed that they were her parents even though she had no memory of them at all.

And in that moment, Apollo knew that he was eternally grateful for being there for his sister when she had nothing and nobody else.

"What are they like?" Artemis asked from the back seat, curious.

Apollo smiled. "They're both pack warriors but mum also helps to trains the pups during the evenings."

Artemis nodded, listening intently. "Mum's cooking is the best. She often helps out with the food whenever we have pack dinners and such. She does all sorts of things around the pack, she's an all rounder like that. Dad is just good at making a mess and going following mum wherever she goes."

Her twin laughed and nodded before he further spoke about a time when their dad had nearly burned down their house while trying to make a grilled cheese sandwich for him while their mother was out training some of the pups. He had tried to put the fire out with some kitchen towels which just happened to be paper and spread the fire all the much faster.

Their mother had come home to half their kitchen missing.

Artemis joined in on the laughter and even Sol cracked a smile at her father's antics.

None of the werewolves in the vehicle had seen it coming. None of them knew exactly what had happened or what it meant. All they knew was that one moment they were on their way to the Valour Pack, Apollo's pack, talking about the twins' parents and the next, they had been rammed into the side by a truck.

Sol was the only one to have seen it coming. It might have had something to do with him being an Alpha but he had been the one who had seen the truck approaching, very quickly manoeuvring out of its lane and into theirs. Apollo didn't even stand a chance of swerving the car out of harms way, it all just happened so fast.

Artemis screamed at the harsh impact of vehicle upon vehicle and Sol roared out a mighty groan as he saved her from the impact after having jumped over her body and threw them both out the window of the moving car.

It was essentially a hit and run, or that's what they wanted the humans to believe.

-

You can wait for the next chapter which will be uploaded on 17/11/2019

OR

You can read the rest of the book, including bonus chapters, for free on Inkitt! Just search 'Solomon [COMPLETE]' or use this link: https://inkitt.app.link/RA__illuminating_

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Layla Knight 

26.08.18