He awoke to a someone looming over him, seemingly trying to get his attention. They clearly weren't doing a very good job as he had just woken up now with no idea of what was going on.

Sol groaned into his hands as he rubbed his face and his eyes in attempt to rub away the sleep. "Why are you waking me up so early?" He asked, his voice gruff, deep and husky.

Clark sat down on the chair that Sol had been occupying the previous day, his lips spread into a Cheshire grin as his eyes fleeted between both the inhabitants of the hospital bed, his eyes lingering on the arm that Sol had thrown over her as they slept. His best friend didn't care as he grunt sleepily, sitting up in bed, all the while being careful as to not wake Artemis.

He must have not been careful enough as she stirred, turning onto her side, groggily opening her eyes which landed on two males, both of them staring at her. One had a cheeky grin on his face while the one closest to him, the one on the bed with her offered her a sheepish grin, apologetic for waking her up.

Artemis sat up in bed next to Sol and rolled her neck around slightly, it feeling more stiff than painful.

The doctor had been right. Her neck felt as if it was completely healed. It didn't feel like it was bruised and it certainly didn't feel like an incision had been made into it. It just felt stiff, almost as if she had slept on it at an odd angle but that might just be down to the neck pillow which she clearly no longer needed.

"What are you both grinning at?" She addressed them groggily as she wiped the sleep from her eyes.

Sol shrugged and leaned back against the headboard, his bare chest on full display. "I know what I'm grinning at," he smirked at her. "But I don't why this idiot is here, and this early in the morning too." He jabbed playfully at his friend, his words serious and obnoxious, though his face and grin said otherwise.

Clark chuckled quietly and shook his head. It felt good to see his friend happy, truly happy especially despite the heavy circumstances that they were under. He knew his friend was head over heels in love with the woman next to him and frankly, he was glad that there was someone who could love him back for all he was, the odious past and all. But he also knew that his friend was scared, scared to open up, scared of Artemis leaving him when the going got tough or when she was offered something better.

But for now, it felt good to see him smile without regret and without guilt.

"I'm actually here with some good news," he smirked at both of them, chuckling to himself as he watched the she-wolf furrow her eyebrows in confusion, her mind still foggy from having just woken up. "All the Alpha's in the country are here. Well," he paused. "All except one."

"Where is the other Alpha?"

"Here? In this pack?"

Both Sol and Artemis asked at the same time, both of them facing each other. They had asked two very good questions.

Clark nodded. "Yeah, they're all here in this pack. They're actually waiting for you guys in the dining room. I think they're planning to speak over everything over breakfast."

"When did they arrive?"

"They all arrived during the middle of the night. The Alpha's must have discussed it amongst themselves because a few of them arrived in small groups."

"Why did all turn up but one?" Sol asked again, not feeling great about his question or rather the answer he would receive.

"We're not too sure about that." Clark winced at the sound of his own words but he didn't have any other answer to offer. He simply didn't have the answer to his question.

Artemis pursed her lips. "What do you mean?"

"We can't get in touch with Alpha Eaton or his Beta."

A pregnant paused passed between the trio as they all stared at each other, all of them on the same wavelength as their minds lingered on the same thought. Artemis was the one to voice her thoughts though. "That sounds very suspicious." She noted aloud, relief washing over her as both the other men nodded in agreement.

"You don't think he's involved with the humans, do you?" Sol asked, the question directed towards his friend.

Clark sucked on his teeth before shaking his head. "We're not too sure. But two of the Alpha's, the ones closest to his pack did actually swing by his pack before making their way over here. They said that his pack seemed to have disappeared."

"Disappeared?"

Clark nodded. "They said that the pack grounds seemed absolutely deserted. The only reason they knew they were in the right place was because of the pack houses that still remained there."

"I don't think it'll be smart to just ignore this."

The Beta sighed. "You're right and I do agree with you. It is very suspicious that they've just disappeared considering the circumstances with the humans and all the attacks."

"What do the other Alpha's think?" Artemis asked, curious to know the answer to her question.

His answer was instant. "They consider him a traitor."

At that, both the wolves on the bed rolled their eyes.

"Traitor." Artemis chuckled darkly as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Clark chuckled too but his was far more uncomfortable and slightly forced. His friend merely remained silent as he watched the exchange between Clark and Artemis, his eyes constantly fleeting sideways.

"You really did convince Alpha Brandon of your loyalty."

"I don't care what he thinks."

