Sol had, had a rather unproductive day where he had taken a nap, only to wake up to a rumbling stomach and a clock that said that it was far later than he had anticipated to doze off for. The clock read eight twenty-seven which meant that he had missed dinner. He could only hope that Artemis had kept him some leftovers.

He sensed that she wasn't in the house before he even got up from the bed. With how faint her scent appeared to be, he would guess that she hadn't returned home after she had left to visit her mother earlier while he spoke to his hotel manager, Beth.

He didn't really know where she was but he figured that following her scent, regardless of how faint it was would lead him right to her. Within five minutes Sol found himself standing outside one of the houses near the pack house, knocking on the door, waiting patiently -unlike his stomach- for it to open.

Apollo was the open to open it, a smile greeting his face once he noticed who was on the other side of it. "Sol, come on in!" He smiled and ushered in the man. "Artemis is in the kitchen. Go right ahead." He pointed towards a closed door which led off from the living room.

Sol nodded his thanks before he headed towards the closed door, opening it and then closing it behind him.

Three sets of eyes looked up from the kitchen counter they were all working at as they heard the sound of the door opening and closing. However, he only cared about one set of eyes which lightened up at the sight of him.

A small smile graced his face as he watched her wipe her hands on her apron. The smile on his face only grew larger in size as she walked closer to him, a matching one on hers. "You look hungry." She stated without question, knowing that he was hungry just by looking at him. "You also look like you just woke up."

Sol nodded and smiled even wider, not that he thought it was possible. "I took a nap." He affirmed, a twinkle in his eyes as he leaned against the wall, waiting for her to finally reach him. He didn't care about her mother and sister-in-law whom had dropped all that they were doing to watch the two in action, he just cared about Artemis and the promise of food that she currently held in her eyes. "I also skipped dinner."

Artemis smiled a knowing smile just as she stopped in front of him. "I kept some left-overs for you."

"Great."

"Great." She repeated before turning on the balls of her feet to head over to the microwave where she would reheat his food for him. Following closely behind, Sol pulled out a stool at the kitchen counter and took a seat, finally noticing two staring she-wolves whom appeared to have watched their every movement for the past couple of minutes.

"Mrs Haven," he smiled at the elderly lady. "Cassandra," he then greeted the pregnant she-wolf who seemed to be helping Artemis' transition with her family which he was grateful for.

Apollo's mate smiled back at him before she turned back to the dough that she was currently kneading while her mother-in-law continued to stare at Sol as if she would find out all the answers to her questions that way.

"You have a beautiful home," he informed her politely with yet another heart melting smile. It wasn't a lie since he hadn't seen the whole house or even paid particular attention to the part of it that he had seen, but he was sure that the house was beautiful

It didn't hurt to get approval from at least one of Artemis' parents.

Mrs Haven smiled and nodded. "Thank you." She replied as she wiped her hands on a cloth. The woman seemed to hesitate slightly before she sighed and took a seat at the kitchen counter across from Sol, her hands placed delicately on her lap as she continued to smile at him, though he did notice the way that it began faltering at the edges. "Artemis mentioned that she wishes to continue living with you." It was more of a statement than a question and Sol appreciated the way that the she-wolf cut straight to the chase. It was clearly bothering the lady so Sol was glad that she had brought it up straight away rather than leaving him to wonder what he had done to upset her.

"Yes," he nodded firmly, aware of the fact that Artemis had started paying close attention to the conversation between him and her mother. She seemed nervous of what her mother would say but Sol didn't care.

Artemis had expressed interest in continuing to live with him and that was enough for Sol.

"And how do you feel about that?" Mrs Haven asked. She watched the man sat across from her like a hawk, her eyes following his every movement whether it be a twitch of his jaw or where he was looking at. She was determined to make sure that he would look after her daughter properly.

Sol hesitated momentarily, not too sure if this was an appropriate moment for the truth. "Truthfully?"

The woman nodded.

"I'm honestly very grateful." Sol admitted, his words out in the open now for various interpretations. He wasn't too good at expressing his feelings and he hadn't had to do it in a long, ever since the demise of his pack but for Artemis, he was willing to try. "I'm also immensely relieved."

Sol was glad to see the weight having appeared to lift off the woman's shoulders, grateful that her daughter would be living with someone who seemed to genuinely care for her. Sol was also glad that Artemis' mother didn't pry too much on the situation.

