Chapter 3: One year Deal

“That’s absolutely no, Artemis!” Dad said in the final tone. My wolf was never submitted to anyone but when Dad became serious, she chose not to ignite fire. 

“But Dad, this human is my mate. My soulmate and other half,” I replied, determined to have him no matter what. 

“But he’s a human! We do not mingle with humans. The other pack yes, but not us. There was a reason why we can’t! What if he’s a member of Hunter? What if he’s a spy?”

I started to sob. My wolf whined. 

“Please, Dad. Please, I’m begging you,” I said. 

Dad inhaled, trying to suit his wolf that was now trying to come out. Mom started to suit him, helping him to calm his wolf. 

“Okay,” he said after a couple of minutes, and finally his wolf calmed down. “If you really want to have your human mate, I’ll give you a chance. I’m giving you a year. You have to convince the King and the whole Higanbana. Prove them that this human mate of yours can be trusted. If he’s not, you know it means his death and you will be the one who will kill him or marry the male wolf I chose for you and this time no more defying my decision.” 

“Dad!”

“Artemis, you begged to be with your mate, right? And I am doing my duty as your Alpha and Higanbana wolves’ leader. I do not give favours to anyone even if you are my daughter. You do your thing and I’ll do my thing. If you fail, you know the consequences. I’m giving you enough time. So don’t waste it.” And with that, Dad went out, probably to cool his wolf. 

Mom looked at me with pity. The Moon Goddess gave me a mate, first among Higanbana wolves for a generation but it’ll not be easy. She hugged me and soothed my back as I sobbed on her shoulders.

Weeks have passed. I have been hanging with Eliot and even moved to a human settlement to be with him. Dad was furious but we had a deal. 

A year. Within that year, I should have done every father’s order. How can I even do that? 

“Hey, you’re not touching your food? What’s wrong?” Eliot asked me. “Don’t you like your food?”

The food was one of the expensive steaks and I’m a meat lover but thinking about my situation, I couldn’t even eat. 

“It’s nothing,” I said and smiled. “This meat is too precious to eat,” I lied. 

“Oh come on,” Eliot replied. “That’s nonsense. Eat up and if you want more, I’ll buy another serving,” Eliot said. 

I smiled at him and started to eat.

Damn it. 

I even applied to the hospital’s lowest job just to be with him. But I couldn’t say any words to him. I become tongue-tied. 

How do you tell your best friend that you love them more than a friend? It's hard. It's nerve-racking...especially when you know they don't have eyes for you in that way.

After my shift, I stood in the hospital hallway, the medical workers were busy running around and doing their jobs around me. I looked around and saw one particular man who had caught my eye as he was talking to an elderly woman. Damn it. He’s so handsome in his blue doctor’s uniform. He would listen to the woman’s worries and then he’ll calm her down and talk about the procedures of the operation. 

I bet he could be a good Alpha and a pack doctor although we don’t need one. Higanbana wolves have extreme healing abilities. We need this to sustain our war abilities. But still, he would be the best pack doctor for my pack. After talking to the old lady, Eliot looked my way and waved at me. I waved back and waited for him to come near me. 

It has been three months and I haven’t progressed. Elliot would come and visit my apartment as I was to his, too. We often hang out or dine anywhere. We were happy and I was content.

Five months have passed and I finally mustered up the courage to tell him about me and my feelings for him. I plan to tell him at his grandmother’s house. I knew it was his day off so I prepared. As I parked my car outside his house, I saw his car parked in his parking lot. 

I filled my lungs with oxygen and then calmed myself. 

I didn’t bother to knock and opened his door without any warning. I was about to call his name but I was the one that got surprised when I saw him kissing a girl in his kitchen. 

At that moment, my world crumbled and my wolf tried to push me out of her confinement and wanted to rip the girl’s head off. I tried to stop her and swallowed the lump that formed from what I saw. Tears swelled up in my eyes but I managed to hold it for a little longer. 

They didn’t probably hear the door opening and closing since they were too engrossed in kissing each other. 

I slowly backed away and closed the door without creating a noise. As I entered my car, tears fell from my eyes that I was not familiar with. I, Artemis Savanna Romano, never cried even once. I was used to all physical pain but this kind of pain deep in my chest was so overwhelming that my eyes had to cry to lessen the pain. 

“F*ck!” I screamed while I was driving away. I wasn’t driving back to my apartment but I drove back to my pack. 

“F*ck, f*ck, f*ck!”

As soon as I parked my car just a couple metres away from the pack territory, I shifted immediately and let my wolf come out. I need her to blow off some steam or else she’ll go crazy. She was hurting too. And just like me, it was her first time. She was rampaging, destroying any trees that came our way. After half an hour of rampaging, my wolf howled in sadness. It was a painful howl that probably my pack had heard because it was answered by some howling not far from where I was. 

I saw a large brown wolf and I knew it was Mom. She ran towards me and nudged my side. I looked at her with teary eyes and she understood it. She guided me back to the house and tried to make me shift back into my human. I cried in her arms. 

My dad looked at me and I looked back at him. He showed no pity for me. Remembering we had a deal. I wiped my tears and stood up. I bid my mother goodbye despite her protest. 

I’m giving up. I will never give up. I fixed myself up and pretended that I was fine. Giving up was not in my vocabulary. I always got what I wanted and I knew I’d be having Eliot soon enough. 

And that was what I had thought. But I was so wrong.