Rescuing His Captive Mate: Saving The Future Luna

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Star

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For some reason I woke up in Artem's bed. Well, I guess it was my bed now too. I was wrapped in his arms and it was still dark out. I looked at the clock and saw it was just before five in the morning.

I must have fallen asleep and Artem brought me back here. I was starving though since I missed dinner last night. Oh well, I could just eat extra for breakfast today.

I did my best not to wake Artem as I got out of the bed. I think I managed it since I didn't see him stirring at all when I left his side.

Once I was out of the bed I silently made my way to the bathroom for a shower. I turned on the hot water and climbed into the gently cascading stream as I thought about the dream I had had last night.

I think I dreamt about my mom. I think I pulled up some long repressed hard to reach memory from when I was a really little girl. The dream made me uneasy though and I don't know why.

Maybe it's because I had seen a vague picture of my father in the dream. Maybe it's because I had seen my mother for the first time since I was two. Whatever the reason though, I knew that I needed to get a look at that box of things my mother left behind.

When I was cleaned and dried off I realized my mistake. I had come into the bathroom without getting something new to wear first. This was going to be embarrassing. What if Artem woke up?

Well, as long as I could stay quiet I would be fine, right? Or so I thought.

As soon as I started to slowly open the door back to the bedroom it was pulled out of my light grasp and opened wide. I jumped with the shock of someone opening the door, a move that made me accidentally drop my towel.

Artem was standing on the other side of the door, a sleepy look in his eyes that was slowly dissipating now that he saw me.

"Well, that's a lovely sight first thing in the morning." He was grinning with a heated look in his eyes.

"Huh?" I looked down with embarrassment, pretty certain of what I would see. The sight of my naked body standing there for him to see made me squeal with fright and shame.

"No need to worry about it, sweetheart." Artem reached for my waist and pulled me toward him. "I like it. It's a great way to get my blood pumping." He nuzzled my cheek as he spoke. "Though all that blood seems to be going straight to one place."

"You're such an animal." I joked with him. I had learned how to act this way ever since I had watched some of the shows that Chay had turned on for me. I knew exactly what he was implying with his comment and I knew exactly how to respond.

"Can you blame me? I am a wolf after all." He growled playfully as he lifted me from the floor and held me in his arms and against his chest.

"I don't know. I guess that all depends on later." I nuzzled my cheek onto his shoulder, the one that I had ended up marking.

"Nnnnrrrgghh." He moaned low and long from the feel of my face against his mark. "That feeling, it's better than I ever thought it would be. It's like an added arousal point." He nuzzled into my neck then and licked my mark.

"Ahh, stop, don't do that." I moaned and slapped him on his shoulder at the same time.

"But it's fun." I could feel him grinning against my neck.

"Yeah, well, we need to get ready for the day."

"Ugh, you're right. I know you're right. But that doesn't make it any easier." He was practically whining.

"There's always later." I teased him.

"I like the sound of that."

With that he set me on the floor and kissed my cheek quickly.

"Get dressed, I'm going to shower. But maybe we can shower together tomorrow." He winked at me as I ran into the other room. Goddess, I think this man was bad for my heart.

I dressed in a hurry, making sure I didn't have too much exposed skin. I didn't want to distract Artem too much today. I had a plan that I wanted to talk to Artem about and if he said yes, I would be spending a lot of time with him soon.

  Artem showered then dressed, something he had to run naked through the room to do. I'm sure he could have worn a towel but I guess I had entered the room naked as well. Once he was ready for his day I approached him with my idea.

"Artem?"

"Yeah baby?" That was a new one, was he going to use these nicknames all the time?

"Can I help you with pack work?" That seemed to surprise him.

"Star?" He looked at me with wide eyes before he continued. "Are you sure you want to do that?"

"Well, I heard from the others that the Luna is supposed to help with things that have to do with the pack. I am the Luna, right? So I want to help you as much as I can."

"That's wonderful." He was grinning and picked me up again. This time, with his hands on my waist and our foreheads pressed together, Artem spun a few times in a happy little circle. "Yes, you can help. I can teach you all about the pack and the way things are for us. I am still trying to reform everything so that the pack will run smoother. I just smiled at him happily, knowing that I was going to help him with his work from now on. I now had a purpose to my long days.

We went down to breakfast together and ate with everyone. The boys were looking excited but I couldn't help but notice that Julian and Flint were looking a little pale. Were they under the weather? But how could that be? One thing I did know was that wolves never really got sick.

Following the meal I went with Artem to his office. It was a room I had been in only once and my eyes had been closed the entire time. So this was the first time I was seeing the space for myself.

Artem's office was large and manly. That was the only way I could think to describe it. And I was in awe when I saw him walk behind his large desk and sit in the massive chair that was there. I decided to look around the room a bit while he got himself situated.

I was looking at the bookshelf and a curious looking set of books, Diccionario de la Real Academia Española, when there was a knock on the door. Artem looked up and sighed. 

"They're earlier than I expected."

"Who? I can only smell Kent out there." I didn't know who he was talking about.

"The warlocks. They sent someone to talk to us about the remaining talismans on the others."

"Really? But I don't smell anyone else out there. Are you sure they're here?"

"They're either at the door with Kent or waiting downstairs for me." He got to his feet and slowly crossed to the door. "We wolves can't smell them. It's a pain but that's just how things are."

Artem didn't seem worried at all but I was nervous about this situation. I knew he was going to meet with warlocks soon, but I didn't have very good memories or experiences that resulted from warlocks. None of us really did.

When Artem opened the door there stood Kent, alert and ready like he was uncomfortable about something. Beside Kent were two men in long silver cloaks with black designs all over them.

"Alpha Artem, these are the Warlocks that you invited, Henrich Asten and Lionel Fritz." The men were old, with gray hair and wrinkles around their eyes. Their faces looked kind and they seemed like good people, but I knew all too well that looks could be deceiving.

"Welcome gentlemen." Artem gave them a friendly smile as he stepped to the side and welcomed them into the room. "Won't you please come in and have a seat, I am certain that we have a lot to discuss and share with each other."

I watched as the men entered the room and sat at the chairs in front of the desk. Artem walked toward me before going to his desk. He took my hand and pulled me along with him. I thought he would lead me to another chair but he just sat behind his desk and pulled me onto his lap as he sat down. Well, this was going to be awkward.