He had more than enough trouble admitting to himself his feelings regarding Artemis and he certainly didn't need the added pressure of having to try explain them to her mother.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that." Mrs Haven replied with a smile on her face, visibly relieved and at ease with his words. "Call me, Sienna."

Sol smiled and nodded, glad that the conversation was over but also very glad that it had happened.

He smiled at Artemis as she placed a plate of food in front of him filled with steak, mash potatoes and an assortment of green vegetables, all of it with a light coating of gravy covering it. He noticed how she had given him what appeared to be a larger than average piece of meat and a lighter than usual helping of the vegetables, and for that he was grateful.

His eyes feasted on the food before his mouth did, not looking up from it as he spoke, his mouth already filled with food. "The food is amazing, Sienna. You're a great chef."

"Thank you, honey." Sienna smiled at the praise before she excused herself to go find her husband and mate.

Artemis returned to helping her brother's mate with some cookies that they were baking before he had walked in while Sol sat at the counter and enjoyed his food. The steak was great, moist in and succulent. He would be sure to ask for the recipe before they headed home.

"So, tell me a little about yourself, Solomon."

"Call me Sol." He mumbled through a mouthful of potatoes. "There isn't much to know about me. What do you want to know?"

Cassandra smiled over her shoulder before she turned back to cutting out biscuit shapes. "Well, I already know how you two met." She nudged Artemis' shoulder playfully and Sol grinned, eying the way the two she-wolves seemed to be sharing some secret joke. "I hear that you've been helping Artemis out with some school work." Cass giggled and dodged the towel that the feisty redhead in question had threw her way.

So, they had been talking about him before he walked in. That did wonderous things to his ego.

He grinned down at his food, stabbing some more steak onto his fork.

The conversation in the kitchen flew smoothly and once the women had finished cutting out the biscuits and placed them onto a baking tray before placing into the oven for fifteen minutes, they joined him at the counter. Artemis sat next to him holding his hand under the counter as he finished off his meal, steering clear of the remaining vegetables, only having eaten half of the small portion that Artemis had given him while Cassandra took a seat across from the couple, smiling sweetly at the pair.

She didn't have to see it to know that they were holding hands and hoping she didn't notice.

Cass was in the middle of telling the story of how Apollo and her met, pausing briefly to allow the pair to laugh as she mentioned the part where her mate's legs had gone numb and given way under him as she had approached him from across the room when the kitchen door opened and a man stumbled in quickly, clearly rushing to get in.

"Zac," Cass stopped in the middle of the story as her eyes landed on the blonde man whom had just walked in. "I thought you had to leave for a meeting."

"It finished early." The man stated and his eyes looked around the room before they landed on Artemis, his grin widening in size and his eyes lighting up. "Artemis, you still here?"

Artemis smiled politely as she looked at the man from over her shoulder. "Yeah, I'm still here. That was one quick meeting."

The blonde -Zac- nodded before he pulled out a chair next to Cass so that he was now sitting across Artemis. His eyes stayed glued to her face, not once glancing at Sol to show that he even acknowledged him. "I only stayed for the important parts." He replied, the smile still on his face.

Sol wondered how his face didn't hurt from smiling so much. He already didn't like the man.

Cass smiled though it appeared to be slightly tense, her eyes occasionally fleeting towards unhappy expression as he abandoned the rest of his steak to glare at Zac whom seemed too obsessed with Artemis to notice anything else.

"Sol," she called, grabbing his attention. "This is my brother Zac. Zac," she introduced them but paused when she called her brother and he didn't seem to hear her. "Zac." She called again, this time punching him on the shoulder in what appeared to be a rather hard swing to get his attention. "Zac, this is Solomon."

Sol had really liked Cassandra so he was disappointed when he met her brother and decided that he was an A-class douchebag from the get go. Oh, how both siblings were so very different.

Zac seemed to finally be able to tear his eyes away from Artemis so he could spare Sol a brief glance, not really caring about the man. "Hi, nice to meet you." He replied nonchalantly, stretching his hand out in front of him towards Sol while his eyes travelled back to Artemis whom seemed oblivious to all the testosterone around her.

"This is the guy that Artemis has been living with." His sister explained to him.

This time it was Sol whom was the one grinning and Zac whom now sporting a scowl. The scowl only deepened, following by a furrowing of the eyebrows as Sol's grip was far tighter, firmer and frankly, more painful than he had anticipated.

