"Is Zac going to be there?" Sol asked, watching Artemis bend down and tie her shoelaces while he buttoned up his shirt.

Artemis merely hummed and finished tying her laces before standing back up to her full height, even if she was still a head and neck shorter than Sol. She felt the need to say something when she noticed Sol's questioning eyes on her. "Cassandra's brother?" She asked to be sure since she had met a lot of people and wouldn't be surprised if she forgot a few names or got them mixed up. When Sol nodded she continued. "How am I supposed to know if he's going to be having pack breakfast today?"

Sol shrugged and sat down on the bed behind him so he could slip on his work shoes and fasten his cuff links. He had, had a rough idea that he would probably have to stop by his hotel in the city after this trip so he had been smart and packed a shirt and dress pants.

"What is this about?" She asked, watching him curiously as she waited for his answer.

Sol continued to focus on his cuff links but stopped and allowed his eyes to fleet left towards her when she poked him in the side. "Yes?" He raised an eyebrow.

"You don't like him, do you?"

He rested the tip of his tongue on the top of his mouth, wracking his brain for an answer. "Not particularly, no."

"Why not?" She asked curiously, fiddling with the bottom of the cashmere jumper she was wearing.

Sol sighed and continued to fiddle with his cuff links. "I just don't have a great feeling about him, that's all." He shrugged again, not feeling great even though technically, he hadn't lied to her.

Artemis pursed her lips thoughtfully. "He does seem a bit keen sometimes, almost as if he's hiding something." She noted aloud.

He snapped his fingers in agreement. "That's exactly what I meant."

He watched as she smiled, seemingly happy with his answer. After they were both dressed and made sure that all their clothes were packed away in their suitcases for when they returned after breakfast to load the car, they locked up the guest cabin and headed towards the pack house.

The pack hall was brimming with people with a long, wooden oak brown table running down the middle of the room. Not everyone attended these conjugal pack breakfasts that they held a couple of times a week, some choosing to not come at all while others would come by to pick up some food, but it seemed that Artemis' family was going today and it made sense why Artemis wanted to attend it too.

Normally this wasn't Sol's thing but he couldn't say no to Artemis, especially when she was waving food in front of his face promising him some more if he agreed with her. Which he did.

It didn't take long for Sol to spot Artemis' family. A small smile graced his face when he noticed that they had already spotted them and were waving at two seats next to them that they had saved. It felt nice to be amongst family again, even if it wasn't his family.

Small talk was easy between Sol, Artemis and her newly acquainted family. The food also made it easier.

Artemis smiled at something her brother had said while Sol rested his arm on the back of his chair, listening intently to the conversation as he chewed on some eggs and toast, eying the croissant she was working her way through. He wondered how much people ate at these pack breakfasts unfortunately, he didn't have long to wait as his eyes landed on a rather jumpy looking blonde that had just walked into the hall, though it didn't seem like breakfast was on the agenda for him today.

He watched as the other man made his way towards them before he daringly reached out and tapped Artemis on the shoulder.

"Oh, hi." Artemis greeted him cheerfully.

"Can I have a quick word with you outside?" He asked hopefully, gesturing towards the door which he had just came through.

She frowned and glanced at Sol briefly before shrugging her shoulders, muttering a quiet 'sure' and following him out of the hall.

Sol ground his teeth and chewed the spoonful of scrambled egg in his mouth, his eyes glued on his plate, refusing to watch them walk out of the hall together.

He knew that he wasn't her mate and that he had no right over her, but that didn't stop him from growing immensely angry and jealous whenever someone tried to make a move on her, in this case, Zac.

He despised Zac with a passion which was ironic since he had grown rather fond of his sister and Apollo's mate, Cassandra over the past couple of weeks. It seemed that he wouldn't be able to prevent Zac's advances no matter how much he threatened. He just hoped that brutal rejection would do the job and if not, then he would step in.

If Artemis allowed him, of course.

Artemis stood in the hallway of the pack house, right at the end so they were closer to the front door than the hall where everyone was enjoying breakfast together.

Zac stood in front of her with his hands tucked into the pocket of his jeans, his eyes trained on Artemis. The man tried to smile but it appeared to come across as more of a grimace with how anxious he was.

Artemis watched him curiously. "You wanted to say something to me?" She asked with a light smile in her voice, wanting to appear friendly even though she couldn't possibly fathom what he would want to talk about since they hardly knew each other. Especially since he felt the need to pull her out of the pack breakfast in front of everyone. It was strange and she didn't want any rumours to start especially since she planned on staying in contact with her family and visiting every now and then.

"Yes," he coughed, clearing his throat. "Yes. This will only take a few minutes."