"I know, I know," he sighed. "He regrets with the way he treated you and spoke to you." He admitted honestly. The Alpha had approached him feeling guilty with the way he had treated the she-wolf when it was clear that being part of the human organisation would be the last thing she could even fathom doing. "But don't tell him I said that. It won't do any good for his ego."

Artemis rolled her eyes again. "Typical Alpha's." She muttered bitterly under her breath but they both heard. She wasn't and angry as she had been the previous, but she didn't appreciate being treated like scum especially when she hadn't done anything to deserve such horrid treatment.

But she didn't have time to dwell on negative thoughts when their top priority was to keep as many people alive as possible, both human and werewolf.

"Hey!" Sol released his outburst, his eyebrows raising in surprise at the jab she had made even if it wasn't completely directed towards him.

Clark and Artemis merely chatted, making small talk as they attempted to pass a little time. There was a room full of Alpha's waiting for them on the other side of the pack house. You couldn't blame them for being anxious and trying to put it off because once they got in there, there was no saying what could happen.

-

Artemis had been right to think that it would be uncomfortable and awkward.

As soon as Clark led both Sol and Artemis into the dining room, all eyes were on the both of them, following their every movement as they made their way to the two empty seats near elder Jackson.

The three elders smiled at them as they sat down. She was grateful for some familiar faces even if they were outnumbered by multiple foreign ones.

The introductions were swift and they were over before she even started paying attention. Artemis doubted that she would be able to remember half of the names of the Alpha's she had met over breakfast, though she doubted she would ever have to interact with these Alpha's after they overcome their current sticky predicament that all the people in the room seem to share mutual ground on.

Luckily, an awkward silence did not immediately follow the introductions as the elders all stood up, demanding attention from a room full of Alpha's, nine including Sol.

"After much consideration, we do believe that Alpha Eaton is working with the humans to wipe out the werewolf nation." Elder Oscar declared, his jaw tensed and his head held high as he voiced his proclamation, the other two elders standing by his side.

Those three were a force to be reckoned with.

Much to Artemis' surprise, confused chatter and shocked gasps did not spread across the room upon proclamation of suspected treason, and by an Alpha at that. Either Alpha wolves were immensely in control of themselves, or they had all been suspecting this as soon as they came into the knowledge of Alpha Eaton to have disappeared along with his whole pack.

"We need a plan," Alpha Brandon spoke up.

Her skin crawled at the sound of his voice, unable to forget the way he had turned on her so suddenly despite her having the backing of fellow trusted people whom he held close to him, but she was willing to forgive. She knew that there was no chance that she would receive an apology for him so there was no point sitting around hoping for one.

She refused to turn her head to face him as he spoke. "We need to destroy those humans, the hunters before they get a chance to wipe us out."

Murmurs of agreement ran across the long, wide, wooden table, Artemis and Sol included.

"How do we even know that they have the capabilities of wiping out a whole nation, and a supernatural one at that?" One of the Alpha's asked -she couldn't remember his name- but he sat on her side of the table, a few seats down from Sol whom was sat to her right. Before anyone could protest or cut him off, the Alpha rushed to make his point. "I'm not saying that we shouldn't go to war, but we should make sure that this is worthy of a war. If it turns out that they don't have a sufficient number of humans in their army or weapons even and we would be able to obliterate them easily, surely we shouldn't risk the lives of our people more than we have to."

The man had a point, she had to give him that.

Murmurs ran across the table, but it was Sol whom stood up, his shoulders squared, his chin jutted out defiantly and the promise of danger swirling in his black orbs. "I think we have enough evidence to wipe any doubt regarding how capable these humans are. They kidnapped pups starting from fifteen years ago without any of us even realising that there was a pattern. Artemis is living proof of this," he paused and gestured towards Artemis. All eyes in the room rolled over to face her, to analyse her as if they hadn't been doing that since Clark had led in the pair of them into the room. Just like her male counterpart, Artemis sat up straight in her chair and held her head high, maintaining eye contact with every man -and woman, in one case- scrutinised her.

"She is definitely not the only pup that has been snatched away from us. And as I suspect also, they are the same group of people that had destroyed my pack, the Shadow Keepers, all these years ago. Again, there was no question raised regarding the perpetrators of the attack because they had been ruled as rogues, werewolves, one of us. Not humans. If these humans," he paused for dramatic emphasis, his tongue lingering on the word. His eyes ran around the room, making sure that he had everyone's attention. If they hadn't realised it before, they all definitely knew it now, he was Solomon Westbrook, an Alpha, an enigma amongst men and a myth amongst werewolves. For all they knew, he had died along with his pack and his parents. But today they had learnt different.