Sol didn't care that he was emanating his Alpha authority.

It seemed that Cass hadn't known before that Sol was an Alpha as he eyes widened and she stared at the man sat across from her in surprise, but Sol didn't care. He just wondered if Zac was smart enough to realise his authority and back off.

He didn't appreciate the way the other man had been staring at Artemis with love hearts for eyes as soon as he walked in. He also had no doubt that he had come running from his meeting in hopes that she would still be with Cassandra, making it easy to try and put the moves on her again.

Sol should have never have taken that nap!

While he was sleeping peacefully and not having his dinner on time, this man had been putting the moves on Artemis and that he did not appreciate.

Though he was glad that Artemis seemed oblivious to any male attention that was not from him.

Sol watched with great gratification as Zac finally retracted his hand from the rather firm handshake, clenching and unclenching his fist several times in attempt of regaining the blood flow there.

He watched in silence, finally picking up his earlier abandoned fork to finish off the rest of his food even if it was slightly cold. Artemis seemed to click very well with Cassandra and the conversation flowed between them smoothly as they made plans to hang out together again the next day however, Zac seemed to be pushing himself into the conversation at every chance, ultimately annoying Sol.

And so, when the timer for the biscuits in the oven went off, Sol was glad that Artemis leaped up to take them out followed closely behind by Cassandra. This meant that he was left alone with Zac whom met his stare with a frown. "Let's have a word outside, eh?" Zac spoke up, jerking his head towards the kitchen door.

Sol nodded and stood up, placing his plate in the sink. And just to get under Zac's skin, he stood behind Artemis and placed a quick kiss on the top of her head before following him out the door and into the living room which just happened to be empty.

Zac stood in the middle of the room with his shoulders squared and his arms crossed across his chest, looking down at Sol menacingly whom had decided to sit down on the sofa and stretch his legs out in front of him instead.

It was a stark contrast; one visibly tense while the other was as cool as a cucumber.

"What's the deal between you and Artemis?" Zac asked, cutting straight to the chase, his demeanour cold.

"I don't know what you mean." Sol feigned innocence.

"I mean, I want you to back off from Artemis."

Sol quirked a questioning eyebrow, clearly amused with what he was hearing. "And why would I want to do that?"

"Because if you don't then that would mean very bad things for you." He squared his shoulders further in a menacing manner, not that Sol cared in the least bit.

Sol chuckled to himself, laughing at the ludicrous thought at this lowly warrior being able to physically harm him. "Is that supposed to be a threat?" He continued to laugh unabashedly. "Get your head out of your ass and smell the fresh air."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that Artemis isn't interested in you so perhaps its you who needs to back off."

"And you know for sure that she isn't interested in me?"

Sol chuckled lowly to himself. "Yes." His answer was firm and sure, leaving no room to question but that didn't stop Zac.

"And how do you know that?"

"Because I know her better than you can ever know her." He stated proudly.

"As if that's impossible to do." Zac scoffed. "And you think she's interested in you?"

Sol frowned at that, not happy with being put on the spot like that even if he had done the same thing to him a few seconds ago. He wasn't sure of the answer himself. "That's none of your business."

"You're not so sure now, eh?" It was Zac's turn to laugh. "It doesn't matter to me anyway because I'm planning on asking her to be my mate before she leaves. Then she'll leave you and move back here permanently.

It was Sol's turn to scoff. "And you think she'll say yes?"

Zac scowled. "I'll keep at it until she does finally say yes. And as if she'll say yes to you either."

Before the conversation could get any uglier, the front door opened and closed with a light slam. Apollo walked into his parents' house with a small smile on his face which seemed to immediately falter as soon as his eyes landed on both the men stood in the living room.

Apollo smiled uneasily, clearly sensing the tension between his sister's friend and his wife's brother, though he didn't mention anything to either his sister of his wife when he left them to walk into the kitchen. He had just found his sister after all these years and didn't wish to lose her to any possible altercations between Zac and Sol.

Smiling, he kissed his wife and hugged his sister before he helped them ice the biscuits, eating half of them before they had even finished, skilfully dodging his wife every time she attempted to stop him. 

-

You can wait for the next chapter which will be uploaded on 01/01/2020

OR

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Layla Knight

06.09.18