Artemis smiled though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Is everything okay?" She asked again when a few moments of silence passed between them. Frankly, she hadn't finished with the croissant she had been eating before Zac had pulled her out of there and she wished to get back to it before it got cold and started to harden. She also wished that Sol wouldn't eat it while she was away.

"Yes, everything's perfect, actually." He attempted to smile though it was a rather foul attempt.

"Good." She nodded and offered a small smile. "Is there anything I can help you with then?" She asked again, once again re-wording herself in hopes that Zac would get the hint and cut straight to the chase.

He nodded and looked down, almost as if he was giving himself a pep talk. "I just want to tell you that you're a beautiful woman and a beautiful wolf, both on the inside and the outside." Zac rushed the words out of his mouth, almost as if he was afraid that if he didn't then he would chicken out of it.

Artemis smiled awkwardly, not too sure where the conversation was heading. "Thank you," she answered politely as he watched her expectantly. Hopefully the conversation would end here and she would be able to return to her breakfast and to her family. She had really hoped that they would spend a little more time before Sol and her had to leave so Zac taking up some of her time as he fumbled about for some words wasn't exactly ideal.

She was attempting to be nice and polite for that was in her nature but she just couldn't help but frown and allow her thoughts to follow a bitter trail.

"I've really enjoyed getting to know you over the past couple of days and I was kind of hoping that you and I could be mates."

Artemis opened her mouth to say something but she found it closing before she could utter anything. Zac seemed to panic as he watched her fail to find any words for the situation at hand.

"Obviously not straight away." He rushed out the words as he realised that he was starting to alarm her, and that was the last thing that he wanted. Rather, he had hoped that she would agree with him. "We'll get to know each other some more before we go across with it. We can go out on dates and spend some more time with each other."

Artemis pursed her lips. She wasn't too glad about being put on the spot like that, especially since she hadn't seen it coming. "I'm going back home with Sol today, you know that."

Zac nodded and coughed. "Yeah, I know. But I was hoping that you could stay behind." He pleaded with her eyes though the gesture was lost on her.

"Zac-" she began but before she could say anything, he cut her off, desperate to avoid rejection.

"Even if it's just for a few weeks. That's all I'll need, I promise." Desperation clung to his words.

"You can't guarantee that." She shook her head and sighed. She wouldn't fall madly in love with Zac and want to be his mate all of a sudden, and staying behind to spend some time with him wasn't going to change things.

"Yes. Yes, I can!"

Artemis frowned further and quirked an eyebrow. "How can you possibly guarantee that?"

"Because I love you." He admitted, his eyes wide with his own outburst but he refused to take it back. He loved her! He did. She had to stay back.

"No, you don't." She shook her head, growing desperate as Zac didn't seem to be easing up any time soon.

"How can you possibly know that?"

"And how can you possibly know that you love me?"

He stepped forward, closer to her and held a hand out for her to hold but when she made no move to do so, he let it drop to his side. "It's love at first sight. I knew that I loved you as soon as I saw you."

"I find that hard to believe." She scoffed, not planning to sound condescending but doing so none the less.

It seemed that she had spiked his anger now. "What's so hard to believe?"

"I barely know you! You can't just expect me to leave everything behind and start a life with you. That's crazy!"

"How is that crazy?"

"Because I barely know you!"

"But we can change that!" He tried to reason with but his pleas were falling on deaf ears.

Artemis refused to change her mind and there was nothing he could do about it. "Well, I don't want to!"

"Why not?!" He was yelling now. Artemis was surprised that no one had come by to check up on them for all the noise that they had been making for the past couple of moments. She was even more surprised that Sol wasn't already here to push him up against the wall and scare him away.

Artemis was conscious of her voice as she uttered the next few words. "Because I love someone else." She whispered quietly.

Zac scoffed and stepped back, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation. "It's Solomon isn't it."

She didn't answer. Artemis didn't enjoy being coerced into declaring things she hadn't yet processed for herself. Zac had worked her into a corner until she had just shouted out the first thing she could think of to get him off her back and she didn't appreciate that.

Now, if it was the truth or not she wasn't quite sure but was more than happy for Zac to believe it. She just hoped that it wouldn't reach Sol's ears before she was sure for herself.

"We're not talking about this anymore." She huffed angrily before turning on her heel and walking away from him, not sparing him a glance back even when he called out to her several times.

"Everything okay?" Sol grunted as she sat down next to him, his eyes having watched her walk from the entry of the hall until she finally reached him.

She attempted to smile but it didn't quite work out. "Everything's just dandy." She mumbled under her breath. Sighing, she reached down and raised her breakfast to her mouth having acquired an appetite after that argument in the halls.

Just as she feared, her croissant was cold and stale.

-

You can wait for the next chapter which will be uploaded on 08/01/2020

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

08.09.18