"If these humans can wipe out an entire pack without raising any suspicion, then I'm sure that they can destroy us. And the fact that they have werewolves on their side, Alpha Eaton and his people just makes things a whole lot worse for us."

Sol now turned to face the man that had voiced his concern earlier. "With all due respect Alpha Greggory, I believe we have reason to fear for our lives. We need to destroy them before they destroy us all." He concluded before sitting down in his chair, his eyes still running across the table.

A brief silence passed before the Alpha's started voicing that they concurred, some even commending him for speaking up.

It probably had to do more with finding out that the true Alpha of the late Shadow Keeper's pack was alive more than what he had said.

When the discussion shot off with talks of how to approach the situation, Sol listened intently, nodding his head when he agreed, furrowing his eyebrows when he didn't like the sound of something and voicing his thoughts and concerns when necessary.

Artemis didn't really have much to say. Reaching over, she flicked Sol's hand until he turned it over, his eyes studying the Alpha that was currently speaking though she did notice the corners of his lips lifting slightly. Slipping her hand into his, she held onto it tightly. Her lips turned up into a matching, secret grin as he squeezed her hand back, no words needed for her to convey how utterly proud she was of him in that moment.

Sol didn't need her reassurance, gratitude or even appreciation but she was determined to express how much she was in awe to him, just because she cared.

She was content with sitting quietly beside Sol as he shined, sharing his knowledge and theories regarding the humans that were determined to destroy them. However, talks must have turned to her because when she looked up from the table, all eyes seemed to be on her.

When Sol nudged her with his shoulder slightly, her eyes travelled up to look at him. "What?" She asked when he seemed to be staring into her soul.

Sol smirked but didn't say anything but his eyes advanced towards the others around the table. It dawned on her then that someone had probably asked her a question.

"Sorry?" She apologised, blinking in confusion.

A few of the Alpha's chuckled while the others smirked at her antics, Sol being one of them while his best friend, the Beta full on belly laughed at how she had appeared to be so lost.

Ignoring him, a slight blush spread across her cheeks as elder Oscar explained what they had been previously talking about, his own lips turned up in a teasing smile.

"All of the Alpha's here have brought along their pack members whom were taken as pups just as you were. Out of all of you, you seem to be the only one who can actually remember what happened to you."

"They've had their memories erased too?" She found herself asking even though she already knew the answer.

The elder merely nodded in confirmation.

"Honestly speaking, we don't know what to do with you all."

It was Artemis' turn to laugh now, the only sound in an otherwise quiet sound.

"We're hoping that perhaps you can speak to them, maybe even trigger some of their memories. At this point, we need all the information we can get." He paused and watched as Artemis nodded her head.

"I'll be the leader of the misfits, don't worry." She smirked, her grin wide and youthful despite how serious the topic was that they were discussing, and a room full of pack leaders at that. Sol chuckled beside her, running a hand down his face in attempt to wipe the grin off of it when Alpha Brandon cleared his throat, trying to get them to snap out of it.

But she didn't care.

What was life without a little humour?

Clearing her throat in attempt to kill her laughter, she turned back to the elders whom all held matching smirks. "If we're going to beat these humans at their own game, we're going to need to find out where their base is."

Elder Jackson nodded his head. "We're probably going to have to question that human again."

"Fun," she muttered dryly under her breath but Alpha Brandon must have heard because he glared at her from across the other end of the table. Why he was paying attention to her and not the discussion his fellow Alpha's around him were having about interrogation questions, she did not know.

Sol kept his eyes on the Alpha sat in front of him, currently offering him his condolences for the passing of his parents, seemingly forgetting that the incident had taken place over a decade and a half ago. Leaning over slightly and ducking his head so his mouth was level with her ear, his eyes remained glued to the fellow Alpha, but his smirk was directed towards her. "If it helps, being the leader of a band of misfits would look great on your resume." He whispered, his hot breath fanning over her neck, sending goose bumps over the length of her neck, over her collarbones and down her covered arms in an old sweatshirt of his that she had swiped from his closet. "Sleeping with the leader of a bunch of misfits must have its benefits." He suggested provocatively.

Artemis threw her head back and laughed at him without a care in the world. The irony was not lost on her but in that moment, she didn't care.

All that mattered was that they were together; happy and safe, and together. She just hoped it would stay that way.

-

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Layla Knight

25.09.18